Post by Ed.Venture on Jul 2, 2017 13:34:01 GMT -5
www.redbull.com/int-en/the-crew-2-racing-game-red-bull-games
Get ready to race by road, sea and air in Ubisoft’s brand new open world thrill-seeking adventure.
As if the next 12 months wasn’t gridlocked with amazing new racing games already, along comes The Crew 2, one of the most exciting announcements at this year’s E3 gaming convention for petrolheads. Due for release in early 2018, Ubisoft’s racing game franchise is going truly open world this time around with players able to drive off-road as well as hop onto boats or even take to the skies above a fictitious United States.
To find out more about Ubisoft’s plans for The Crew 2, we caught up with the game’s producer, Stephane Jankowski. Read on for everything that’s new.
Open world gets even more expansive
Jankowski reveals that more than 12 million gamers have played The Crew since it first launched in 2014 – meaning there was a lot of feedback to sift through. One frequent request was clear however. “We’ve learned a lot from our players and adapted the experience to their needs. For instance, one of the main feedback we received was the demand for more freedom within the game,” he explains.
“The Crew 2 is a brand new experience featuring a unique narrative environment. You are the main character of the story. As such, you’re free to make your own choices and find your unique path to becoming a motorsports champion.”
This time around – perhaps drawing from Ubisoft’s open world action sports game, Steep – total freedom is the name of the game. “It’s one of the main drivers in The Crew 2 conception: removing the barriers to smoothen the experience and make it more accessible as well as more generous,” Jankowski says. “Everything in The Crew 2 is about freedom and diversity. We reshaped the USA from the bottom up to welcome all the new types of vehicles we’re adding into the game. Boats and planes are now a big part of the experience.”
There’s a new progression system
While the original game employed a fairly standard linear narrative with storyline missions you had to complete one after the other, Ubisoft are mixing things up for The Crew 2, acknowledging that for many gamers, that’s just not how they want to play. “We’ve also redesigned the progression system to allow players to express themselves in different playstyles, embodied by The Crew 2 four families: pro racing, street racing, freestyle, and off-road,” Jankowski explains. Meaning, in other words, that you can focus on the races, missions and areas of the map that interest you most.
“Each family offers opportunities to discover today’s vibrant motorsports reality,” he says. “Each family has its own take on competition. Street races are underground challenges while freestyle will allow you to take advantage of the playground to create amazing tricks.”
Broadened horizons
Ubisoft haven’t just been working on a greater sense of freedom on the open road in The Crew 2. New vehicle types mean the studio had to up the ante when it comes to graphics too – as far as the eye can see. “By adding new types of vehicles like boats and planes, we’re now rediscovering our iconic open world through stunning perspectives,” Jankowksi explains.
“For example, when flying with planes you can enjoy a view up to two miles, through atmospheric clouds. We also reworked the entire network of rivers to allow players visit the US by boat. Finally, we took the opportunity to upgrade our engine to support amazing graphics, more realistic vegetation, and enhance the weather system.”
New locations for new disciplines
The first game saw protagonist Alex Taylor roadtripping throughout a condensed version of the whole US. For the sequel, the studio have gone back to the drawing board, with redesigned geography, streets and buildings to better make use of all the new racing disciplines.
“The world of The Crew 2 is a new take on the USA called Motornation. It is huge, action-packed, but most of all it is specifically shaped for a new set of disciplines; from street racing to aerobatics or rally raid, to name just a few,” Jankowski says. “We also had to reconsider the playground from its foundations, to make sure it was compatible with all the crazy stuff you could do on land, on water and in the air. For example, we completely reshaped US cities design for street racing: you can now take jumps on rooftops for new thrilling sensations.”
You can team up to explore
As in the original, which allowed friends to join you on missions in co-op mode, multiplayer will play a big role in The Crew 2, Jankowski confirms. However, this time around, there will be open ended race stages to power through together. “For players who are into exploration, we created rally raid events where you have to find your own path through the huge variety of landscapes that our world offers,” he says.
Solo players shouldn’t feel left out, however. “AI has been totally remade to support these new kind of experiences. We will continue to tweak it during upcoming beta phases, with players’ feedback.”
The Crew’s best DLC inspired the sequel
Ubisoft supported the original game with additional content for a surprisingly long time, rolling out large expansions in 2015 and 2016. Our favourite, the unabashedly OTT Wild Run, was a big influence in shaping the various disciplines and action of the sequel, it turns out.
“Players’ reaction to Wild Run has been incredibly positive, so we wanted to create specific challenges for these types of vehicles [monster trucks, motorbikes], and to continue to increase the diversity of our line-up. This is what players will discover in the Off-Road family,” Jankowski says. “The Crew 2 will offer an unprecedented line-up variety, so anyone can drive their favourite vehicle and enjoy challenges tailored for their play style.”
Ubisoft is getting under the hood of the new consoles
While Jankowski won’t be drawn on what improvements we can expect to see on the PlayStation 4 Pro and the upcoming Xbox One X, he says that the power both souped up consoles provide will be taken advantage of by the development team. “It’s too early for us to release detailed information on these two platforms, however the development team is ensuring the game will take benefit from the capacities of these consoles.”
Jankowski is more reticent about a potential Nintendo Switch port, however. “While Ubisoft continues to work closely with all our hardware partners, on this project we have nothing to share at this point in regard to the Nintendo Switch,” he says.
There’s still more to come
In the trailer shown at E3 earlier this month we saw road vehicles, single-seater cars, planes, even boats. That may not be everything we should expect, Jankowski hints. “At E3 we unveiled just a snapshot of the variety of vehicles that will be featured in The Crew 2, including new brands like Porsche or Audi,” he says.
“Players will also have the opportunity to test their skills while piloting the Donzi boat or the Zivko Edge plane. We’ll reveal more vehicle types and brands as we get closer to release – stay tuned.”
Bro... BRO! BRUH!!!
Let the hype commence.
Get ready to race by road, sea and air in Ubisoft’s brand new open world thrill-seeking adventure.
As if the next 12 months wasn’t gridlocked with amazing new racing games already, along comes The Crew 2, one of the most exciting announcements at this year’s E3 gaming convention for petrolheads. Due for release in early 2018, Ubisoft’s racing game franchise is going truly open world this time around with players able to drive off-road as well as hop onto boats or even take to the skies above a fictitious United States.
To find out more about Ubisoft’s plans for The Crew 2, we caught up with the game’s producer, Stephane Jankowski. Read on for everything that’s new.
Open world gets even more expansive
Jankowski reveals that more than 12 million gamers have played The Crew since it first launched in 2014 – meaning there was a lot of feedback to sift through. One frequent request was clear however. “We’ve learned a lot from our players and adapted the experience to their needs. For instance, one of the main feedback we received was the demand for more freedom within the game,” he explains.
“The Crew 2 is a brand new experience featuring a unique narrative environment. You are the main character of the story. As such, you’re free to make your own choices and find your unique path to becoming a motorsports champion.”
This time around – perhaps drawing from Ubisoft’s open world action sports game, Steep – total freedom is the name of the game. “It’s one of the main drivers in The Crew 2 conception: removing the barriers to smoothen the experience and make it more accessible as well as more generous,” Jankowski says. “Everything in The Crew 2 is about freedom and diversity. We reshaped the USA from the bottom up to welcome all the new types of vehicles we’re adding into the game. Boats and planes are now a big part of the experience.”
There’s a new progression system
While the original game employed a fairly standard linear narrative with storyline missions you had to complete one after the other, Ubisoft are mixing things up for The Crew 2, acknowledging that for many gamers, that’s just not how they want to play. “We’ve also redesigned the progression system to allow players to express themselves in different playstyles, embodied by The Crew 2 four families: pro racing, street racing, freestyle, and off-road,” Jankowski explains. Meaning, in other words, that you can focus on the races, missions and areas of the map that interest you most.
“Each family offers opportunities to discover today’s vibrant motorsports reality,” he says. “Each family has its own take on competition. Street races are underground challenges while freestyle will allow you to take advantage of the playground to create amazing tricks.”
Broadened horizons
Ubisoft haven’t just been working on a greater sense of freedom on the open road in The Crew 2. New vehicle types mean the studio had to up the ante when it comes to graphics too – as far as the eye can see. “By adding new types of vehicles like boats and planes, we’re now rediscovering our iconic open world through stunning perspectives,” Jankowksi explains.
“For example, when flying with planes you can enjoy a view up to two miles, through atmospheric clouds. We also reworked the entire network of rivers to allow players visit the US by boat. Finally, we took the opportunity to upgrade our engine to support amazing graphics, more realistic vegetation, and enhance the weather system.”
New locations for new disciplines
The first game saw protagonist Alex Taylor roadtripping throughout a condensed version of the whole US. For the sequel, the studio have gone back to the drawing board, with redesigned geography, streets and buildings to better make use of all the new racing disciplines.
“The world of The Crew 2 is a new take on the USA called Motornation. It is huge, action-packed, but most of all it is specifically shaped for a new set of disciplines; from street racing to aerobatics or rally raid, to name just a few,” Jankowski says. “We also had to reconsider the playground from its foundations, to make sure it was compatible with all the crazy stuff you could do on land, on water and in the air. For example, we completely reshaped US cities design for street racing: you can now take jumps on rooftops for new thrilling sensations.”
You can team up to explore
As in the original, which allowed friends to join you on missions in co-op mode, multiplayer will play a big role in The Crew 2, Jankowski confirms. However, this time around, there will be open ended race stages to power through together. “For players who are into exploration, we created rally raid events where you have to find your own path through the huge variety of landscapes that our world offers,” he says.
Solo players shouldn’t feel left out, however. “AI has been totally remade to support these new kind of experiences. We will continue to tweak it during upcoming beta phases, with players’ feedback.”
The Crew’s best DLC inspired the sequel
Ubisoft supported the original game with additional content for a surprisingly long time, rolling out large expansions in 2015 and 2016. Our favourite, the unabashedly OTT Wild Run, was a big influence in shaping the various disciplines and action of the sequel, it turns out.
“Players’ reaction to Wild Run has been incredibly positive, so we wanted to create specific challenges for these types of vehicles [monster trucks, motorbikes], and to continue to increase the diversity of our line-up. This is what players will discover in the Off-Road family,” Jankowski says. “The Crew 2 will offer an unprecedented line-up variety, so anyone can drive their favourite vehicle and enjoy challenges tailored for their play style.”
Ubisoft is getting under the hood of the new consoles
While Jankowski won’t be drawn on what improvements we can expect to see on the PlayStation 4 Pro and the upcoming Xbox One X, he says that the power both souped up consoles provide will be taken advantage of by the development team. “It’s too early for us to release detailed information on these two platforms, however the development team is ensuring the game will take benefit from the capacities of these consoles.”
Jankowski is more reticent about a potential Nintendo Switch port, however. “While Ubisoft continues to work closely with all our hardware partners, on this project we have nothing to share at this point in regard to the Nintendo Switch,” he says.
There’s still more to come
In the trailer shown at E3 earlier this month we saw road vehicles, single-seater cars, planes, even boats. That may not be everything we should expect, Jankowski hints. “At E3 we unveiled just a snapshot of the variety of vehicles that will be featured in The Crew 2, including new brands like Porsche or Audi,” he says.
“Players will also have the opportunity to test their skills while piloting the Donzi boat or the Zivko Edge plane. We’ll reveal more vehicle types and brands as we get closer to release – stay tuned.”
Bro... BRO! BRUH!!!
Let the hype commence.
