Speed Crew Review

Speed Crew by Wild Fields is a local co-op party game for one to four players, allowing you to manage a car repair crew.

Choose your team name and set sail in 1977 as the head of a race car repair team. The Furious family, in reference to the movie Fast and Furious, will challenge you to win championships by being the best team of pit mechanics. The story of Speed Crew is humorous, and will be presented to you in several scenes between the different parts.

You will be advised by a mentor who will teach you all the basics during the tutorial, and will then be gradually integrated into the various repair mechanics. The detail of the scenes is convincing, and the care taken with the different elements of the scenery and the cars during the different periods of the game reinforce the total game experience. The music gives the game a good rhythm, but is not necessarily its most successful element.

Your objective in Speed Crew is to repair as many cars as possible before the level time runs out, a principle similar to other cooperative games such as Overcooked. Before you can repair a car, you'll first have to diagnose the problem with the computer and start picking up the various tools needed to get started as quickly as possible. Once you've completed your tasks, you'll need to press the button that appears to start the car.

As you progress through the game, you'll get new repair tasks. You'll start with tire changes and then learn to repair the engine and the structure. The different maintenance tasks are relatively varied, and will require you to make several trips back and forth between the different pits and tools, always keeping time in mind. If you take too long during repairs, you'll be penalized and the race score will be affected.

The repairs to be carried out are random, and change each time you complete a level. So you'll need to make quick decisions based on the situation at hand.

As on any racetrack, you'll need to be aware of your surroundings, which can quickly become dangerous. A car could run into you, costing you precious seconds. You may also have to put out fires that need to be dealt with quickly before tragedy strikes.

Although it is possible to play alone, Speed Crew is a game designed for cooperation. The game is relatively accessible to the uninitiated. With a bit of communication to guide each player's role and certain tasks, the game perfectly fulfills the expectations of this type of gameplay.

As you complete each level, you'll earn a trophy based on your points score. If you win first place, you'll get the gold trophy. However, you don't need to earn these to progress in the story, as bronze trophies are sufficient to progress. Gold trophies, on the other hand, unlock additional levels and characters.

The game is quick to get to grips with, and you'll only need three action buttons for the various tasks. One button lets you slap your teammates, but is of no technical interest to the game.

In play, the whole works well, but some smaller objects can become more complicated to handle, especially when they're close to larger ones. For example, when changing a wheel, it's not uncommon to mix up the wrench with the tire.

Another small flaw is the color of some cars, which makes diagnosis much less obvious. For example, on a red car, the bodywork to be repaired will appear in red, and if you're not careful, you'll lose many seconds looking for the problem.

It's possible to play in local co-op and also online, all combined together, offering a wide range of possibilities between friends. However, online play requires the use of a code and does not allow matchmaking with strangers.

The single-player game is also interesting, though slightly more difficult because of the numerous moves you have to make. It would have been nice to be able to add an AI to help you out, to give it more dynamism.

Speed Crew features four tournaments with around ten levels each, plus two bonus levels to unlock. An arcade mode is planned for the future, but is currently blocked.