The Crew devs: co-op is not forced, campaign missions can be played solo

The Crew developer Ivory Tower has confirmed to VG247 that the entirety of its open world racer's campaign missions can be played solo if you don't fancy being bothered by other people.

As part of an interview you can read in full on VG247 soon, creative director Julian Gerighty explained that while connected play across The Crew's 5000 km-squared world is encouraged, players can shut off the from the world and play the full campaign solo if they wish.

"Our experience is enhanced when gamers connect online, as they can then be a part of a fully living, breathing world filled with other players to challenge or crew up with," he explained. "However, if some players are more of the solo type, they can play the full campaign SP, they are never constrained to play cooperatively with friends. And if they change their mind at some point, they always have the opportunity to team up with friends on-the-go, without having to go through intimidating lobbies.

"The Crew takes a very modern approach to multiplayer, in the sense that it is extremely adaptable. Just like in real life, some days you may want to be by yourself, others you’re eager to share new experiences with friends. In The Crew, all the missions can be played solo or with your crew and when playing with your crew, you’re enticed to play for yourself, in some way since the scoring system is rewarding individuals and not teams.

"All challenges can be played in the instant or asynchronously, and at the end of the day the player can always blacklist someone to remove him from surrounding traffic. In The Crew we blur the lines between solo and cooperative play, we found that sweet spot between the full online experience and a game that is enjoyable as a single player."

Gerighty added that within The Crew's depiction of America Ivory Tower has laid 10,000km of road, included 1,000 real-world landmarks and that variety across all of the games key regions, such as the canyons of Nevada and the bustling streets of New York City will be the key to delivering a diverse multiplayer experience.

Should you wish to engage other players in multiplayer, Gerighty explained how you would go about it by listing a few typical examples.

"In The Crew, you are part of an online world, with other drivers around you," he explained. "The choice is yours to play on your own in this living world, or to team up on the go with friends whether this is to cooperate or to compete.

"We built a social interface that facilitates communication between players and makes it extremely easy to engage with others. You can crew up with other fellow drivers on your way to your next objective. It’s all seamlessly integrated and does not require you to stop driving.

"When playing with other crew members you can choose to jump into any campaign missions together but you could also set up your own race and give it a go. That’s the core of what we want: a living world constantly evolving around with people you can challenge or race with."

It should be noted that The Crew's team at Ivory Tower are the same people behind the Test Drive Unlimited series, which was also a racing game set in a large open world.

Refleting on the team's experience with open world racers, Gerighty said of the original Test Drive Unlimited, "when it was released in 2007 [it] had a living world around the player and it was ahead of its time in terms of online features. It was not perfect.

"That vision of a connected world and a shared world between car enthusiasts, this is something that we are continuing to improve upon. So imagine five more years of iteration on this very idea. That is what we are bringing with The Crew."

The Crew is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One early 2014