Review | Crash Drive 3

LifeisXbox’s Crash Drive 3 review | Sometimes I get to review games that seem like they are okay but turn out to be even more fun than I expected them to be. I was lucky enough to bump into one of those titles again. Today, we’re taking a deeper look into M2H’s newest release: Crash Drive 3. Releasing today, Crash Drive 3 is a multiplayer free-roaming game where you can stunt, race, and compete as much as you want to. The previous Crash Drive dates back to 2015 already, so it was about time the next installment was released. Get ready, set, go!

Maui played Crash Drive 3 for 3 hours on Steam (PC) and Xbox Series X. This game is also available on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Epic Store, Google Play, and iOs.

What we liked!

• Variety of vehicles & leveling | You start the game with an old Stallion car, but you’ll soon be able to buy better, cooler cars in the garage. There are a ton of different vehicles available, like a delivery truck, limo, school busfire truck, and so on. New vehicles will cost you money, which you’ll have to earn by performing tricks, and taking part in events and challenges. However, most vehicles also need you to fully maximize the level of other cars (which will, again, cost you money), and gain achievements, before being able to buy them. You can also customize the cars you bought by adding cute antennas in the shape of a dog, sombrero, donut, or whatever. Customisation of your booster and number plate is also possible, and the booster one is quite fun! You can make hearts, cards, rainbows, bananas and so much more come our of your booster!
• Playgrounds | There are a total of five playgrounds or areas for you to drive around in, and each one looked quite good. On PC, I started on the Artic, while on the Xbox I got to discover the Canyons first. I moved on to the Forest, Tropics, and Moon eventually, but this will require you to achieve certain goals (go through 8 green rings and pay a ton of money). The Forest was probably my favourite area as it featured a castle in the middle, and everything looked medieval, which I absolutely adored! Once you unlocked a new area, a map easily lets you fast travel to said location again. Anyway, each area has collectibles (the developer’s logo) and rings that you can find scattered around it, so the gameplay isn’t totally without goals. As I mentioned, there is one area that’s preserved for Tank Battles, the Tropics. Here you can buy only tanks in the garage, so if that’s something you’re into, go unlock the Tropics!
• Events and challenges | In every area, except for the Tropics (this is where the Tank Battles take place), you can take part in competitive events against other players. These are not mandatory, so it’s totally up to you if you participate in them or just ignore them. There are 10 events in-game, and some are more fun than the others. There’s one where you have to destroy a giant beach ball, and the player who caused the most damage wins. Another game requires you to finish a race as fast as you can, while a game called King of the Hill has players stay in a ring for as long as possible while they try to kick their opponents out. These events can earn you money, which you’ll need in the garage! Besides events, you also get challenges that can earn you money. These are just for you and don’t require you to compete against other players. They do however provide a sense of purpose for the game. Challenges can be a variety of things for you to do, like having to win a tag event, performing 3 backfilps, or scoring 15000 points with a single action.
• Cross-platform play | Crash Drive 3 has an offline mode, but more importantly, it has an online mode (which is way more fun) that allows for cross-platform play. I tried this with me playing on my laptop (this game also runs great on medium, non-gaming laptops by the way), and my boyfriend playing on the Xbox Series X, and once we were in the same area, we were immediately able to compete against each other in the events. Everything worked as it should, so that’s always great!
• Graphics and sound | I never played Crash Drive 2, but looking at the Steam page, Crash Drive 3 definitely looks like an improvement compared to its predecessor from 2015. The environments and vehicles look more detailed and polished, and I really enjoyed the different areas a lot! The soundtrack is like a perfect fit for this game. It’s that typical ‘car game’ sound that helps you focus on performing stunts, you know?!

Somewhere between

• Repetitive | Crash Drive 3 is not a game that you’ll be playing for say 5 hours in one sitting. You’ll be doing the same thing over and over, basically, so things might start getting repetitive rather quick. Unlocking and leveling all cars takes a while, but in order to earn money, you’ll be competing in the same 10 events, riding through the same 5 areas, performing the same kind of stunts, etc. I believe Crash Drive 3 is best played for short periods of time every week or so, if you’re looking for a more relaxing game.

What we disliked

• Glitches | I encountered some glitches during my free-roaming adventures, but nothing that really affected the gameplay a lot, luckily. There was a box (containing sweet, sweet money) that appeared to be stuck in a rock, and sometimes there seemed to be an empty space somewhere because there was no content there. This usually happened when riding up a building that wasn’t really made for trying to perform stunts on I guess, and it was just a minor issue, but still worth mentioning.
• Camera | This was something that both me and my boyfriend felt was missing: being able to choose the camera perspective. Sometimes, I got stuck in-between rocks or whatever, and I couldn’t really see what I was doing, and since I could not use the camera as I wanted to, I got a bit frustrated. It’s no fun being stuck somewhere while you’re in the middle of participating in an event, and not being able to get yourself out because the camera is not well-positioned just plain sucks.

How long to beat the story | There isn’t really a story
How long to achieve 1000G | 15+ hours
Similar with | Crash Drive 2

CONCLUSION

LifeisXbox.eu is the largest Belgian Xbox centered website, your reading time is greatly appreciated! Please consider sharing this review with your friends on social media, that means a lot for us! If you are Dutch speaking also consider joining our Dutch exclusive Facebook group Xbox Gamers Belgium. Feel free to use quotes for PR purposes.