Our house is a big fan of local, co-op games. Especially ones like Moving Out or Overcooked, where there is a frantic, need to get things done as soon as physically possible. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to play Speed Crew – a new, chaotic multiplayer where you and up to three friends work as a pit crew for a bunch of race cars.
Speed Crew is a really funny and fun game! There is an overarching story about attempting to lead your racing team to win various racing competitions through the decades through being the quickest pit team to repair cars and send them on their way. This story has some fun cultural nods, including a liek mocking of the Fast and the Furious series, with a rival family called “The Furious Family Concern” who you need to defeat at every opportunity. They seem to really not like your family and want to make sure they beat them out.
Fixing cars in Speed Crew is done in a lot of ways, which are slowly unveiled through the various levels of the game. This balance of adding in new mechanics and machines feels well paced, and the levels that introduce new features do not feel too challenging to play with two players, which is always a worry when it comes to games designed for two to four players (which tend toward the latter).
Fixing cars can be done by using a computer to tell what is wrong with them. Once you know, you can use a hammer to hammer back in dented places or fill the tank up with gas, or change a tire, or put in an entirely new engine. A lot of this takes finding a tool, then using it in a specific part of the car. Once the car is completed, it will zip away. You can die a lot in levels, either by being hit by cars or by other dangers on the course like lava and steam blowing, so you do need to be careful.
Speed Crew does a great job of creating a new type of frantic, chaotic play where you and your fellow players do need to communicate to ensure that you are completing cars on time and stay ahead of the other family. After a few levels, Dann and I were actually able to start figuring out what needs to be done by the looks of the car, without actually using the machine to check the car first.
The game does start to introduce having to move machines around; adding petrol in now takes the movement of a petrol tower, which can catch fire if left in the car too long. The diagnostics machine needs to be in range, etc. This sort of thing adds a lot of extra steps and can really slow you down, so it’s nice that the game has visual clues too.
If you like other games that follow this formula, Speed Crew is one you will enjoy as well. The game feels polished, the little cutscenes are very fun to watch, and the pacing is done very expertly. I quite enjoyed my time playing Speed Crew and feel that it’s an easy game to play with your friends – even if you just have one to play with!
You can find Speed Crew on Nintendo Switch and you can wishlist the game on Steam.
Love multiplayer games which aren’t violent or sports-related? Why not check out these 15!
