The Crew: Wild Run - the Digital Foundry verdict
When The Crew was first released there was the sense that the developer's ambitions for the title simply weren't matched by the same level of technical polish expected for a current generation game. Prior patches have provided bug fixes, AI tweaks, and made some handling adjustments, but the Wild Run revamp goes much further, attempting to expand upon the ambition of the original game with new content and considerably more advanced visuals. The improved physics and handling model gives vehicles a weightier feel that makes driving more enjoyable than before, while the use of new effects and reworked lighting results in a game that feels much more like a current-gen title, as opposed to the cross-gen release it originally was.
The end result is the Wild Run update perhaps feels more in line with the developer's vision for the original game. That said, image quality could be better despite the tweaked anti-aliasing set-up, while screen tearing can be distracting on both console versions - though it is more of an issue on PlayStation 4. The handling model also needs a little more refinement: at times it still feels like the cars are gliding across the road in a floaty fashion, rather than rolling along the ground - an issue that persists from the original game.
So there's still the sense that the title needs some further refinement, particularly in terms of its handling model, but the good news is that with the Wild Run revamp, PS4 and Xbox One now hand in an identical release in almost all areas with only performance separating the two in some scenarios. As we saw in the original release, the PS4 version falls a little behind here, with slightly less stable frame-rates and heavier pockets of tearing. Ultimately, there's not much in it between platforms, but with the Wild Run update installed, the Xbox One version turns in a more stable experience overall.