The Crew 2 is speeding along in its newest major update, Demolition Derby! Bringing the chance to go head to head with other players in time attack races as well as smashing viciously into others while destroying cars left and right in the Demolition Derby discipline. This huge update brings all this and more and I had a chance to check it all out ahead of time courtesy of Ubisoft.
The Demolition Derby update is a free update for all players on both console and PC that will be available on December 5th. The highlight of this is the PvP mode and the new discipline which brings all new fully destructible cars and arenas to bash them together in. With PvP up to eight people can battle it out in various disciplines over several events across the map. While this can be done for the pure fun and thrill of racing against actual players, there are PvP leagues offering stiffer competition and higher rewards. If perhaps you’d rather drive headlong into other racers seeking to make their chosen car a flaming wreck, than the discipline of Demolition Derby may be for you. It starts off with two different arenas with several modes available on each and four destructible cars made for this. While one arena will feature the normal fare of racing to get first and win that way, the other is all about who destroys the others the most all while being mindful of the various traps and hazards on the course like bouncing platforms and pitfalls.
All of the above gives for a pretty hefty free update, but the folks at Ubisoft are adding more as well. Besides the cars for Demolition Derby, there are a total of 14 new vehicles available to earn or purchase via in game credits including the Bugatti Chiron. The games physics and collision system have been overhauled so that Demolition cars will be destructible in competition and freeride as well. Along with this are updates to the disciplines already in game with more activates as well as skills and a new Live Xtreme Series featuring fun in the snow.
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I was able to sit down and have a hands on with the new update. PvP brings something that was sorely missing from The Crew 2 at launch. Finally, you can join up with friends or a group of randoms as you race down the highway at breakneck speed trying to see who's the best and win some gear along the way. While time attack-based races had ghosting in them, others didn’t and the bump and grind could make for that much of a difference in a race. This new aspect is the glitz and glamour of the game whereas Demolition Derby is the in your face explosion from this update. If the laughter and cursing was anything to go by than several of us there were enjoying ourselves. It was refreshing to have cars that could blow out tires and no longer steer properly with doors hanging off hinges as we tried to destroy one and other. The arenas held their own features which made some easier to play on (we started with the one that was surrounded by water, needless to say several of us went swimming a lot) and others were about speed and some luck grabbing a bonus repair as it spawned. The figure 8 race track added to the chaos with all the T-bones in the middle of it.
Rounding out the update the new cars available handled well and looked great. The Bugatti was a dream to drive. Overall this new update was fun to play and shows the commitment the team has to continually make The Crew 2 better.
While there I had a chance to sit down and talk to Claire Garin, Communications Manager of Ivory Tower studios about the newest update to the Crew 2.
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MMO: What does this new update bring to players?
Claire: Several things. Mostly the new Discipline Demolition Derby and our brand new PvP mode.
MMO: With Demolition Derby you’re introducing a new Discipline with new cars that have actual destruction physics? And how many tracks will this new Discipline start with?
Claire:Yes, they are destroyable cars. We will start with 8 challenges ready to go and those will take place in two brand new spots that were created from scratch for this. There’s the arena in the Bonneville Salt Flats and there is a circuit in a figure 8 shape down in the Tucson aircraft cemetery.
MMO: With the new PvP mode will those be ghosted races or can they be switched on or off?
Claire: It depends. Those are basically the events that are in the game, so some will be playing with the ghost system. For instance, we have a couple of Hypercar races that are really based on time attack so we don’t want collision to be an impediment to players. But you’ll have all sorts of touring cars and such where you’ll actually compete with people on a track in a circuit so collision will be a factor.
MMO: While the big emphasis with this update is about the PvP, but you’ve brought in more cars as well?
Claire: First we have five new vehicles for Demolition Derby which are fully destructible. But in total we are added 14 new vehicles with this update.
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MMO: So, while this is a major update, you’ve done other big updates as well?
Claire: Correct, this is going to be our 2nd major update. We had Gator Rush where we added the hovercraft discipline and a bunch of cool new features in September. Along with that debugging and polishing is an ongoing process that we continually work on. We’re added big work to AI and the damage system this December and also, we’ve reworked the lighting system so that visibility would be way better, especially at night so that players can enjoy the games visuals more. We updated The Crew 1 for four years continually and we plan to do just that with The Crew 2 constantly making it better.
MMO: Final thoughts for everyone reading?
Claire: We’re always improving, we’re always adding new stuff, we’re always keeping our eyes peeled for player feedback. If you voiced what you didn’t like or what you wanted to change, keep coming back. We are focused on making things better and richer, perfecting what’s already in the game.
