It used to be that the world of racing games was a simple place. Forza Motorsports and Gran Turismo covered the casual sim fans, computer titles like iRacing took care of the hardcore, and games like Need For Speed and Grand Theft Auto were there for those that wanted to go fast/smash things/endlessly tweak their cars.
The world is less simple now. It’s not enough to merely compete with console champs like Forza and GT—something new and different needs to be on offer.
Ubisoft, maker of the Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell, and Far Cry has a new racing game coming to the next generation of consoles that might just have the X factor that racing fans are looking for. It debuted in a trailer at E3 2013.
Called The Crew, players will enter an open-world model of the United States. This sandbox gaming has been approached before, most recently with Forza Horizon, but The Crew takes it to a completely different level. Drivers can go anywhere, whether it be a city or through the country. If you’re on a highway above Las Vegas, you can turn off and cut through the desert.
The game places you as a member of The 510s, a Detroit-based street racing gang. Your goal is to build up your rep and expand across the country. The game has an element of the massively multiplayer about it, as the roads of the US are populated with other players. You have the option of teaming up with these drivers or competing against them.
The gameplay trailer below demonstrates things more clearly than we can how the game’s social aspect will come in to play.
There’s still a lot of missing information, in particular a full listing of cars. As it stands, Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan, and RUF have all been confirmed, with many more manufacturers on the way. We’ll update as more information becomes available.
The Crew will be available for both the Playstation 4 and XBox One, although we don’t know if it’ll be launching with those games for the 2013 holiday season.