Fans of arcade-style racing games have enjoyed racing on open-world maps for years, with Forza Horizon, in racing festivals held first in the American state of Colorado, then in the south of France, north of Italy, Australia, England and Mexico, respectively. For those who have consumed all the events in this series, Ubisoft’s similar style racing game series with huge maps, Crew, has always been a very good option with its different location options. It also managed to make a difference with additional sea and air vehicles.
The Crew series, which is generally set in the American continent, moves away from the continent a little in the third game, The Crew Motorfest. Our new location is Hawaii. We are returning to this state where we had previously only had the chance to race with Test Drive Unlimited. However, to be honest, when I watched the first trailer, it reminded me more of Forza Horizon than TDU. I have always compared the two games, but with the addition of festivals, the similarity has increased even more. I can even say that you no longer need to wait for a Forza Horizon set in Hawaii.
Jokes aside, of course, I will not evaluate the game based on a single trailer. In fact, after I started playing, I realized that I was a little biased. The truth is that the game that Ubisoft presented to us this year may even be better than Forza Horizon 5 for some users. Maybe in some ways it doesn’t reach the perfection of Playground Games’ work, but I would like to start by saying that it is an extremely fun game. There will be nostalgia for TDU lovers too. So, let’s see how this exciting trip to Honolulu, Hawaii was.
It’s literally an arcade
The Crew Motorfest is nothing like the other games in the series when it comes to driving physics, but it also maintains its essence. It offers us excellent arcade driving physics and also strikes a perfect balance between difficulty and fun. I can’t say it’s exactly a Sim-Arcade, even though it feels like it in some cases. When you start the game, you are given 3 options for this. At its most basic, it’s almost like the car is controlled by the game rather than you. If you are an experienced player, the middle or last option may be more competitive.
Although I consider it a successful arcade because we had a pleasant and comfortable ride, it is not without its flaws. Many cars tend to understeer too much. So when you brake and enter a corner, you drift. In this sense, it reminded me a little of Need For Speed Unbound. It may be difficult to get used to it if you have overtime in other racing games. It’s something that can cause you to waste a lot of time, and it can be a bit annoying, especially since you have less control over the rotation angle you want to apply with the gamepad. However, you can avoid this situation by making some intervention on the car’s axles.
Driving airplanes also requires practice.
Another thing to get used to is on airplanes. Again, it can be very frustrating at first because the turn is very sudden and the plane loses power. Although I may have felt that way because I wasn’t used to driving a plane in a car racing game. This depends a bit on the player. However, physics could be improved a bit more. The last point I want to mention to finish the physics topic is Drift. You really need this discipline or driving style in this game. It’s not bad, I just have to add that it gets a bit complicated for the controller. The degrees or gas percentage of the turns you make with a gamepad are not the same as with a steering wheel. Let me also state that in my experiments with the Logitech G920, Drift was very fun and satisfying, as can be expected, when it comes to steering.
The Crew Motorfest has the spirit of the past
Half an hour into the game, my feeling of similarity leaned from Forza Horizon to Test Drive Unlimited. I’m sure it will give the same feeling to many people like me. Of course, the fact that the developers of The Crew are the ones who created the TDU legend also has an impact on this. The map looks quite successful. The streets look like those in TDU. Although it does not have real streets, this state was used as the basis for the map. The map offers a 100% live environment, even if it’s not filled with people online. You can see the races made by artificial intelligence, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It was very fun to be able to watch the races when you slowly zoom in on them on the map. With groups of cars big or small, even if you’re not racing, you feel like there’s life everywhere you go, and I’ve never seen that in any other game before.
The 20 km end-to-end map features a variety of features, from mountain roads that will take you to Japan, to small towns reminiscent of the USA, to small mountainous and volcanic areas reminiscent of a mixture of South America and Asia. There are also challenges and interactive missions to exceed a certain speed throughout the map, maintain it, drift or take photos.
There’s racing everywhere from start to finish
The Crew Motorfest is a game that will truly satisfy racing fans. As soon as you start the game; We are greeted by a tutorial with various cars, including Formula 1, GT, Offroad and classics, and this is such a satisfying drive that it is a bit difficult to describe it here. It is necessary to experience. After this introduction we independently move on to the three races that are part of the tutorial, one which I mentioned earlier, Japanese style, another Offroad and then one more track race. These races are called Playlists in the game because each of them has its own music list. These Playlists include many fun options such as Made in Japan, Hawaii Scenic, 911 Legacy, American Muscle, Rule The Streets, Vintage Garage, Drift Challenge, Offroad Addict and Dream Cars.
What follows is a series of challenges and races. For all kinds of pleasure; There are all kinds of options, from rallies to offroads to races from specific brands or servers. Maybe the artificial intelligence is not the best in these races, but I have to say that it is very entertaining and leaves memorable scenes and racing moments. By the way, the more races you win, the more upgrades you can unlock for your cars and the more money you earn. On the other hand, I would also like to point out that since it does not have a story mode, constantly racing from place to place can be a bit tiring.
Few but concise online modes
If you’re tired of competing against artificial intelligence, you also have the chance to compete against real players in three main online game modes, one of which is renewed weekly. The first mode, Suymmit Contest, is not actually a one-on-one race. You compete mostly based on the points you receive in the weekly lists. This mode is renewed weekly as Muscle Cars, Pop Culture, American Dust and Racing. To participate in most of the races, you must have a certain make and model of vehicle. Earning the money needed to achieve these is, of course, another source of motivation. The other mode is a Demolition Derby, basically a Battle Royale, they drop you in the middle of a dot and you’re allowed to hit other players. To win, you need to be the person who hits the other player at the fastest speed. I was surprised that the collisions here left visible and real damage, although not as much as Wreckfest.
The last mode is The Grand Race. The most important can be considered the online mode. As the name suggests, it is a large-scale race that covers a large part of the map. Races last an average of 6 to 10 minutes and there are usually 3 options as races change areas every 30 to 15 minutes. In this mode, as I mentioned before, you start with a car, for example a rally car, one quarter of the race you switch to a different car, this could be an airplane or a hypercar, and 60% of the race you switch back to another car to finish the race. It is a very fun mode and promises a lot of fun with 28 players.
However, there is a detail here that can give you a little edge over others. The better car you have, the higher your chances of winning and the further ahead you are in the rankings. So if you fall behind at first, don’t worry and try to upgrade your vehicle. On the other hand, success can always be yours with good driving, even with an old model car.
A simple but effective customization mode
I’ll be brief here. Because the game does not stand out that much when it comes to modifications. Cars can only be modified with various parts that are already predefined in the game, and in some cars you don’t have much to change. Of course, it depends on the setup of the car, the configuration of the wheels, the suspension, etc. You can also intervene. It depends on what you want to use the tool for.
Excellent and fluid graphics
The Crew Motorfest offers us Hawaiian style graphics, very beautiful and colorful, we witness magnificent scenes at sunrise and sunset. No matter what time of day it is, if the sun hits your face, it can dazzle your eyes and distract you. It was a really effective and realistic detail. The game has two different game modes in terms of performance and resolution on Xbox Series X and PS5. In performance mode, dynamic 1440p 60 pfs offers smooth gaming. In resolution mode, you can see dynamic 4k 30fps values on both consoles. There was only one mode on the Xbox Series S where I tried the game, dynamic 1080p 60 fps and I can say that it was very smooth. As for the sounds, The Crew Motorfest has great music and playlists that vary depending on the races and go a long way in getting you pumped up. Engine sounds are also good but could be a little better. I can’t say they are unrealistic, but in this genre the bar is really high and the expectations are high.
Conclusion
Frankly speaking, The Crew Motorfest was better than anyone expected, including me. It manages to exceed all expectations. That’s why I can also say that this game is a clear spiritual successor to the old TDU. It offers its craziness, but also maintains elegance wherever you go. It also has a map that feels more alive than other games. With a huge amount of vehicles, customizations and racing, I’m sure it will attract all racing fans to fun online races with beautiful sunsets on the island of Hawaii. Even better, Playstation 5 owners will finally be able to play a racing game in the style and quality of Forza Horizon 5 on their consoles.
80
Developer Ubisioft Ivory Tower
Publisher Ubisoft
Platform Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PC, PS5, PS4
Genre Racing
Web www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/the-crew/motorfest
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