Tips and Tricks for playing The Crew 2

I’m still planning to do some proper online testing with some pals before I render my final verdict of The Crew 2, but so far it ain’t a bad game at all. It’s massive, gorgeous but also strangely soulless in a way that I just can’t quite put my finger on just yet. Maybe my attitude will change, maybe it won’t after this weekend but that doesn’t mean that there are people out there who aren’t ready to jam it this weekend.

There’s a lot that The Crew 2 gets right, but also a lot that it hides from players. I’ve had the game for a couple of days now, so I might as well share some of that knowledge gleaned from it, right?

Cars handling too stiff? Go nuts with the options

If you’re used to the handling of games such as Forza Horizon, The Crew 2 might seem like an unwieldy beast at first. That’s a feature by design, but not a concrete one at that. If you’re desiring a looser and more dynamic steering system to go with braking that’ll make Japan’s Hashiriya nod with serene acceptance of your burnt rubber, then you’re going to want to tinker with the options.

Navigate to the page where you can remap the controls, and go nuts. Honestly, I’ve tuned everything to the far right of the screen and it has made a difference. It makes for a more arcadey experience, something which tickles my fancy just right.

You can switch between land, sea and air vehicles whenever you want

It’s kind of cool how The Crew 2 allows you to switch between any of your favourite vehicles, like some sort of weird triple-changer Transformer. There is a catch to all of this of course. Switching from a car to a boat will leave you high and dry on the road, while going from an aerial trick champion to a hypercar will have you meeting the asphalt quickly and from a stupid height.

Still, pushing down on the right analogue stick and selecting your preferred vehicle from there is easy enough. Just make certain that you do it in the right place, savvy?

Don’t forget to check your mailbox!

Forgot to collect some loot after a race? Worry not, because The Crew 2 clearly has people cleaning up after you. While you can’t access it from the various menus, all of your headquarters bases have a black crate that’ll store anything that you may have missed, inside of them. In the future, expect other stuff to be deposited inside them as well as Ubisoft creates a longterm plan for The Crew 2 that’ll drop a few rewards on loyal players.

Also don’t forget to spend your Icon points when you’re famous enough

You’ve been gaining followers at a steady clip, your name is synonymous with high-speed racing and you can charge an arm and a leg for a sponsored Instagram post with your newfound fame. So how does that really benefit you? With Icon Points! Once you reach the Icon status in The Crew 2, go to your character profile and start spending those points on enhancing your comfort, vehicle and gameplay options.

Every new ding of the Icon level-up tree will net you more points, and you’ll be driving hard to earn all 1000 of them to climb your way to some pretty significant bonuses. If you don’t like ‘em, you can refund those points so long as they stay within the same skill tree, and reinvest them in other avenues of growth.

There’s a trick to maxing out your boat speed in a race

Racing a boat should be simple, right? A large body of water, few obstacles and a straight line being the usual best route to each checkpoint. The trick here in The Crew 2, is to absolutely avoid getting caught in the wake of other boats. While street racing might provide a drag effect when you tail a rival, the story changes with boats as you find yourself slowing down in choppy water.

Stick to your own path, criss cross with other boats in the water and you’ll find the right amount of challenge in this particular discipline.

You can easily grind races with minimal time wasted

With a CaRPG style of gameplay, The Crew 2 naturally leans towards grinding through some races to earn some quick cash and followers. Because of the menu system, it can take a while to start race after race if you stick through the end credits. You don;t have to however, as you can quickly restart a match the very second after you’ve banked your rewards.

Just hold down Triangle/Y, and you’ll soon be grinding your way through to fame and fortune. Which should save you more time on the track

Or just check your activities menu

The more you win, the more you unlock and your map of Murica in the Crew 2 begins to get pretty full pretty quickly. How does a person find the right race to increase their follower count when the map is littered with icons? Easily enough, as one of the many quality of life changes that The Crew 2 has is a quick menu that condenses all of your available activities into one function. Simply hit start, go to Activities and there you go.

A nice and quick way to check races off of your schedule for the day.

Last Updated: June 29, 2018