What Steel Crew is
Steel Crew is a tank versus tank game where you climb into a tank and take a crew seat. Battles are 4 on 4, so a full tank of three friends sits against other tanks on the field. The tanks have fully detailed interiors built to reproduce the real thing as closely as possible, and the game is built from the ground up with VR as its focus. Motion controllers are the main input, but gamepad and mouse and keyboard work in VR and on traditional screens. It is in Early Access, so things can still change.
Playing together as a crew
You can join the crew of a tank with up to two friends, and each of you takes one of three roles. The driver works the manual gearbox, so expect a lot of gear shifting, and has a very limited view. The driver depends on the commander for directions and is the only crew member who can see the tank's current health. Driving with the hatch open gives a much better view for spotting tanks, but it leaves you open to machine gun fire.
The gunner has the main gun and a coaxial machine gun, plus a periscope and a magnified scope. The gunner's own view is narrow, so without the commander and driver calling targets, finding something to shoot at is hard. With motion controllers, aiming uses three controls: one crank for up and down, another for side to side, and a lever for powered traverse, which is faster but less precise.
The commander controls nothing on the tank itself but sees the surroundings well. The commander is the only crew member with a map showing your position, friendly tank positions, and the capture points with their current status. A monocular helps spot enemies while riding with the hatch open, which also makes the commander vulnerable to machine gun fire. The commander can call in airstrikes and talk to other commanders on the team to line up attacks.
Before you start
Tactics and communication carry the match. The roles lean on each other: the driver and gunner need the commander's eyes, and the commander needs the driver's heading and the gunner's gun. Voice between crew members, and between commanders across the team, is what makes it work. Expect the manual gearbox and the cramped interior views to take some getting used to before the shooting feels smooth.