I've now had a substantial amount of time to play the crew and after reading the official gamespot review I feel the need to provide my full account. I feel like the reviewer didn't actually have any interest in playing the game. Considering he only used one car and played solo which is completely the opposite of how this game was designed. So here is my experience.
The Crew does a decent job getting you off to a running start, though it is a little confusing. You start in a police chase, quickly change cars, and the world begins to open up to you. There are missions you can jump into on your way to pick out your first car, and these if you participate in them it will give you a good idea of how the driving will be in the game.
One thing I wish the designers had included would be a quick tip guide or something to that effect. Once I realized I could turn off the driving assists and adjust the responsiveness for the steering everything clicked. With all of the assists on, this game is easy for beginners to pick up and play. If you've unlocked a large garage in Forza or Gran Turismo then you'll feel like you're driving a boat that does a good job of avoiding obstacles. Absolutely adjust the steering and turn down the assists.
Once you've picked out your car the world is your oyster. You can immediately bee line it for the farthest point on the map, go straight to your first race, or level up your ride with any of the nearby challenges. At first the races will just trickle out, maybe 1 or 2 to choose from at a time. Soon however you will reach level 10 and head out to the east coast where you'll begin to get races at a quicker pace. When you reach a race (or "Mission") you can choose to do a quick co-op race or play it solo. When racing solo this game can be somewhat unforgiving, but never impossible. I played a decent number of races solo on my way to level 50 and it didn't take me more than 15 hours. However, when playing on a crew things can become a lot easier, or a lot more difficult, depending on who is in your crew. One thing that people jumping in to a crew mission tend to forget is that you are a team, not opponents. If one person in your crew gets first or finishes the checkpoint race, everyone on the crew wins and can move on in the story mode. If you are trying to simply claim first over the other players the computer will always win.
The car selection in the crew is fair, there are around 40 or so cars to choose from. All of these cars can be set up differently, some can be made into all 5 specs, street, dirt, performance, raid, and circuit, while others can only choose from a few. Each of the cars has a different feel and application. For a speed challenge I would choose my nissan z3 performance car, but for challenge that requires me to hold a race line I would rather choose my aston martin, which isn't as quick but grips the pavement better. One way this game encourages you to build a large garage is the quick change feature. All you have to do is bring up your side menu (option on the ps4) and open your quick garage. Then just pick a car and you will switch. I've been driving at 160 MPH down the freeway and changed my car, it is that simple.
It doesn't matter much which car you are driving until you've built up it's level. You can do this buy completing races or skill challenges to earn higher level parts for your car. These parts are ranked bronze, silver, and gold, and will have a required player level to equip them. The higher the player level, the better the part. Once you reach lvl 50 you gain the ability to earn platinum parts from any races and skill challenges. I was very happy to find this out, because it meant that any race or challenge I came across could give me a part that I've wanted, and going back to get a higher score on the first races could offer real rewards. In the beginning of the game, I would recommend doing the skill challenges for new parts over trying the races. One major complaint I have for this game is how it determines the medals for races. I've finished a race 6 seconds ahead of the AI without any collisions and earned a bronze. It can be very frustrating, but once you realize that there is so much else to do in the game it's easy to dismiss.
The PVP in this game is a mixed bag. The actual racing can be very fun, especially if no one decides to ram everyone off the road. If you're car is around lvl 200 and you wind up in a lobby with someone in the 600's, chances are low that you'll be able to beat them and it can get pretty frustrating however if its 200 vs 400 the difference can be made up with skill. The rewards for pvp are much higher than any story races, and seem to be the core of the game once you've gotten through the story. This is great, when you can join a session. PVP comes in a few varieties. The first is the 8 player faction vs faction races, where you compete for standing against another faction (or sometimes your own faction) and it can take forever to actually get into one. It got this game docked a point because it's nearly impossible to actually join one. The next takes substantially less time to join and is how most people play the pvp. Free for All is just that, 8 players, everyone wants first. And it works very well. The person in the room with the most wins that session gets to choose the map and the corresponding vehicle type. Then everyone chooses which ride they want to use and your off. Then there is the option to host a private pvp game, which is a good way to race with your friends competitively but gives you no rewards.
As for the graphical side of the crew, it can be a little lacking. Object pop happens on occasion, and the textures are below average for your modern AAA titles. For some people this will be a deal breaker, but when I consider the size of the world within this game and the freedom I have to move within it I don't mind it so much. Some examples of what I mean about textures. When you look at the side of a building, you won't be able to see what kind of siding or molding it has. When you look at your muddy car up close, you can tell it's just a flat layer over your paint job and not caked on mud. The population is a little sparse, but given the scope of this game and it's focus on driving over hitting people it's not something that bothers me. That's not to say that this game can't be beautiful. On a few occasions I've driven my car to the top of a mountain to admire the view, and it is wonderful. The world spans out in front of you, and while the fog of war takes away the details in the difference, all you have to do is drive there.
I'm bored now so I'll just list some of my remaining likes and dislikes.
Likes: The map and quick travel. You can filter the icons easily, and fast travel anywhere. And I mean ANYWHERE, that spot in the middle of nowhere in a forest? Boom, you're there. 2 feet to the left so that you can get over that guard rail? Boom, you're there. Want to play that race but you're on the other side of the country? Just choose it and choose play. Very short load times on it.
Mobile Mechanic. Let's you repair your vehicle any time in free roam. Why do this when your car's health doesn't affect its driving? Because it makes your car sparkly again.
Dislikes: The cops. Their cars are magical in that they can stop you in half a second when you bump them from behind. Also the capture meter is like lightning fast, so one small mistake and it's over. It is an interesting way to handle police, and certainly can make the chases exciting but they can be very frustrating too. Thankfully the penalty for getting captured is pretty small and there aren't any long videos about it, you just lose a little money and pop back to your car but the cops are all gone. Spring loaded AI can be frustrating. You can be ahead by a ways and watch them zoom up behind you. It can make the game feel pretty stacked, but this can be remedied by a 4 person crew.
Any other questions feel free to ask. And if you get this game, add me on PSN!
PSN ID: Cherith