New details emerge about The Crew, an upcoming open world racing game from Ubisoft (lots of unique stuff coming from their corner right now, isn't there?). First of all, I embedded my favourite gameplay video so far again at the top of this news post, it was also covered in our previous news post here. Secondly, Ubisoft have revealed more details about their upcoming racing game on their official blog and it holds plenty of promises.
The two most interesting aspects from the blog are about the damage models and the customisation options. In terms of the damage physics, The Crew will feature a full damage system that will also have a life gauge, much like a health bar in shooter games, this gauge will diminish each time the player hits something. Thus, it seems everything you hit will damage your car. This is obviously a more arcade system and it becomes apparently arcade orientated as Ubisoft explains further how the system will also regenerate. Since no explanation is given for this, I am just going to call them invisible nanobots.
The more you hit without breaks between hitting stuff, the faster the damage will combo up and your car will gain signs of physical damage, however none of this will affect your actual vehicle unless the damage becomes too severe. At that point the bar will also no longer regenerate and you will have to have it repaired to drive it normally again and regain the nanobot repair functionality. Just as from the video above, it is clear The Crew is fully orientated around fun open-world mayhem, as the damage system regenerates and does not seem to feature realistic dynamic damage models.
As for the customisation, players can customise pretty much every part of their car, this includes 200 unique visual stickers and 500 different colours in addition, the player can also create his/her own stickers. The customisation does not end there though, players can pick between different liveries, rims, bumpers, skirts, rear wings, motor hoods, fenders, lights and side mirrors. So clearly plenty of options here, the only thing I am not seeing or hearing yet is what I love most... Neon lights, as my name hints to, I am obsessed with Neon lights, this is a feature that sadly has not been in many racing games and perhaps one of the best examples of this was Need for Speed Underground 2.
In the blog they also give further details about other significant aspects of the game. As racing games are all about the cars it features, having a good line-up and variety of neat vehicles to please everyone is important. While Ubisoft is not yet revealing the exact line-up, they have stated that it will feature the widest variety of car types that have ever been featured in a driving game. To further this variety, players will also be able to tune his car and make it unique so it really handles and performs to the unique tastes of each player. And to set the mood, the game will also feature different radio stations for each region, each featuring their own set of tracks that all follow the same mood and tone of that region. But don't worry! Players will also be able to create their own customized playlist!
In terms of open-world variety and freedom, as The Crew seems to be an online only experience size, complexity and fun-factor all matter substantially for the game world. Here Ubisoft has admitted their developers have found the biggest challenge, but they are confident that players will enjoy the large variety of terrains and road types of each region. In addition, Ubisoft is promising that players can drive freely without participating in any missions or races. Players can drive from LA to Miami in the game with no loading times and they can do this alone, with friends, off- or on-road, it is completely up to the player.
Some players raised concerns to the development team about the collision within the game. Ubisoft wants to set these concerns to rest and explains how the collision will work with other players at different points in the game. If the player is driving in a co-op mission with friends, they will be able to collide with each other. However, this is to add to the challenge and immersion of the game as both players will be working together to finish as good as possible, if they start ramming each other or accidentally crash each other it will harm all the players on the same team. When players are driving in the open world freely, traffic issues have been taken into consideration by developers and thus the player will be able to enjoy the open world free drive as they wish it.
Lastly, Ubisoft gave some more insights to how the single and multiplayer modes work. In The Crew, players are "part of an online world, with other drivers around you" however, it is up to the player if they want to team up with friends/other players or compete against friends/other players. If the player wishes he can also just play all missions and races alone. This is taken a step further though in terms of flexibility, but I will let Ubisoft do the talking on this one:
"First, in the game's universe, the experience is entirely customizable. You always have someone next to you, ready to jump into new challenges either with you or against you. You can decide to play a mission on your own, then change your mind and invite a friend to play it with you, or join a friend on the go to help him out on a mission you've already mastered, or just free-ride with old and new friends to discover one of the real-world landmarks we've recreated. The Crew offers you the freedom to tailor your experience at will."
So yeah, it all seems very interesting and it is safe to say SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY at this point. We can all look forward to *SHUTTING UP AND GIVING THEM OUR MONEY* for The Crew on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One sometime in Q1 of 2014.
