Just Tried Playing The Crew (PC Beta)

"TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut" (twincharged) 08/29/2014 at 06:57 • Filed to: The Crew, Gaming

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No, I didn't get as far as a Pagani Huayra yet. Also, I've never owned a console or played games like Gran Turismo or any of the Forza franchise. So what would a person who's never played any "serious" simulator games think of this highly anticipated, forthcoming game?

Well, obviously, there are positives and negatives. I'll start with the negatives, just to get them out of the way. First, the handling is a bit... heavy. Press a button and there's a delay before the car starts turning. This can be somewhat resolved by changing the settings for sensitivity, but you still feel a little disconnected to the action. Perhaps on a console controller with vibrations, it might be a little more feelsome. Next, you've got the storyline - I sense predictability. It's the old "start from the bottom, work to the top to get revenge" kind of storyline. I didn't explore much further to see if there were any other flaws worth mentioning, especially since its a beta.

So, what do I like? I like the detail and the size of the map - it's genuinely huge. The scenery is great and there's a great variation of roads and cities. Took me a good 15 minutes to drive from Detroit to the north of the Mountain States. Although a lot of crashing due to me not being familiar with the handling might've contributed to the length of time.

Traffic varies with location and time - at night and in the country, there is obviously less traffic. I also generally like the UI, it's clear and crisp, although at times it can get a bit flashy.

The thing I liked most though was the night driving in first person view - in my Mustang (you get a choice of Camaro, 370Z, Challenger or Mustang), the dials were quite detailed and softly glowed. External noise was also slightly muted, giving the impression of an insulated environment.

Overall, I think there can definitely be improvement, especially with the handling, but to be honest, The Crew is more arcade game-esque, rather than a serious racing simulator. But even as a beta, it never once crashed on me, nor did it perform terribly - my computer's not anything like a top of the range type, but I think it handled such a large and demanding game admirably.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 07:12

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Where you get one of those?

I'm genuinely interested in The crew, since The Crew was made by the same guy who made Test Drive Unlimited 2, and they're experts on making huge-ass map. In TDU2, a place that 30km apart in real life is also 30km apart in the game.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 07:33

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"the handling is a bit... heavy. Press a button and there's a delay before the car starts turning."

This is exactly what put me off NFS Rivals on ps4. To encourage you to drift every turn the steering is super slow and heavy until you initiate a drift which was extremely annoying to me.

Mattbob > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 07:33

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What inbred retard drew this map?

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 08/29/2014 at 07:37

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If you Google "Nvidia Geforce The Crew", it'll come up with a page to sign up for a beta key giveaway. Fill in the form and they'll send you an email with instructions. I'm not sure how long the beta key will last, so do it quickly while you can!

djmt1 > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 07:57

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My biggest problem with The Crew is its embarrassing car list that said 2014 has been the year of terrible car lists.

The Crew: 40

DriveClub: 55

Project Cars: 67

Grid Autosport: 78

Forza Horizon 2: 211

Now Horizon 2 has done a good job so they are exempt and Grid and PC get a pass as they are track based games (but still less than a 100) but The Crew and DriveClub are a joke.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 08/29/2014 at 08:17

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It's a similar situation here - when I tried the Camaro and Challenger, you just got miles of understeer when turning. You had to brake sharply before any proper directional changes could be made. I was going to get the 370Z because it was the sharpest (and by that I still mean poor) to drive, but then I just though "this is America, I gotta have a Mustang".

Krieger (@FSKrieger22) > Mattbob 08/29/2014 at 08:30

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I think rule of fun may have been in effect. I don't think any "drive from one end of the US to another" game has included a fully accurate route between coasts.

Krieger (@FSKrieger22) > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 08:33

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So they're taking after NFS then (well, I believe there is some NFS alumni on the dev team). Pity, I think Burnout Paradise's handling/drifting model is superior to that of Hot Pursuit '10/The Run/Most Wanted '12/Rivals, even if I did enjoy the latter four as well. If only my PC could run the beta (and was accessible)...

Mattbob > Krieger (@FSKrieger22) 08/29/2014 at 08:46

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but michigan looks sooooo bad. Look at where detroit is! Michigan should be somewhat decent in a car game!

Tareim - V8 powered > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 08:59

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they've just released the ps4 keys so not sure if they will be accepting anymore registrations, annoying wasn't able to download it yesterday due to psn being down :(

Timmy - MINI With a Big Blower > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 10:02

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I too have played the Beta. The driving physics do need work, and maybe the weird blip the motor gets on upshift. I also am not a huge fan of the in car view with the moving head thing. I can deal though. It's fun, I can tear around in my Mustang and even go cross country if I want to. However, yes.. driving physics need a minor tweak.

Tohru > Mattbob 08/29/2014 at 10:17

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They put Chicago by where Green Bay is supposed to be. Instant Will Not Buy.

Tohru > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 10:19

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They put Chicago where Green Bay is supposed to be.

-100/10 Will never ever ever buy

midengineer > Mattbob 08/29/2014 at 10:53

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Kansas is apparently a mountain state… Wut

Mattbob > midengineer 08/29/2014 at 10:59

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also even on the map, all the mountains are drawn in the "west coast" area.

midengineer > Mattbob 08/29/2014 at 11:05

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And what the hell is up with Florida?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 11:07

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That's a shame I was interested in this game. Unrealistic arcadey handling is fine, but the pushing of primitive drift mechanics and horrendous understeer is ruining nfs and by the looks of it is affecting this too. Some games have managed to have drifting and sharp steering for years I dont see why that should change now.

Mattbob > midengineer 08/29/2014 at 11:13

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it's a bit stumpy isn't it?

ACESandEIGHTS > Mattbob 08/29/2014 at 11:24

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Nice placement of New York, yes, and Long Island looks like it's just a little smaller than Greenland.

Good placement of Chicago. As long as Chicago is another name for Madison. Well done on Detroit too. I strongly encourage someone to consult either

A) A post-1800 atlas, or

B) The fucking internet.

ACESandEIGHTS > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 11:27

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Sweet Jesus, look at the size of the landmass between Texas (which here appears to border Florida/Georgia/South Carolina) and the West Coast. Apparently the western states account for about 70% of the country.

NaturallyAspirated > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/29/2014 at 12:51

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I got a PC beta code last night. I'll let it download over the weekend and give it a shot.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > djmt1 08/29/2014 at 14:00

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PCars will be adding more cars and tracks in the future through DLC.

djmt1 > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback 08/29/2014 at 14:16

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That's irrelevant, they will all have post launch DLC.