The Crew 2: Stunning Open-World Gameplay Footage Revealed

The Crew presents players with a simple, but alluring premise: Hop inside of a vehicle you could never afford in real life, and take a cross-country tour with your friends. Cross the great states while participating in races, stunt events, and tournaments, or just take in the sights and raise some hell. Ubisoft wants to create a true open-world racing game with The Crew, and new gameplay footage from The Crew 2 has instilled us with confidence that it might just pull off the ultimate open-world racer. Check out some new gameplay footage from IGN above!

As you can see, player freedom is valued above all else. At the touch of a button, players will be able to switch between any of the cars, planes, or boats that they've unlocked. When we say at the touch of a button, we mean it. Soar high above the clouds in your plane, transform into a boat, and watch as your watercraft plummets tens of thousands of feet into the water below -- and take off without missing a beat! Likewise, you may find yourself weaving in and out of cars on the road in a newly acquired spots car, and when traffic gets to be a bother, you can simply transform into a plane and soar over and above the city streets.

This is the kind of sandbox I'd love to get lost in, especially with friends. Reports indicate an experience much less reliant on campy gangster storylines, and more on the simple enjoyment of the world set before you. The previews we're reading are based on a short afternoon spent with the game, but I'm hoping that they are indicative of the grander experience. The Crew 2 needs to be a giant playground for friends to get lost in; it needs to facilitate self-driven stories and experiences, and so far it sounds like that's exactly what we can expect.

Eurogamer's preview has painted The Crew 2 as more of a reboot than a sequel. Indeed, the original game was a delight, and the Wild Run expansion fixed many of the original complaints that fans had when the game launched, but the player-base started to dwindle too early. Hopefully we can finally see this world come into its own in the long-awaited sequel, which drops on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam on June 29!