Info about The Crew™:

Official game description:
Ultimate Edition
================
Explore the first realistic recreation of the entire USA ever built for a driving game in The Crew® Ultimate Edition, your all inclusive edition of the revolutionary action driving game The Crew®.  
INCLUDES:  
\- The Crew®  
\- The Crew® Wild Run expansion  
\- The Crew® Calling All Units expansion  
\- The Season Pass  
KEY FEATURES:  
\- Roam the ultimate driving playground on and off road in a 5000km² open world  
\- Master every terrain with powerful cars, agile motorcycles, unstoppable monster trucks or roaring dragsters  
\- Be spontaneous, turn on-road encounters into intense rivalries or bond with friends, creating instant challenges with fellow drivers  
\- Chose the badge or the street, fly solo or join a police squad and use your special abilities to track down and chase Street Racers all over the US  
CONTENT:  
\- Over 120 Licensed Vehicles  
\- 220+ Tuning Kits  
\- A 30+ hours Story Campaign  
\- An inovative Cops Vs Racers Gameplay  
\- Over 220 missions  
\- Unlimited Freedrive activities
About the Game
==============
Your car is your avatar - fine tune your ride as you level up and progress through 5 unique and richly detailed regions of a massive open-world US. Maneuver through the bustling streets of New York City and Los Angeles, cruise down sunny Miami Beach or trek through the breathtaking plateaus of Monument Valley. Each locale comes with its own set of surprises and driving challenges to master. On your journey you will encounter other players on the road – all potentially worthy companions to crew up with, or future rivals to compete against. This is driving at its most exciting, varied and open.  
• **NEVER DRIVE ALONE**  
Jump in and out seamlessly and build your crew of four through bonding or intense rivalry. Whether your objective is to take down a convoy or to escape the police, achieving it with friends ensures a fresh experience each time you join in.  
• **A PLAYGROUND OF UNPRECEDENTED SCOPE AND VARIETY**  
The entire United States is your driving playground – all roads and everything in between. Every type of terrain imaginable is yours to master – from downtown city streets to suburbs, hillsides, cornfields, canyons, desert dunes or even race tracks.  
• **PREPARE YOUR CAR FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE**  
Collect body and performance parts as you progress to customize and upgrade your licensed cars. Equip your ride with 5 different tuning specs (street, perf, dirt, raid, circuit) to adapt to different driving terrains. Choose from a wide range of perks to enhance your vehicle according to your driving style.  
• **THE EXPERIENCE GOES ON, WHEREVER YOU ARE**  
Continue the experience on iOS, Android tablets, and on the web. Track of your friends’ performance and fine tune your ride before taking it live to set new records, or send your crew on jobs while on-the-go to earn more XP and parts.

Release date: Dec 2, 2014

Categories: Driving Simulation, Open-World Exploration, Vehicle Customization, Multiplayer, Racing, Cooperative Gameplay, Off-road Driving

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 90; verdict: Predatory Monetization; summary: The game is heavily criticized for its aggressive and greedy monetization practices. Key issues include pay-to-win mechanics, overpriced microtransactions, and a significant grind that pushes players towards spending real money. These practices are seen as detrimental to the overall gaming experience and have led to widespread dissatisfaction among players.
- Steam Deck: score 65; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The analysis of user feedback for The Crew reveals several significant issues impacting the user experience. The lack of an offline mode and the requirement to use the Uplay launcher are the most critical problems, leading to high friction and inconvenience. Additionally, gameplay and UI issues, online connectivity problems, and game stability concerns have been noted. These factors contribute to a less-than-optimal gaming experience, with frequent mentions of glitches, repetitive gameplay, and the need for an internet connection.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00
  - Reasoning: The evidence suggests that the community generally finds the game overpriced at its full price, with multiple mentions that it is not worth paying the full price. Several reviews indicate that a fair price for the game is around $20, especially when purchased during a sale. The sentiment is that the game provides value at a discounted price but not at its full price.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 80.0h
  - Story completion: 20.0h
  - Session length: 1.0h
  - Endgame: 10.0h
  - Reasoning: The evidence provided includes several key points that help to estimate the playtime metrics. The first quote indicates that the user has spent over 80 hours on the game, with 70 hours being enjoyable, suggesting a high total playtime for game completion. The second quote mentions an additional 10 hours, which could be part of the endgame content. The third quote refers to custom races that can take significant time, hinting at longer session lengths and potential endgame activities. The fourth quote suggests that sessions can be lengthy, as users spend considerable time trying to join crews and servers.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game is fun with friends and offers a good multiplayer experience, though it may have a slight learning curve and some technical issues initially.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: Playing with friends
  - Time to anchor: 1h 0m
  - Friction: Slight learning curve; Technical issues; Multiplayer connectivity problems
  - Unlock drivers: Playing with friends; Exploring the open world
  - Conditions: Co-op mode; Multiplayer sessions; Exploration with friends
- Player Archetypes:
  - Social Racer (sale)
    - Motivation: Social interaction and competition
    - Playstyle: Enjoys cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes, participates in PvP events and faction missions.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: Multiplayer enthusiast; Co-op player
    - Reference games: Test Drive Unlimited 2; Need for Speed series
  - Open-World Explorer (sale)
    - Motivation: Exploration and customization
    - Playstyle: Enjoys driving around and exploring the open world, customizing cars, and participating in various missions and challenges.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: Arcade racing fan; Exploration enthusiast
    - Reference games: Need for Speed series; Midnight Club: LA
  - Critical Player (deep sale)
    - Motivation: Identifying and pointing out flaws
    - Playstyle: Plays the game but is critical of its design and technical issues.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: deep sale
    - Labels: Critical gamer; Technical analyst
    - Reference games: Test Drive Unlimited 2; Need for Speed series


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Beautiful and expansive map (weight 0.57): The game offers a large, detailed, and authentic map of the USA, providing a beautiful open world for players to explore.
- High-quality graphics and performance (weight 0.38): The game features detailed environments and good graphics, with many players appreciating the optimization and video quality.
- Engaging multiplayer modes (weight 0.34): The game features engaging multiplayer modes, including cooperative and competitive options, enhancing the social experience.
- Engaging and fun gameplay (weight 0.25): The gameplay is described as fluid, perfect, and enjoyable, with seamless co-op and captivating experiences.
- Detailed and immersive environment (weight 0.22): The game offers a detailed and immersive environment, contributing to the overall enjoyment and realism of the open world.
- Enjoyable driving mechanics (weight 0.18): The driving physics and mechanics are described as fun and enjoyable, providing an arcade-like experience.
- Amazing open-world exploration (weight 0.16): The game offers a vast open-world driving experience with detailed environments, recommended for fans of open-world games.
- Fun social experiences (weight 0.15): Players enjoy hanging out and cruising with friends, enhancing the social aspects of the game.

Common complaints:
- Servers shut down frequently (weight 0.56): Players report frequent server shutdowns and disconnections, making the game unplayable at times. This issue is widespread and significantly impacts the gaming experience.
- Physics and performance issues (weight 0.26): The game suffers from various physics-related problems, including glitchy physics and collision issues. These issues affect the overall gameplay experience and are a common complaint among players.
- Criticism of Ubisoft (weight 0.22): There is significant criticism directed at Ubisoft for their handling of the game, including server shutdowns and the overall management of the game. Players express dissatisfaction with Ubisoft's decisions and policies.
- Insufficient car variety (weight 0.2): Players are disappointed by the limited selection of cars available for purchase in the game. Additionally, a significant portion of cars require real money to acquire, which is a point of contention.
- Repetitive gameplay (weight 0.2): The game features repetitive challenges and missions, which can make the gameplay feel monotonous. Players note that the game becomes boring quickly, especially when playing alone.
- Frequent bugs and disconnections (weight 0.13): Players report frequent bugs, disconnections, and crashes, particularly in online play. These issues disrupt the gaming experience and are a significant source of frustration.
- Always-online requirement (weight 0.12): The game requires a constant internet connection, which is inconvenient for many players. There is no offline mode available, limiting accessibility.
- Long multiplayer wait times (weight 0.12): Players experience long wait times for multiplayer matches, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game. This issue is particularly notable in PvP races.
- High-priced DLCs (weight 0.12): The cost of DLCs and in-game items is considered high by many players. This is seen as a barrier to enjoying the full range of content the game has to offer.
- Unbalanced PvP matches (weight 0.12): There are issues with balancing in PvP matches, leading to an unfair and frustrating multiplayer experience. Players feel that the matchmaking system needs improvement.

Gameplay feedback:
- Open-world exploration and racing (weight 0.54): The game features a large open world with various biomes, allowing players to explore and engage in racing activities freely.
- Multiplayer and co-op modes (weight 0.25): The game includes cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes, offering seamless co-op gameplay and online multiplayer options.
- Exploration of the USA (weight 0.18): Players can explore a massive map of the USA, discovering different locations and enjoying the freedom of open-world driving.
- Diverse race types (weight 0.18): The game features a variety of race types, including solo and cooperative modes, offering challenging and custom races.
- Engaging story with video scenes (weight 0.16): The game includes an engaging story mode with video scenes, adding depth to the gameplay experience.
- Arcade-style driving mechanics (weight 0.14): The game includes arcade-style driving mechanics with different car styles and challenges, adding to the fun and accessibility.
- Wide range of vehicles (weight 0.14): A wide variety of vehicles with different specifications are available for players to purchase and use.
- MMO elements with grinding (weight 0.13): The game includes MMO elements with grinding for money and parts, adding a layer of depth and persistence.
- Dynamic weather and day/night cycle (weight 0.11): The game features a complete day-and-night cycle with dynamic weather, enhancing the realism and immersion.
- Numerous challenges and missions (weight 0.11): Players can engage in a variety of challenges and missions, testing their skills and keeping the gameplay exciting.
- Police chases and cop races (weight 0.08): The game features police chases and cop races, adding an extra layer of excitement and challenge.
- Progression and leveling system (weight 0.08): A progression system with a level cap allows players to advance and unlock new content as they play.

Performance notes:
- Server instability issues (weight 0.31): Players frequently report unstable servers, connection problems, and disconnections. This significantly impacts the online gameplay experience.
- Graphics quality feedback (weight 0.24): Opinions on graphics vary, with some players praising the graphics and others noting inconsistent graphical quality and texture issues. Some players appreciate the graphics given the map size.
- Frequent crashes and bugs (weight 0.2): Players report a high number of crashes and bugs, including disconnections and gameplay issues. Some crashes occur every 1-3 hours, severely affecting the gaming experience.
- Performance and optimization issues (weight 0.19): There are mixed reports on performance, with some players experiencing optimization issues and slowdowns, particularly in cities, while others report good performance and optimization.
- Glitchy physics and bugs (weight 0.12): There are reports of glitchy physics and specific bugs, such as issues with manual clutch operation and cinematic bugs with audio dropouts.
- Graphics update issues (weight 0.05): A graphics update made the game unplayable on older hardware, highlighting compatibility issues with newer updates.
- Fast travel feature (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the fast travel feature without loading times, which enhances the gameplay experience.
- Initial performance issues (weight 0.04): Some players experience performance issues initially, which may improve over time or with updates.
- AI behavior issues (weight 0.04): Players report issues with AI behavior, which affects the overall gameplay experience.
- Traffic synchronization issues (weight 0.04): There are reports of traffic synchronization issues, which may impact the realism and immersion of the game.
- Steam Deck compatibility (weight 0.04): There are mentions of the game's compatibility with Steam Deck, indicating interest in its performance on this platform.
- Normal PC requirements (weight 0.04): Players note that the game has normal PC requirements, making it accessible to a wide range of hardware configurations.

Recommendations:
- Website mentions for updates (weight 0.18): Multiple reviews mention visiting specific websites for patches and more information about the game.
- Game recommended with caution (weight 0.16): Many reviews recommend purchasing the game, especially if it is on sale, but also caution about its flaws.
- Suggestions for DLC improvements (weight 0.09): Reviews suggest adding an offline mode via DLC and recommend buying the 'Wild Run' DLC only if the game is enjoyed and on discount.
- Recommended for open-world fans (weight 0.05): The game is recommended for fans of open-world games.
- Find and get Unlimited (weight 0.04): A suggestion to find a copy and get Unlimited.

Other player notes:
- Missing key features (weight 0.06): Players report the absence of important features such as text chat, functional mirrors, and manual control of lights.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.25): Players are frustrated primarily due to server-related issues, including server shutdowns, lack of offline mode, and game unplayability. Additional frustrations stem from gameplay issues such as bugs, grindy mechanics, poor vehicle handling, and performance problems.
- Disappointment (weight 0.18): Disappointment arises from the game's server shutdowns and the inability to play due to reliance on online servers. Players also express dissatisfaction with the game's physics, lack of content, high pricing, and limited variety in missions and cars.
- Anger (weight 0.11): Anger is directed towards Ubisoft for shutting down servers, revoking licenses, and lack of support or communication. Players feel the game was ruined by the developers or publishers, leading to significant dissatisfaction.
- Excitement (weight 0.1): Players are excited about the game's graphics, gameplay, and the vast open world. The detailed environment, customization options, and the ability to play offline also contribute to this excitement.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.06): Nostalgia is evoked by the game's atmosphere reminiscent of old TV shows and movies, as well as good memories from playing the game. Comparisons to classic games like Need for Speed and Test Drive Unlimited also contribute to this feeling.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.06): Enjoyment comes from the game's variety of modes, large open world, engaging story, and detailed vehicle customization. The driving experience and multiplayer aspects are also highlighted as sources of enjoyment.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.05): Satisfaction is derived from the game's well-made open world, graphics, and car customization. Players appreciate the large map, variety of activities, and the overall enjoyment and value of the game.
- Gratitude (weight 0.05): Gratitude is expressed towards the TCU community for reviving the game and making it playable offline. Players are thankful for the ability to play with friends and the comfort the game provides.
- Joy (weight 0.04): Joy is found in the therapeutic and peaceful experience of driving aimlessly, as well as the revival of the game by the TCU and modding community. The game's quality as a racing game also brings joy.
- Hope (weight 0.03): Hope is centered around the potential for server emulators, offline mode DLC, and future improvements such as raising the level cap and making microtransactions cosmetic only.
- Sadness (weight 0.02): Sadness stems from the shutdown of official servers and the game becoming unplayable, leading to a sense of loss among players.
- Happiness (weight 0.02): Happiness is derived from the enjoyment of the game's features and design, contributing to an overall positive experience.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is directed towards the game's vast and diverse open world, which players find impressive and engaging.}