Developer : Ubisoft
Release date : December 2, 2014
Synopsis :
The Crew is an online-only racing video game developed by Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with an Xbox 360 port developed by Asobo Studio. It features a persistent open world environment for free-roaming across a scaled-down recreation of the United States and includes both role-playing and large-scale multiplayer elements.
The Crew received a mixed reception upon release. Critics praised the game’s world design but criticized the always-online aspect, which created technical glitches and other issues, the difficult-to-understand user interface, and the presence of microtransactions. The game shipped two million copies by January 1, 2015. The first expansion, titled The Crew: Wild Run, was released on November 17, 2015. The second expansion, entitled The Crew: Calling All Units, was announced at Gamescom 2016 and released on November 29, 2016. A sequel, The Crew 2, was released worldwide on June 29, 2018.
The story begins with main character Alex Taylor (Troy Baker) being pursued by local law enforcement near Detroit. After losing the cops, he finds a Chevrolet Camaro loaned to him by his friend and father figure, Harry (Charles Parnell). Harry explains to him that Alex’s older brother and the founder of the 5-10 motor club, Dayton (Travis Willingham), wants to speak with him. Dayton arrives and orders Alex to drive him to Ambassador Bridge. Once there, Dayton tells him to keep his head down. A Ford GT pulls up, Dayton goes and talks with the driver before walking back to the Camaro, but before he can get there, the driver shoots him and drives off. Alex rushes to Dayton’s side as the police arrives to arrest him. Dayton succumbs to his wound, while Alex is charged and later convicted of murder by FBI Special Agent Bill Coburn (D.C. Douglas).
Five years later, Alex, now in prison, encounters FBI Agent Zoe Winters (Amy Rosoff) who informs him that he will be temporarily released if he agrees to cooperate with the FBI in exposing Coburn’s corruption, and finding the truth behind Dayton’s murder, which has been committed by the new leader of the 5-10s, Dennis “Shiv” Jefferson (Jason Spisak). In doing so, Alex has to infiltrate the 5-10 and climb up its hierarchy, named after V engines, with Shiv being labeled as the “V8” (King V/Big Block/Big Eight). Other ranks included the starting rank of “Chauffeur”, the “V2” (V-twin), the “V4” (Four Block/Four Banger), and the “V6” (Hard Six).
After getting released from prison, Alex accepts his first mission to help the Detroit 5-10 lieutenant Troy (Joel Steingold). After doing several missions for him, Alex is sent to St. Louis to kill that city’s V2. Alex and Zoe fake the V2’s death, but Troy finds out that she is still alive, and manages to kill her himself. Alex then gets a call from Herschel Craig (Johnny Hawkes), the Chicago 5-10 and Troy’s rival. Craig asks Alex for help to claim territory from Troy. Alex is able to get his 5-10 ink by helping Craig recover a stolen car from Europe. Alex is sent to New York City soon after to help a V6, Shiv’s childhood friend, Eric Tsu (Vic Chao).
Alex goes to New York and is reunited with Harry, who agrees to help him. Alex gets an off-road vehicle and meets Eric, racing him and later doing missions for him. Meanwhile, Zoe and Alex are suspicious of Harry when he gets secretive. As it turns out, car shipments for the 5-10s went missing, and Harry had been behind them. It is later revealed that Harry is helping Dayton’s girlfriend, Connie, and her five-year-old son, Ben, by stealing a proper escape vehicle to escape the city from the 5-10s after hearing about Dayton’s death. Alex also has to do a delivery for a mysterious person, later revealed to be Coburn. Harry has Alex follow him with Connie and Ben in the car so they can escape the city. Alex gets his V2 ink, and is asked to go to Miami.
Alex goes to Miami and meets Alita (Cyrina Fiallo), Shiv’s ex-girlfriend. After winning a race against her crew, and later Alita herself, Alex is tasked with claiming The South from Cameron “Cam” Rockport, who has been killing various 5-10s to stay in power. Coburn, using a voice scrambler, then calls Alex for help in taking down Shiv. After winning the South from Cam in a race, Alex notices Coburn’s plan of killing Cam, and is forced to go to Miami Beach to save Cam. Cam catches up on Alex’s plan to take down Shiv, and allows him to go do so. Afterwards, Shiv notices Alex’s activities and gives him the V4 ink. Alex is then sent to Las Vegas.
Alex goes to a diner and meets Roxanne (Tonantzin Carmelo), a technology whiz whose missing sister, Daria, joined the 5-10s. After several missions, including one revealing that Daria had been killed by Shiv, Zoe finds out that Coburn is selling impounded contraband. She then orders Alex to travel to Death Valley to collect evidence against Coburn. After collecting sufficient evidence, Coburn eventually shows up. Alex proceeds to chase Coburn down across Las Vegas, and they end up in an airport, where Zoe arrests the corrupt FBI agent for a slew of charges, including his involvement with Dayton’s murder. With Coburn finished, Alex gets a call from Shiv saying he is invited as a V6 to “The 5-10 Face-Off” on the West Coast.
Alex goes to Los Angeles and meets Vincent (John Paul Pitoc), a former pro racer. Vincent agrees to help Alex, but Shiv has rigged the events against Alex. First, during a race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, he calls the police to arrest Alex. Later, in a race in the Yosemite National Park, Alex is forced to race in a car that isn’t as fast as the others’ cars. However, Alex overcomes all these odds and manages to win. Shiv discovers Alex’s desire of vengeance, and sends his henchmen to go after Alex. Alex escapes and goes to Shiv’s victory party with the intent of assassinating him, but Alex realizes that the people he met on his mission are his new family, and refuses to do so. He suggests to settle it in a race instead. Alex wins, but Shiv refuses to give up and the police arrives to arrest Shiv in which he pins the blame on Alex and says he will kill him for selling him out, leading Alex to chase him down along the coast.
At the end of the game, Shiv is confronted by the police as his car is totaled. In the subsequent epilogue, Alex explains his love for racing as he is named the new V8.
Source : Wikipedia
