A new Fast & Furious video game is drifting onto PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Made by Project Cars developer Slightly Mad Studios, Fast & Furious Crossroads is described as a "team-based, vehicular-heist action game" and will be out this May. Yes, this means it will arrive just in time for the theatrical release of Fast & Furious 9, and marks yet another licensed game from Bandai Namco which will be handling publishing duties.
Crossroads will mark the first time a Fast & Furious video game has appeared on current-gen consoles. The most recent installment, Fast & Furious: Showdown, was released in 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and PC. A cooperative racing game developed by Firebrand Games and published by Activision, Showdown bridged the story gap between the movies Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. However, it received poor review scores and Activision never made a sequel. In 2017, Slightly Mad Studios signed a six-year licensing deal for the Fast & Furious IP, making Crossroads the first game to come out of that partnership.
Fast & Furious Crossroads was officially unveiled at The Game Awards 2019, with franchise stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez taking the stage to reveal the announcement trailer. Diesel and Rodriguez lead Crossroads' all-star voice cast, which also includes their Fast & Furious cast mate Tyrese Gibson, as well as Sonequa Martin-Green (Star Trek: Discovery and The Walking Dead) and Asia Kate Dillon (John Wick: Parabellum). According to the game's press release, Crossroads will feature a single-player mode with an "authentic" Fast & Furious storyline and a multiplayer mode, the latter of which will be revealed at a later date.
According to Slightly Mad Studios Chief Creative Officer Andy Tudor, Crossroads will include a number of Easter eggs for fans to discover. “As huge fans of the franchise, it’s an honor to be able to expand the Fast & Furious franchise into the world of video games with a brand new story, the introduction of a new crew with ties to beloved characters, and iconic and stunning set pieces,” said Tudor. Players can expect plenty of over-the-top, car-based action set across a variety of exotic locales, as well as being drawn into "the murky world international espionage."
Judging by the trailer, Fast & Furious Showdown looks like it could be a mixed bag. On the one hand, the involvement of franchise stars like Diesel and Rodriguez is encouraging. Diesel especially is a huge gaming fan and was heavily involved in the making of the beloved shooter The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, in part because of his own frustration at the lack of good movie tie-in games. But even though the gameplay shown off in the Showdown trailer certainly screams Fast & Furious, the whole thing looks pretty rough. Many have been quick to point out that visually, Showdown looks an awful lot like a PS3 game and it's hard to argue with that. Just look at how bad Vin Diesel's character model looks:
It's always a shame when movie tie-in games don't turn out well. Slightly Mad Studios have proven they can make great racing games with the Project Cars franchise, so hopefully Fast & Furious Crossroads will look and play better than its first trailer suggests.
Fast & Furious Crossroads is set to launch in May 2020 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: Bandai Namco