Occasionally here at Player2.net.au we will play something that deserves your attention but probably doesn’t need a full review written for it. Be it DLC for the latest AAA title, a little indie game or even an Android/iOS title. We play these titles for a blockbusting amount of time (2 – 5 hours) and report back to you the reader on what we found. So grab your popcorn and settle in for the latest episode of Blockbuster Gaming.
Blockbuster Gaming – The Crew: Wild Run
I always thought the idea behind The Crew was a great one. The whole of the USA as a car lover’s playground. Sadly that idea was ultimately the thing that undid The Crew and stopped it from being a must buy game. There was simply too much space with not enough to do except drive from point A to point B. While it was entertaining to drive from one side of the Virtual USA to another for a time, the novelty soon wore off and it became nothing more than a drudge. But just like a few games recently (Destiny for example) the developers haven’t let initial issues stop them from expanding and improving on the game to get it to a point that the public enjoys. With this in mind Ubisoft have released Wild Run an add on that brings a significant amount of content to The Crew and freshens the experience in the process.
Addressing the problem of too much empty space, The Wild Run introduces a new “stunt” system that adds small progressive goals to aim for while I was taking part in those cross country road trips. These stunts involved typical arcade racing activities such as driving on the wrong side of the road for a certain distance or racing through the streets at tops speeds for a particular length of time. There is nothing revolutionary here but I must admit it did help break up the monotony of some of the longer trips through the country side.
The biggest additions to the game however are in the form of Motorbikes and extreme events. The motorbikes feel like a great addition to the world of The Crew and I find it hard to imagine the reasoning behind their initial absence. The off road events are particularly exciting on two wheels with edge-of-the-seat racing the order of the day. The extreme events involve three new race types. The first is monster truck racing which takes place on a stunt course with collecting point tokens and performing tricks the order of the day. Drag racing is just what it sounds like and finally Drift racing involves combining long drifts through multiple corners to rack up big scores. I had the most fun with the monster trucks as it was something that was pretty new to the genre. Drift and Drag seem to be a common element in racing games these days so it was harder to get excited about them.
The Crew: Wild Run also brought a host of improvements to the main game with some handling upgrades to the cars, improved graphics and some general sound and gameplay tidy ups. In all the package is a nice one for existing players and may be just thing to convince new players into the water. For me The Crew is a game best played occasionally, not in big chunks of time, and this DLC only emphasises this. The Crew: Wild Run doesn’t quite address the major problems of the initial release but it does add a lot of new and entertaining content to the game. If you are looking for the occasional blast through the countryside and you can get it on sale then The Crew: Wild Run is a perfect fit.
Matt Hewson
