To ensure you can play it as soon as the beta goes live, which will be around 4:00 AM EDT, you can go ahead and download/pre-load the beta starting right now. You'll have access to the entire open-world, so you can drive or fly (and occasionally hop into a boat) from one coast to another. You'll also be able to advanced through "two levels of the progression system" by participating in races, doing some street stunts, and more. The open beta will also support four player online co-op, just as the full release will do.

The Crew 2 features a full world for exploration and whether players want to explore by land, sea, or air is completely up to them. While much of the Jaguar boat footage takes place on what appears to be a lake, it ends showing the boats riding down a small forrest stream (0:42), proving the hard rules of reality don’t matter as much in the game as player originality.

Their latest dev video highlights this flexibility and talks a little about how the game is focused on feedback from the motorsports community itself.  The way the game's shaping up, it sounds like that feedback was from one guy on a forum writing Xtreme NASCAR fanfiction, but hey, I've heard worse inspiration.

As with its predecessor, the game will be set in a somewhat stylized version of the USA, which has been modified mainly to ensure you have as many opportunities to do sweet motor-tricks as possible.  One of the main differences, though, is that the sequel contains boats and planes in addition to the usual roster of boring ol' cars.  Using something called the "Fast Fav" feature, you'll be able to switch between each mode of transportation on the fly.  Thankfully, The Crew 2 will continue to feature online co-op for up to four players.