Bag a free copy of The Crew 2 when you buy a new GTX 1080 or GTX 1080Ti
Join the crew
I don't know about you, but there's still a little part of me that feels cut up about the fact we won't be getting any kind of RTX graphics card as soon as we'd hoped. I know, I know, no one really needs to buy a new graphics card in this day and age – especially when most of today's best graphics cards are a) finally back down to normal-ish prices and b) pretty damn fast anyway – but it wounds me, all right? Deep.
The good news, happily, is that Nvidia are finally starting to bundle games in with their graphics cards again, which was always a sweet little extra when you'd just spent hundreds of pounds / dollars on a new card. And what better way to show off your new GPU, apparently, than with Ubisoft and Ivory Tower's bananas open world racing-sailing-flying-and-biking bonanza The Crew 2.
Under the apt bundle name of 'Join the Crew' (yes, really), anyone who buys an eligible Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti before July 3 from participating retailers will automatically bag themselves a free standard edition copy of The Crew's rebellious sequel (while stocks last, natch). The same offer applies to anyone buying a BattleBox desktop PC or laptop with a GTX 1080 or GTX 1080Ti inside it as well, or indeed any qualifying desktop/laptop model that's emblazoned with The Crew 2 bundle sticker.
Driving games may not be quite my particular cup of road fuel, but even I have to admit The Crew 2 looks like a good laugh. I admire a game that lets you seamlessly transition from a turbo car to a stunt plane and back into a dingy boat in the same amount of time it takes to get Lewis Hamilton a new set of wheels (I know cars, honest!), and it really looks like developers Ivory Tower have let their hair down since the release of their rather po-faced original.
I'd imagine the frigate's worth of vehicles will look pretty snazzy in 4K, too, which is what the GTX 1080 and GTX 1080Ti have really been designed for. Personally, as much as I acknowledge the GTX 1080Ti to be the better card, the number of extra frames it offers over the regular GTX 1080 doesn't really correspond to the number of extra pounds / dollars you'll have to pay for it - another $250-odd in the US and another £200-ish in the UK. Whisper it, but in my eyes the GTX 1080 is still the better-value for money card.
Still, if the thought of careering round a condensed version of America using every form of motorsports possible one after the other in pixel-perfect 4K appeals to you, then this bundle may well be worth checking out.
The Crew 2 is out on June 29.