Crash Drive 2 - Switch Review
The racing genre is somewhat stagnant, with very few games truly standing out amongst the crowd, unless of course your name is Mario and you have a little Nintendo get-together every now and then with some go-karts. However, the talented dev team behind Crash Drive 2, M2H, gave the racing scene a good crack.
Gameplay
The multiplayer mode of Crash Drive 2 is quite easily the highlight, although the singleplayer content is an absolute blast. There are a plethora of unlockable vehicles that all have their own unique designs and playstyles, meaning that you can rev up a sports car and zoom around the desert, whirling around loops like Sonic, or you can tank in a bus and pretend you’re in Jeepers Creepers 2.
In the multiplayer portion of the title, you can play King of the Crown, races or even just a nifty coin collector gamemode. There’s nothing particularly inventive or brand new that screams unique and refreshing, as Crash Drive 2 is, for the most part, a pretty safe experience, not taking too many out-there risks with its design. However, the final result is a fairly fun, responsive and action-packed ride that embraces its stock-build.
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The ultimate shame with Crash Drive 2 is the lack of couch co-op, meaning that, should you not have access to the internet or, if you’re in a party scene with a group of friends as is the appeal of the Switch, then you’re out of luck as it’s either online or solo, which is a big miss for a game in the racing genre. Perhaps this will come in an update, but don’t hold your breath.
Graphics / Art Direction
For a Switch game, Crash Drive 2 isn’t too bad in terms of how it looks, even compared to bigger titles like Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance 3, but when put next to first-party releases like Mario Odyssey, it does show its age a little, appearing like an old PS3 release.
The art direction isn’t the most exciting as everything is fairly bog-standard, with the environments often feeling somewhat jarring and unnatural. Tunnels lead into black walls and mountains have stretched ugly textures to them. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s not terrible, just okay.
Music / Sound Design
There’s a distinct lack of ‘punchiness’ to the vehicles of Crash Drive 2 and the crashes themselves, despite the title of the game, lack a certain oomph to them.
A lot of Crash Drive 2 feels weightless, but the music is fairly energetic, if not a little generic. The main selling point behind this racer is absolutely its multiplayer mode and its challenge-rich singleplayer counterpart, rather than its sound mixing, music or lack of artistic prowess.
Final Score: 60%
Crash Drive 2 isn’t a bad game and it definitely serves as a fun time-killer, especially if you play online against other players. However, at its core, it’s ultimately a generic game that is little more than ‘okay’ – it’s somewhat forgettable, but a decent effort.
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