The Crew Launch Trailer Goes Full CG

You know that old saying, “Never go full CG for a launch trailer”? Well, Ubisoft went full CG for the launch trailer and I must say that The Crew's full CG launch trailer is actually quite well done. The only problem is that it's not really a fair shake of what the game is really like since none of it is actual in-game play.

DSO Gaming spotted the launch trailer for the game and I must admit that the music is actually really, really, really good. It sets a nice tone for everything that follows.

The trailer starts off in an empty desert as a Mustang emerges and begins racing down a highway that unearths a sprawling concrete jungle, filled to the brim with all the expectancies of a modern, urban raceway.

The trailer proceeds to introduce new cars to the fold, showcasing different race types and scenarios as the cars transform and alter to suit the needs of the designated event, this ranges from taking bumps and shunts on the hilly dunes of the beach, to the tight quarters and turns on a cliff-side race. There's even the obligatory nod to the standard-fare Need for Speed gimmick of having plenty of police hounding down the sports car on a moderately crowded freeway.

Each of these scenarios are posed – almost as if they were questions about possibilities – and answered with the slow roll-in of a new car to complete a lateral line-up of high-end rubber-burners. What the trailer proposes is that each of these vehicles are good at doing something special and that together they make up a formidable crew.

The trailer ends by showing the crew facing down against another crew, and then things zoom out so that we see that a faction war is about to commence. Ideally, the trailer works. I think it does a good job of conveying the camaraderie and diversity of the racing action, as well as the need to have friends to back you up during an event. However, I find that the trailer alludes to something we actually haven't seen too much of: crew-based racing.

I like the concept of what Ubisoft is going for, but most of the promo trailers depict The Crew as just another generic, open-world racer. In fact, I forgot that the whole gimmick of the game was centered around team-based racing.

I suppose I'm curious to see exactly how the whole team element works out and how that changes the immersion factors for the game. Most of the alpha and beta testing footage centered around single-player races, which really took away from the overall appeal of the game.

For me, The Crew looks boring and more like an alternative, urban-centric version of Forza Horizon 2. However, if the actual team-based elements help give the game a bit of a spark and some spunk, it may not turn out all that bad. It's hard for me to trust the quality of the game when the reviews were embargoed to the day of release, though.

The game is set to drop on December 2nd, tomorrow, for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.