The Crew

The Crew is a 2014 racing video game set in a large open world environment. It was developed by Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with an Xbox 360 port being developed by Asobo Studio.

The Crew is an open and persistent world for racing across the United States. It takes about 45 minutes to drive from coast to coast in-game. The single-player campaign is 20 hours long, and entails infiltrating criminal groups with protagonist Alex Taylor (Troy Baker). Players can also participate in mini-games called skills that are peppered across the world. They are triggered when a player drives through them and it involves completing challenges such as weaving through gates and staying as close to a racing line as possible for a period of time. Players' scores are automatically saved so friends can try and beat their scores, in similar fashion to how Autolog works in games of the Need for Speed franchise. Missions can be played alone, with friends, or with online co-op matchmaking. The multiplayer mode lets a maximum of eight players to compete in races and other gametypes. There are no in-game loading screens or pauses. Players can also build cars with a tie-in app for iOS and Android.

The Crew creative director Julian Gerighty has called the game a role-playing game with large-scale multiplayer elements. The multiplayer is not separate from the single-player. Players can form "crews" to race together or against ghost records.

Though the player can play alone, the game will require a constant internet connection to play.

The story begins with the main character Alex Taylor being pursued by local law enforcement near Detroit. During the chase, he receives a call from Harry who wants him to participate in a race in the city. After losing the cops, he finds the Camaro that Harry loans him. Harry explains to him that Alex’s older brother Dayton, the founder of the 5-10 motor club, wants to speak with him. Alex participates and wins the race. After his win, Dayton arrives and orders Alex to drive him to the bridge. Once there, Dayton tells him to keep his head down. A vehicle pulls up, Dayton goes and talks with the driver before walking back to the Camaro; however before he can get there, the driver shoots him and drives off. Alex rushes to Dayton’s side as the police arrive. The police restrain Alex as Dayton dies. Alex is charged and later convicted of Dayton’s murder by FBI Special Agent Coburn and is sent to prison.

5 years later, an FBI agent named Zoe finds Alex and informs him that the new leader of the 5-10 motor club, a man named Shiv was the one who killed Dayton and that Coburn in collaboration with Shiv framed Alex for Dayton's murder. Zoe offers Alex a chance to get Shiv behind bars if he helps her get evidence against Special Agent Coburn, Alex takes the offer.
Later locations used in the story are Chicago, New York City, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Seattle.