Fight! Forza Horizon 2 vs. The Crew

The Crew for the win!

Now you don't have to read the whole story. Not that you were going to.

So anyway we posted some stories about Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious and while playing it I started looking at the full version of Forza Horizon 2. I had been looking for a good open world racing game on the Xbox One to replace my recent experiences with Test Drive Unlimited 2 on the Xbox 360.

Oddly enough reading about Forza Horizon 2 lead me to The Crew which is where things got... interesting.

Both offer an open world driving experience. The Crew offers a compressed United States and Forza Horizon 2 offers up parts of France and Italy. Both are designed for the newest console generation with amazing graphics and beautiful cars.

But...

Everything seems to be leading me to Forza Horizons 2. Better reviews, better graphics, better campaign, lots of cars and seemingly most important, no micro-transactions. As a Ubisoft game The Crew has micro-transactions. Not horribly but cars cost money. Lots of money. You can grind to earn money for the new car you want or you can buy in game cash with real money and get the car right away.

I considered the micro-transactions an immediate show stopper. Or I did until...

In one of the reviews I read it talked about Ivory Tower the developer of The Crew and that a large number of the developers came from Eden Games a developer shut down in 2013 by Atari. Right after Eden Games finished developing Test Drive Unlimited 2.

Now hold on a minute! Test Drive Unlimited 2? The game I was trying to replace? Yes The Crew is in may ways a spiritual successor to Test Drive Unlimited 2. This put The Crew up on top ahead of Forza Horizons 2.

Some other things weighed in for The Crew:

1. It was the underdog, something I always like
2. It was designed as a co-operative racer, hence The Crew
3. Regular challenges (daily, weekly, monthly, Faction, community)

I also admit to liking the North America Open World of The Crew more than the France/Italy Open World of Forza Horizons 2. It can take more than 45 minutes to drive across The Crew's map. There are a few methods of faster travel.

So, yes, The Crew won

Originally this story was written as "which game should I buy?" A show down between The Crew and Forza Horizons 2. This, of course, was before I bought The Crew.

I am now playing The Crew incessantly but wanted to mention one thing. You should probably wait for the first price reduction.

I was pricing the two games through eBay and found a low priced auction for a used copy of The Crew. I used JbidWatcher (thanks Stormblade) to put a low bid on the auction. I ended up winning the auction at $5 less than I offered and ended up paying $35 total for The Crew. This included shipping and taxes. The retail price for The Crew on Xbox One is $69.99. I was exceedingly happy with my half price purchase. Even more so when I discovered the included Xbox Live codes still worked. In a used game. Score!

The Crew was released in December and has seen at least two major patches. I would expect we will see a price drop shortly. I have already seen the season pass reduced 30% in a Xbox Gold Deal.

As a late entry to Test Drive Unlimited 2 I regretted missing out the larger online user base and on the ongoing developer and publisher support. I am happy this is not happening with The Crew.

Please note that The Crew offers a two hour free trial. Download the game digitally and it will allow you to test out the full game for two hours. If you buy the game afterward you keep any experience earned. Just be aware that your cars and your driver improve over time as they level up. We have tested the two hour trial and Coxxorz joined my crew for a two hour drive. He is waiting for a price drop (Coxxorzs must be Coxxorzs) before he grabs a copy. Hopefully I will still be playing it then.

For now, my driver has a 40 level head start. He just needs a crew...

The Crew – launch trailer