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Ubisoft asks fans to ignore early reviews of The Crew

The Crew, Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world driving game, is a fundamentally social experience, and as such the publisher asked fans in a blog post to put less stock in early reviews that have not had time to test the game in its full, connected environment. Media will have access to the game for review at the same time as everyone else, when it launches on December 2. While some reviews will probably go up right at launch, Ubisoft points out that these will be substantially based on preview time and the game’s numerous betas.

“We also know that many of you will be eager to turn to experts for their professional advice. You want to read how the pros feel after their carefully considered road tests of The Crew. While we totally understand (hey, we read reviews, too!), The Crew was built from the beginning to be a living playground full of driving fans, so it’s only possible to assess our game in its entirety with other real players in the world. And by other, we mean thousands and thousands and thousands of players – something that can’t be simulated with a handful of devs playing alongside the press.”

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(Editor’s note: We’ve been contacted privately by Ubisoft with the same explanation that you read above. Don’t expect to see a review of The Crew on Digital Trends until we’ve given it a thorough look. Fear not, holiday shoppers: We’ll have plenty of time get something up before the December holidays begin.)

A final, open beta for The Crew launches today on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, giving fans one last chance to test out the open world driving game before launch. The Crew spans a massive, continuous map of the United States, filling it with activities, challenges and secrets for you to find, alone or online, with friends or complete strangers. It shares many structural qualities with other open world Ubisoft games, like Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry, but all of that plays out with you behind the wheel of various cars.

The Crew launches on December 2 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Will Fulton
Former Staff Writer, Gaming
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
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