The closed beta for The Crew 2, Ubisoft's open-world racing game, will begin on Thursday, May 31 and run until Monday, June 4. During the beta period, players will have access to the first level of the game's progression system in the Street Race, Rally Raid, Powerboat, and Aerobatics disciplines, as well as the Fast Fav feature that enables vehicle types to be switched on the fly.
That's the big hook in The Crew 2: If you're in a plane flying over water, for instance, and decide you'd rather be on the water, you can change your ride into a boat and take to the waves without the unpleasantness of crashing. It's not exactly the most realistic approach to racing, but it should enable some interesting moments behind the wheel.
Wes recently took The Crew 2 for a spin and found it promising, but possibly too big for its own good: The open-world setting is "a massive, mostly uninteresting place to explore, at least from my few hours of time with the game so far," he wrote—although it could prove to be an entertaining arena for multiplayer.
The closed beta will begin at 4 am ET on May 31 and end at the same time on June 4. Preloading will begin at 4 at ET on May 29, and if you haven't already signed up to take part you can do so at thecrew-game.ubisoft.com.
