I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing the Crew 2 over the last few days. I picked it up last week but didn’t end up giving it a try right away. I was working from home last Wednesday when I heard my boys downstairs load it up and I decided to let them have first crack at it. It took me a few hours to draw the comic and the entire time I could hear them downstairs laughing and passing the controller back and forth. By the time I came downstairs they were ready to gush about how rad this game was. I let them teach me the basics and by that evening I had purchased two more copies so the three of us could race together.
The Crew 2 is pretty much Destiny but with cars. You and your friends will form a crew (fireteam) and take on various vehicle based activities (Strikes) and assuming you succeed, you will all be rewarded with colorful cubes full of loot (Engrams). Each vehicle you acquire comes with a number of slots for things like brakes, shocks, tires and so on. Take all the loot you got from the end of your last race and slot it into your vehicle. Each part has a big number on it as well as a color rarity. They can also have perks like increasing nitro gain or making you less susceptible to being knocked around. Slot the best gear you have to increase your vehicle’s overall performance level (light level) and then go tackle more challenging activities.
I had a blast playing it with my kids this weekend. Once you’re in a crew it’s incredibly easy to jump from event to event. We each took turns picking activities and the great thing is that as long as at least one person in your crew succeeds at the challenge, you all get the money and loot. I love the street racing and other car events, Gabe loves the planes and Noah had us doing all boat events. At the end of each race or stunt challenge we would get showered with colorful glowing loot and then all run back to our individual houses to equip our new stuff.
I should let you know I never played the first Crew so I don’t know how this compares. I can look and see that the Metacritic score for the Crew 2 is currently sitting at a 67 and from reading a few blurbs I think this sequel might be a departure in some ways from what people liked about the original. I can’t speak to that but I can tell you that I’m very jealous of my kids who are currently home on summer break and probably racing Monster Trucks right this second.
-Gabe out
