The CARPG masters have returned once again, this time coming to a location that might seem familiar to some racing fans, but it is new for The Crew team, Hawaii. Bringing in their festival vibes of 2 onto the island for the drivers.
The Crew Motorfest is an interesting racer that has built upon its predecessor quite well but stumbles on some parts that I believe could be addressed in the future, with some choices feeling quite out of place even for long-time fans such as myself. But let’s dive in shall we.
Presentation
By just looking at the game even during the beta, The Crew Motorfest is quite of a looker with how colorful and vibrant the lush landscape of Hawaii is, with the series now going for the festival vibes like their competitors but having a more solid focus on the event playlists that you’ll be going around as you traverse across Oahu on land, sea and air.
The performance for the game is alright across the board, with a solid 30fps for the Series S version but there are some instances of screen tearing during races that have lots of particles (like rain, and mud on the screen) and it is quite disappointed to see there’s not a choice for a performance mode for the S but at least the game runs smooth and fine even within its Battle Royale mode, with 28 cars chaotically on screen and not one slowdown during it.
One pretty cool feature is the new animations that your character does while cruising on the streets. Like if you’re just around normal road speed on any street car or bike, your avatar would do stuff such as putting their arm alongside the window, adjusting the mirrors, or just putting on a more relaxed stance on the superbike, as if they are enjoying the cool breeze of the island.
It’s the little things that make the game have more charm than the past two entries. Plus the steering wheel animation goes full till like actual cars do and I love that they added it, reminding me of their old Driver San Fran days.
The audio side has seen some improvements from the predecessors, to the point where the JDM cars (i.e. your Toyota Supras and Nissan Skylines) sound much better than the likes of Forza Horizon at times, with how the “pops and bangs” sounding clearer than their main rival.
Though I’d like to point out the F1 cars that you can purchase here sounds a bit off, making it like a V8 sound instead of the hybrid ICE sound that they had gotten right in TC2, but a small complain really.
Music selection is quite respectable, albeit lots of it is from the Royalty-free library, but it does set the tone for most of the playlist in how it’s played during each event, something I reckon the designers have fun mixing it with. Like, there are also some bangers that you might have heard before, like Royal Blood’s Typhoon and even DJ Hyper’s iconic song for a certain Cyberpunk game.
So really, they have nailed the presentation aspect fairly well.
Gameplay
The current format of how The Crew Motorfest works in a more streamlined way, where instead of four disciplines and many different events that feel bloated at times, it’s more of a playlist event kinda like how Horizon does it, but it’s more emphasis on theming of a certain topic, like a special Donut Media one or Japanese Culture stuff, which rewards you with a vehicle and the unlocking of it’s challenge series soon after.
Handling is quite of an enigma because, on the roadside, it’s one of the best handling it has been, with you able to control the car however way you like, but going offroad feels like a step back from everything else, it’s too slippery even with a Rally spec car and the AI hasn’t gotten that same issue that you have, powering over water without the fear of wheelspin.
It’s a weird quirk that might break some people from this game but once you get the hang of it, it does feel rewarding traversing through the marshlands without the fear of spinning out.
The bikes, planes, and boats do feel a bit similar to their previous counterpart, although it is quite simplistic than before. It doesn’t have the finesse that I had enjoyed back in the last one, but its usage isn’t as prominent as before, so I guess its simplistic new controls aren’t a big issue if the focus is currently like this.
Content
The current launch playlist consists of 15 crafted experiences that include influencers and some of the characters within the Motorfest arena.
And although the list seems small when compared to the 2nd game, it’s still more of a concentrated experience that hopefully players take casually as you do not only that, but also it’s weekly Summit events that remix all of the stuff you might have, but with unique modifiers like racing monster trucks in the motocross tracks and so on, some of which you can even do on your own via its track editor.
What’s more unique about the content in the game, perhaps is the collection of cars you’ll amass over the course of the game. But what’s even better for those who have played the previous game, is that you can import your list of vehicles to the new game, a genre-defining moment that should have gotten more applause for making this happen in the first place.
On the other side, Crossplay being a half-glass effort is kind of disappointing considering how much Ubisoft has touted before the launch, perhaps someday we’ll get full crossplay parity with all platforms but for now, only the Battle Royale mode gets that distinction. Weird considering we have cross-saves but not being able to see your friends on another platform in this era is jarring.
Personal Enjoyment
As a longtime fan of the series since the beginning back in 2014, it is astonishing to see the growth that the series has earned over its almost decade-old lifetime, which changed from being a lackluster Driver successor to now earning its title as a festival-based CARPG that journalists at the time called it.
It’s the sort of game, in my view, that hands you the wheel and helps you enjoy it however you like. Kinda like Euro Truck Simulator 2 in the sense that the open road is there, enjoy it however you like during this starting period and Ivory Tower will update you with more stuff to do weekly or in a big update later on.
Seriously, besides Lego 2K Racer, what other open-world racer has this level of freedom and doesn’t lock itself to one system? This series as a whole is a hidden gem that I wish could get its recognition sooner or later.
Verdict
The Crew Motorfest is one of the few open-world racers on the market right now that you can just pick up and play, enjoying the virtual breeze and not fret over the weekly unless you feel like it.
It’s worth a pickup right now, but I would recommend getting it later on in the year, when more events are added and perhaps even a sale has arrived by then, to fully enjoy the island of Oahu before the new year kicks in.
Reviewed on Xbox Series S. Review copy purchased by the reviewer.
The Crew Motorfest
One of the few open-world racers on the market right now that you can just pick up and play, enjoying the virtual breeze and not fret over anything serious.
- Presentation 9
- Gameplay 8
- Content 8
- Personal Enjoyment 8