Ubisoft's open road racer returns to offer even more variety in terms of vehicles and features, but how does it play at launch

The open world map is still very impressive and the handling model for cars is much improved from the first game; Lots of different vehicle types and some impressive visuals

The physics engine is unpredictable and buggy; Rubberband AI is hugely annoying and the multiplayer options are strangely limited; The grind for loot and experience quickly becomes tiresome; Obnoxious presentation

Jack of all trades, master of none. The Crew 2 is ultimately a more enjoyable experience than the first game, but one that also buckles under its own broad ambition.

This time around, Ivory Tower brought a bunch more toys.

As much as Willie Nelson likes to sing about them, road trips aren't always the perfect getaway. Driving along the open road, sharing p...

Fast Fav makes everything better; The cheerier tone is a welcome change; A jack of all trades..

...but master of none; Still no offline mode

sprawling racer wastes its potential

An avalanche of racing goodness, hokey social media anchoring and an oddly sparse open world aren't enough to prevent The Crew 2 from improving on the original in every way and providing a multi-disciplined racer that is quite unlike any other on PS4.

Far from the land of opportunity.

The original game might have gone a little overboard with the whole Fast and Furious-style, crims-turn-good storyline, but there was still plenty there to give The Crew 2’s developers a solid base to carve out a sequel. Get beyond the scaled-down version of the USA you’re driving around, though, and there’s little here that connects the two together. The game world feels hollow and inconsistent. The cars aren’t as free to roam as they once were. The planes take precision and practice that feels at odds with the arcade-style racing. And why is it snowing on the Hollywood sign?! With open-world racing rival Forza Horizon having set the bar, Ubisoft hasn’t done enough at launch to make The Crew 2 stand out. There’s still hope that future updates will add more content and give players more reason to explore, but unless you’re desperate to take that virtual coast-to-coast road trip, you might want to wait and see what the season pass delivers later down the line.

Expansive, Ubisoft-esque USA; Plenty of aerial, marine automotive metal to drive
; Multiplayer integrates a lot smoother now;

Bizarro world weather and immersion-breaking detail; Little to keep you occupied on long road trips; No real multiplayer at launch
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Expansive, Ubisoft-esque USA; Plenty of aerial, marine automotive metal to drive
; Multiplayer integrates a lot smoother now;

Bizarro world weather and immersion-breaking detail; Little to keep you occupied on long road trips; No real multiplayer at launch
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