Alright, thanks for that explanation đź‘Ť So they are basically encouraging you to stay with one spec per car. I was hoping you could switch specs on the fly while driving and see the body parts transform just like in the trailer.
On another note, I just had a crazy thought and hoped that they would add the Peugeot 406 from Taxi
First impressions of The Crew with the T300RS: You have to fiddle with it a lot, with default settings you have a deadzone the size of Texas and the steering is unplayably sluggish. Feels like a drunk donkey set those values. But with a bit of tinkering, you can make it feel ok. FFB is rather basic onroad, but really comes alive offroad. And shows well how damn strong that FFB motor in the T300 is, at 60% strength it made my hands hurt after about half an hour of off roading. Great, hairy chested fun! *ouch* Big downside: Race cars (weirdly only those, which should be the most precise cars ingame) still have a large deadzone. My 2011 Mustang GT Race Spec is way too overpowered for its own good anyway at level 1190 or something, with the wheel it is rendered entirely useless. You cant tame a runaway rear end (even on straights! ) with such a large deadzone.
I can see why people hate this game, but I'm not in that group. The Crew is absolutely epic! The income levels are a little low, about 1000 a mission, and 2000 for those tourist destinations. But it's not like I'm having to spend lots of money on new cars because you win parts in the skill challenges. It's a good system. Running with my G27 and it's actually quite good fun, I entered a PvP lobby yesterday, with my Challenger at level 224. I was mostly getting last and second to last because they were all driving cars at level 700 +, but in the last race I did... Still against 700+ level cars, on a wheel. And to add, I was talking on the phone (I accepted the challenge of racing with one hand), so changing up meant I had to move my left hand around to the right side of the wheel... And I won by nearly 20 seconds.
But as I said before, I can see why people would hate it. Neither the physics or the graphics are particularly great. I was doing a mission in a Ford Raptor (escaping Troy's crew), and I crashed side on into something, and it sent me flying at extremely high speed in an obscure direction, which then made me pass the mission, and then the game gave me some sort of award for going 400KM/H.
Was finally able to get my PS4 back online after the outage to play the full game. If anyone has a space on their crew, feel free to add my PSN: Street-King-07.
Just had a fun impromptu race around Golden Hills racetrack with a Lambo Aventador (I think) with my Perf-spec Focus . Though after a bit of research we were going backwards on it .
Was finally able to get my PS4 back online after the outage to play the full game. If anyone has a space on their crew, feel free to add my PSN: Street-King-07.
After fully playing and completing The Crew, I can safely say that I'm ready to give it the review it deserves.
And here we go!
THE STORY:
The game puts you into the driver seat of some very nice sports cars, under the role of a man known as Alex Taylor (voiced by none other than Troy Baker), who witnessed his brother (Dayton Taylor) being shot after a race by a man named Shiv, who was a V6 in a gang known as the 5-10s (we'll get into the rankings later). The FBI (lead by a highly-corrupt elderly agent by the name of Coburn) show up and frame Alex for his brother's murder and sentences him to 5 years in prison. After 5 years, he is brought into interrogation by Zoe, a high-ranked FBI member who is looking for any clues to help take down Shiv. With no other choice, Alex decides to pull a Brian O' Connor and goes undercover within Shiv's gang, known as the 5-10s (a notorious street racing gang who controls much of what goes on in the US, such as product trafficking and the undergound street racing scene.
Alex meets up with his brother's old mechanic, by the name of Harry. They decide to team up to help stop Shiv and Coburn. Along the way they meet Cam (a pompous rich street-racing wannabe with fast cars but no clue on how to drive them), Alite (another mechanic who also specializes in stealing expensive sports cars to strip down to help with designing performance kits for them), Roxanne (a sexy teenage hacking specialist in which Alex finds out that she also lost her sister (Daria) to Shiv), and finally, Vincent (Harry's best friend/bro-from-another-mom who helps Alex take down Shiv after Alex finds out that Vincent was a racing superstar whose career ended abruptly thanks to having his car sabotaged by the 5-10s).
Alex works hard and soars through the rankings of the 5-10s. They are as follows; V2, V4, V6, V8, with Shiv being the V8 of the 5-10s. As you can probably tell, the V2 is the bottom-of-the-barrel, while V8 is the head-honcho of the 5-10s. After many missions and many fights (including taking down Coburn and exposing his corruption), he eventually makes it to V6. However, while going to the celebration party, Alex finds out that Shiv was analyzing his resume, causing Alex's cover to be blown, and every 5-10 wanting his blood. He eventually escapes his pursuers and confronts Shiv in person and at gunpoint, telling Shiv that "You're wearing my brother's ink, and I want it back". They settle it with one last street race, with Alex being the winner.
However, Shiv isn't ready to step down, and that's when the police show up to attempt to arrest him. Shiv takes off in his Ford GT, and Alex jumps in a nearby F-150 Raptor to pursue him after his own car was totalled from hitting a billboard post. After many rams, Alex disables Shiv's GT, and he is arrested and incarcerated on charges of trafficking, 1st degree murder, and spends the rest of his life in jail, thus placing Alex as the new V8 of the 5-10s.
THE GAMEPLAY:
The Crew is marketed as an open-world racing MMO, with possibly the largest map ever in a racing/driving game, spanning more than 300 miles. There are various tasks and side-quests you can perform as you progress through the game to unlock vehicle parts to level up your car as well as XP points to be levelled up yourself. Upon reaching Rank 50, you can start to do Faction Missions, which are the true money-making missions. Vehicles can be upgraded and transformed into one or more of the following; Street, Dirt, Perf, Raid, Circuit. Note that some cars cannot be modified as extensively as others. For example, you can't turn a Koenigsegg Agera R into a raid truck (although that would be kinda cool). Here's a breakdown of all of the classes:
Street: These are lightly-to-moderately modified budget cars built for the sake of street racing. They grip the road very well but fall short on trails and can even become stuck on rough bumpy terrain. Many of the lower-end cars such as the VW Golf GTi and the Chevy Camaro SS 2010 can be modified this way, while higher-end cars like the Lamborghini Aventador cannot. There are four performance levels for Street, with level 4 being the most powerful. Street spec cars also have a nice array of body kits to really personalize them. Parts are also cheap to purchase once you've unlocked them. When being pursued by police, officers will give chase in Ford Crown Victorias.
Dirt: These are your average WRC-modified vehicles. They excel on trails, but still fall short on rough bumpy terrain. Most of the trucks in this game can be modified into a Dirt-spec car, and even some regular cars such as the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R and the Ford Focus. There are 4 performance levels for Dirt. Due to the chunky tires and high ground clearance, the top speed for these vehicles is rather low, and the acceleration leaves much to be desires. As with Street-spec, there are many cool body kits to trick your rally ride out and really make it stand out on the trails. Upon reaching Rank 50, you can unlock Rally Race Faction Missions, which can take more than an hour to complete, but compensate with excellent payouts. When being pursued by police, officers will give chase in lightly modified Dirt-spec 1 Ford F-150 SVT Raptors.
Perf: These are highly-modified barely legal street machines. Nearly any car can be turned into a Perf machine, from the Nissan 370Z and Lamborghini Gallardo, to even a Hummer H1 Alpha and Dodge Ram SRT-10. There are 4 performance levels for Perf. These cars are built for two purposes, sheer speed, and excellent handling. However whatever you do, do NOT bring them offroad. These are the second fastest cars in the game, and vehicle parts are quite expensive. There is a good selection of body kits for these cars as well. When being pursued by police, officers will give chase in Perf-spec 1 Dodge Charger SRT-8s.
Raid: These are road cars transformed into purpose-built rally raid machines. They can go nearly anywhere, and no trail or rough terrain can slow them down. Also they pack a massive punch when taking on traffic cars that won't get out of your way, or the occasional idiotic player. Only a select few vehicles can be turned into a Raid spec vehicle, such as the Chevy Silverado 1500 and the Ford Mustang GT. There are 2 performance levels for Raid, and there are no body kits available. Parts are also very expensive. When being pursued by police, officers will give chase in highly modified Dirt-spec 1 Ford F-150 SVT Raptors.
Circuit: Without a doubt the fastest and most powerful cars in the game. Circuit spec takes your road car and turns it into a track-going racing machine. These things can crack the 200+mph barrier with ease and grip the road like a slot car. Surprisingly, a lot of vehicles can be turned into such, such as the Dodge Challenger SRT8 and Bentley Continental SuperSport. There is only 1 performance level for Circuit, and there are no body kits available. However, bring them offroad, and you'll be sorry. When being pursued by police, officers will give chase in highly-modified Perf-spec 1 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1s.
In addition, the A.I. drivers in this game are annoying as heck. They rubber-band almost always, and sometimes a race can be flatout impossible because of it. Police chases are really guilty of rubber-band A.I., as you can go from losing the cops to being arrested by said cops a few seconds later. They also recover from crashes quicker, travel on dirt quicker, and are flat-out faster than you.
THE SOUNDS: Every vehicle in this game sounds great, although some are slightly off (R34 I'm looking at you). In addition, the in-game radio is way too quiet, and features a forgettable selection of songs. Also the voice acting leaves much to be desired. Most spoken lines sound forced or just not thought out.
OVERALL: The Crew is a great game, for those who love to explore the open road with a few buddies in tow, and also love to hunt for hard-to-find collectibles, such as the hidden Hot-rod which you can get by finding all of the parts in a certain area. If you've bought this game for the story, you bought the wrong game. The story is all over the place with random jumping around everywhere and many plot-holes to be found. Some of the characters are forgettable and don't bare much to the plot. If you bought it for the racing and the free mode, then you did alright. The racing can be a bit fist-clenching, while the free mode is fun and relaxing, with many things to do.
FINAL VERDICT:
The Story: 4/10 - full of plotholes and just not well thought out.
The Gameplay: 8/10 - fast-paced cross-country racing at it's finest, minus the crazy rubber-band A.I. The driving physics are a bit "drunk", and money is hard to come by unless you unlocked the Faction Missions, but the sheer amount of customization more than makes up for it.
The Sounds - 6/10 - quiet in-game radio and poor delivery of spoken lines take the rush away from certain events
Replayabilty - 9/10 - there's alot to do in free mode, and the PvP section and Faction missions can keep you hooked for a while.
Overall - 8/10 - an underrated racer that excels in many departments but falls flat on others.
Right, now that I found some time to spend with the game I'm finally able to elaborate what I was trying to understand earlier.
Here goes...
Question A:
As I said earlier, I'm having a hard time understanding how I can improve my car performance. I am aware that I can earn parts by doing missions and skill challenges, and the better my results, the better the rewards. However, why can't I just go into a shop and buy individual parts? What's the purpose of this menu, if I never (ever) seem to having anything to buy? Also, I am am able to take my Ford Focus into the street tuner, and buy a LVL 10 pack. But I cannot do the same with my 370Z. Why is that? Are these purely starter packs?
Question B:
I have recently unlocked the New York tuner. Bought a Ford Focus, and purchased the dirt spec. So far so good. Love the car. Did some skill challenges, and the game tells me the car level is too high. So, I am given the option to convert the rewarded part into bucks. That's a great idea!
But then I repeat the same challenge (or another one in the same vicinity) with the 370Z, and even though the rewarded part does not improve my car, I no longer get that option to convert said part into bucks. Why is that?
I honestly hope you guys can clear this out for me, because although I am enjoying the game (while tolerating the physics engine) I feel that my cars aren't competitive enough. Not to mention that the better my car handles, the more enjoyable it will be to drive long distances.
To put it in a nutshell: Because not everything in this game is perfectly thought out or makes much sense even. My advice: Stop thinking about it too much, just drive, win parts, have fun. Your cars will eventually get competitive enough.
Hi all - I have just started playing The Crew and enjoying what I have found so far. Spent 6 hours just doing all the exploration and events in the Detroit area - very addictive! đź‘Ť
For anyone wondering, I am using a DS4 as I only have a DFGT wheel which is not usable on the PS4, and my laptop is not capable of running the PC version to any decent level.
I have set up a playlist on my Youtube channel where i will be uploading my videos as I play through the game.
For anyone interested, please go here...:
As an example, here is my drivehub Xfinity Challenge mission vid...
Also, if anyone here enjoys the vids on my channel (GT6, Driveclub and The Crew mainly) and wishes to do so, please hit the like button and/or comment. And if you like it a lot, please do subscribe to the channel
Street Spec parts kits begin at level 1 while Dirt Spec kits begin at level 10, Performance Spec is 20 and so on. Say you get a car and purchase a level 10 dirt spec kit for it, if you do skills missions with it around the starting area, Detroit, then those parts are going to be too low, most of them are level 1-10. You need to go to the next area that has higher skills challenges to score better parts. My advise is to always unlock the Data Stations in each area first, those will make the skills challenges appear on your map, you can place the cursor on each one and it will tell you the level and rewards for each one.
DD's Ultra Fast Leveling Up Method
When you reach Level 50, you will gain the ability to win Platinum medals and the rewards are Platinum car parts, these are levels 40 through 50, there is a Randomizer that determines which level of part you win. You can retry these events as much as you want to gain higher platinum levels on parts. You will need to do this to get your car level over 1200.
Street Spec, Dirt Spec, Performance Spec and Circuit Spec method
For these specs go to your map and tab over to skills then hit the X button to set your filter, scroll down to event types and select Jump events. You should now only see Jump events on your map. Remember those starting skills challenges around Detroit that were level 1-10, well they just became valuable again. There are several Jump Skill Events around Detroit that are very easy to earn Platinum parts on; this goes for the other areas as well, The South, East Coast, Mountain states, all of them have great jumps. You can level up a car to at least 1100 in about 20 minutes using this method.
Raid Spec Cars
The hardest spec to level up past 1000 is Raid Spec. This is because they don't do very well on jumps as they tend to be back-end heavy and nose up in the air way too much to get much distance on the jump. For this reason, the off-road escape challenges and Hill-climb events are the events we'll use to earn platinum parts. There are several off-road Escape skills challenges in the Mountain states especially in the south and around Vegas that are good, For hill climbs, again the Vegas area is good and there are some good ones in the Black Hills area as well.
For the record, I haven't unlocked the West Coast data stations yet, I am sure there are more great events on the West Coast that I could use for leveling up in the future.
I am probably late on this discussion but does anyone think the season pass is somewhat expensive considering it's just 14 cars, 52 rims, 4 stickers, 108 liveries and only has 4 months worth of new content? I noticed that Driveclub's pass for the same price lasts 8 months, has 38 cars, 176 events, and 80 liveries. If you are paying for just the cars in the passes, one car for The Crew pass costs $1.78 while one car for Driveclub costs just $0.65
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@DDastardly00 Good info for leveling up cars đź‘Ť I made my Mini Cooper a super car thanks to you.
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Personal Gameplay update:
I've finished the campaign/story and have now discovered all data stations in the whole map (while doing this I noticed Area 51 in the desert), discovered all of the junk parts in the Midwest and East coast, and all landmarks in the midwest, south, and east coast. I have also really enjoyed the faction missions as well.
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If anyone wants to get money quickly do the Way Out West faction mission, if done correctly you can get 500,000 an hour.
I think timing is a big part of the problem whenever someone calls you on the phone. It's like the editors were trying to make the sound clips as short as possible, so they cut out all pauses and ruined the cadence.
At one point, the characters are talking about someone's death and you'd think they would have to think about what they want to say, but it's just rapid-fire sentences like they're paying $5/min for the phone call
Question A:
As I said earlier, I'm having a hard time understanding how I can improve my car performance. I am aware that I can earn parts by doing missions and skill challenges, and the better my results, the better the rewards. However, why can't I just go into a shop and buy individual parts? What's the purpose of this menu, if I never (ever) seem to having anything to buy? Also, I am am able to take my Ford Focus into the street tuner, and buy a LVL 10 pack. But I cannot do the same with my 370Z. Why is that? Are these purely starter packs?
When you win a part for a car, it unlocks that part to purchase for other cars in the same spec. While the Focus is your only dirt car, you will never be able to buy parts for it because all the ones you unlock are immediately made available for the Focus.
Devs don't want you to be able to buy parts without having to work for them in some way, because it gives highly upgraded cars more of a prestige, and gives the player a sense of accomplishment.
Yes, starter packs can only be bought once for each spec, but you wouldn't want to upgrade them anyway. The parts are all bronze and worthless. Go to the last region you unlocked, and look for skills there. That's where you will get the highest level parts.
Question B:
I have recently unlocked the New York tuner. Bought a Ford Focus, and purchased the dirt spec. So far so good. Love the car. Did some skill challenges, and the game tells me the car level is too high. So, I am given the option to convert the rewarded part into bucks. That's a great idea!
But then I repeat the same challenge (or another one in the same vicinity) with the 370Z, and even though the rewarded part does not improve my car, I no longer get that option to convert said part into bucks. Why is that?
I am probably late on this discussion but does anyone think the season pass is somewhat expensive considering it's just 14 cars, 52 rims, 4 stickers, 108 liveries and only has 4 months worth of new content? I noticed that Driveclub's pass for the same price lasts 8 months, has 38 cars, 176 events, and 80 liveries. If you are paying for just the cars in the passes, one car for The Crew pass costs $1.78 while one car for Driveclub costs just $0.65
It's even more dodgy when you realize The Crew's contents are mostly ready at release (just look at the Season Pass trailer), and Driveclub's are probably still being made as time goes along. The former is just a scam, the latter is an example of good post-launch support.
@PsuPepperoni thanks for clearing that up. It all makes perfect sense now. Furthermore, since now I have a.better understanding of how to upgrade my cars, I'll enjoy those skill challenges much more.
I also would like to say that the story is just terrible. A poor excuse to force the player into actually play the game.
The characters are forgettable. Lines are not delivered correctly. An emotional situation feels like casual conversation. Important plot points are quickly brushed off. Less important plot points hang around for far too long.
I am currently smashing the story missions (and leveling up rather quickly) just so I can focus on exploring and work on a 100% completion.
Anyone need help with the Car wreck parts, lemme know. I have all 5 secret cars. I'll be happy to help anyone.
PSN: JeepXJFreak98
Also whoever sent me a FR yesterday regarding WoW grinding, sorry for not doing so. I wasn't feeling well after a New Year's party and ended up going to sleep early.
Anyone need help with the Car wreck parts, lemme know. I have all 5 secret cars. I'll be happy to help anyone.
PSN: JeepXJFreak98
Also whoever sent me a FR yesterday regarding WoW grinding, sorry for not doing so. I wasn't feeling well after a New Year's party and ended up going to sleep early.
Another tip to players for the car wreck parts is that the area of the wrecks is shown on the map so even though it doesnt say exactly where they are, most can be found with a little searching, so far at least. If I get stuck finding one I may ask here ...
For any newbies, one of the keys to the game seems to be to get the missions done fairly quickly as that way you level up quickly and unlock everything. I've just unlocked the south east area and the 3rd level of car.
Also, the locations are worth $2,000 each and there are hundreds of them so its worth doing them to get cash, as the cash is still limited (this far into the game at least). Haven't unlocked Way Out West yet...
Also, What perks did people get first? I have ignored the car stat boosts as you can win the races without them, and gone for the other perks so far such as the double down and the perk which shows things on the map within 600 yards.
Right then - back to the game... More career vids will go up on Youtube later
*ouch* Big downside: Race cars (weirdly only those, which should be the most precise cars ingame) still have a large deadzone. My 2011 Mustang GT Race Spec is way too overpowered for its own good anyway at level 1190 or something, with the wheel it is rendered entirely useless. You cant tame a runaway rear end (even on straights! 
) with such a large deadzone.
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