The Crew Motorfest review: A close second

Stop me if you’ve heard this before - you’re flown out to an exotic location that’s hosting the world’s biggest combination festival of both motorsport and music. There, you’ll cruise the open roads of a vast open world, competing in race series’ split up into playlists, each of which focuses on a different type of motorsport.

If that sounds like a familiar formula, it’s because it is. The Crew racing series from Ubisoft has been an open-world racer since 2014, but it’s never quite managed to capture the same arcade magic that the Forza Horizon series is so well-praised for.

That’s set to change with The Crew Motorfest, which impresses with its tantalising racing physics, incredible variety, and gorgeous open-world. 

While there’s an inescapable feeling that Ubisoft’s latest outing has copied quite a lot of Microsoft’s homework, The Crew Motorfest almost certainly takes first place for the best open-world arcade racer on platforms outside of Xbox right now.

Deja vu

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The Crew Motorfest starts out extremely strong. You’re dropped onto the island of Hawaii, a truly stunning landscape that’s built in an upgraded version of Ubisoft Ivory Tower’s engine. Filled with colour, impressive foliage, and superb lighting, exploring this landscape at speeds exceeding 150mph is always exhilarating, never a chore.

Those cars you inhabit are recreated in stunning detail, with the vast majority of the garage all licenced by official car manufacturers. In total, there are well over 600 vehicles to get behind the wheel. However, that also includes the likes of motorboats and planes, with several variants of the same car in some categories.

Of course, The Crew Motorsport hasn’t totally forgotten about its roots, with races also taking place in the sky and on the water, too. Sadly, these asides aren’t worth dedicating too much time to. Both categories mostly consist of dull point-to-point races, and the handling mechanics are exceptionally barebones compared to the rip-roaring fantasy of treading tarmac.

Can we skip to the good part?

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Of course, perhaps the most important part of a racing game is the routes you’ll actually be racing on. Races in The Crew Motorfest are split up into playlists, each of which has around ten races with a specific theme.

Every playlist has some fantastic variety, pinballing you between Japanese street races and bombing it through the jungle brush in American muscle cars. It’s truly a celebration of all forms of motorsport, even going so far as to include several officially licenced Red Bull Formula 1 cars to race both in the open world and on closed-off tracks.

There’s variety in the races, too - constantly offering up new objectives to complete, whether it be coming first in a one-on-one duel race, or placing top three among a pack of other feisty racers.

By default, your opponents are likely to be quite easy to beat, but the game is quick to offer a difficulty bump if it finds you winning far too easily. This increases your opponent's aggressiveness but never felt arbitrary just yet. There was never any noticeable rubber banding or unfair finishes in our time with The Crew Motorfest.

The reward for completing a full playlist is a unique car to add to your garage, so there’s always something to work towards. And of course, credits are rewarded for doing pretty much anything in the world of The Crew Motorfest.

Sluggish progression

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The speed at which you progress through The Crew Motorfest remained a huge sticking point while playing. Currency is accrued at a snail's pace, with even the most basic of cars locked behind quite a large paywall.

Even after completing several playlists, you’re still a long way away from being able to afford any car of decent speed and value. New cars are rewarded after completing a playlist, but again, this is a relatively slow pace. For example, it will always take you upwards of an hour to complete any single playlist, if not longer. It’s a far cry from the Forza Horizon games which are known for throwing new McLaren’s and Ferrari’s at you at every conceivable opportunity.

However, while buying new cars might be a slow process, this is rarely a problem as The Crew Motorfest’s fictional festival constantly ‘loans’ you new cars for each playlist. As such, you’re constantly driving new and exciting vehicles in actual races, with the cars you unlock permanently merely acting as a traversal vessel in the open world.

There’s a loot-based upgrade system players can tap into as well, although it’s very barebones and far from engaging. Upgrading a car essentially boils down to selecting a new component with the highest number, which doesn’t instil a huge amount of interest, although might be preferable for casual players who just want their cars to go a bit faster.

The Verdict

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Comparisons to the Forza Horizon series are excruciatingly apparent in The Crew Motorfest, with it almost sharing more DNA with its competitor than its own predecessors. That said, the learnings are almost all for the better, with Ubisoft presenting an arcade racer that’s very close to being just as fun and comprehensive.

A sluggish and unengaging progression system may slow down the enjoyment of some players, but that all falls to the wayside when you’re careering your way through this gorgeous world in a car that feels like a dream to handle.

If you’re an Xbox player, Forza Horizon remains the top dog. However, The Crew Motorsport is undoubtedly one of the more pleasant surprises of 2023, cementing itself as the best arcade racer option for those on PlayStation.

4/5

Review on PlayStation 5. Code provided by the publisher.