The Crew: Motorfest Reviews

It’s unfortunate that pervasive online requirements and microtransactions sully what is otherwise a chilled out, holiday vibe in The Crew Motorfest, but I had a good time regardless. Hanging out on O’ahu, learning about various car cultures and driving some awesome-feeling vehicles over varied terrain and event types is just damned good fun.

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.

The adage “two steps forward, and one step back” has never rung more accurately than it does when applied to The Crew Motorfest. While the latest entry into Ivory Tower and Ubisoft’s “The Crew” franchise submits a better racing experience than its predecessors, it simultaneously abandons the identity from which the franchise was conceived. Returning fans may find a longing for the seemingly endless amount of open road in the previous two games. Though, after spending 30 or so hours with The Crew Motorfest, I can definitively say a competent racer sits beneath its hood.

The Crew Motorfest crafts a stunning playground for its refined array of vehicles but never fully realises the potential of its new toys.

The Crew Motorfest is a fun surprise. I intend to keep playing it for at least a few more hours and will likely keep it installed if I need a pretend mini vacation. My biggest gripe is the Internet Car Influencer culture from which the game takes its narrative cues. I hate the world of influencers like every other adult with a brain. But the setting is genuinely fantastic to race around. The cars and other vehicles are fun to drive (except the planes in a race); plainly put, it’s a fun racer. Here’s to hoping we get more games in this direction and eventually see the genre return to its former glory.

The Crew Motorfest is in some ways not just a racing game, but an exploration of culture, surroundings, and how modernity can fit in side by side with tradition. Of course, the aim of the game is to win competitions and collect new vehicles, but it’s also a fantastic look into how you can make something more out of a racing game, and explore different themes and ideas that are not just related to cars.

Thus, The Crew Motorfest is a frankly quite shameless Forza Horizon imitation, with entire design elements, audiovisual choices and more practically copied 1:1 from Playground Games’ highly successful franchise. But despite that, or perhaps precisely because of that, Motorfest is the most exhilarating, fun and satisfying the franchise has ever been, with improved handling, graphics, less cluttered progression and even a few smart tweaks to Horizon’s ideas. It even features much more unique events, combined with a more varied selection of vehicle styles including bikes, planes and boats even – though the latter aspect feels like a remainder from the previous game, rather than something that received major focus. It may not reach the stellar highs of the Forza Horizon games, with the loot game and open world side activities remaining a bit stale like in the previous game, but The Crew Motorfest is a lovely open world arcade racer that fans of said formula should definitely try. And judging by Ubisoft’s and The Crew’s recent history, it’s safe to say that there will be plenty of excellent content additions for months/years to come.

An open-world Hawaii and a generously spirited racer, chafed by always-online irritations and a lack of originality.

There is an exceptionally solid foundation here for some great racing, especially in multiplayer with friends. And if you take the game on that value alone, The Crew Motorfest is a fantastic game that has some great tracks and scenery to soak in as you race around this truncated version of Hawaii. Unfortunately, the single-player experience and general annoyances throughout the game took away from this focus and left me feeling small doses of frustration throughout.

Despite not standing out from other open-world driving games, The Crew Motorfest is certainly a fun, fast, and flashy arcade racer that has a wealth of content to keep gearheads busy for a long time to come!

The Crew Motorfest is an acceptable reproduction of the Forza Horizon concept. If you focus on the thematic playlists and roam the colorful open world listening to the radio, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of the game. There’s enough content here to last you well over 20 hours between events and exploration. However, apart from the ability to change vehicle types on the fly, the game is unfortunately short on original ideas. The limited multiplayer, lack of compelling side activities, and restricted crossplay also hold The Crew Motorfest back from passing the finish line ahead of the curve.

The Crew Motorfest is a driving game for people who enjoy those types of games more than anything else in life. With over 600 real-world vehicles, there really is something for everyone, but that’s the problem. There’s something for everyone, but it may only be one thing. Also exacerbated by a packed and yet cumbersome live service system, this game is harder to recommend than I want it to be.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I am torn on whether or not The Crew Motorfest is a blatant ripoff or Ubisoft’s honest attempt at turning their ambitious but forgotten racing franchise into something more appealing. Upon watching its reveal, a few months ago, there was no soul on Earth that wasn’t uttering the same words: “this is just Forza Horizon“. Sure, The Crew Motorfest features airplanes and bikes as well, but the damn thing just reeked of Forza Horizon...

I always make an earnest effort to not directly compare video games to their counterparts in my reviews, but it’s impossible to talk about The Crew Motorfest without talking about Forza Horizon 5. Put simply, The Crew Motorfest takes direct inspiration from what is widely considered to be the best open-world racer of all time. To be fair, Ubisoft Ivory Tower has done a decent job of emulating that experience, with a more modest map size and some unique playlists taking you through different...

The Crew Motorfest has really surprised us. Not since the Test Drive Unlimited days have we had this much fun with an open world racer outside of the industry-leading Forza Horizon series, and that can only be good for competition going forward. The jury is still out on whether Motorfest, and any potential sequels, will have the stopping power that FH does, but Ubisoft's history with updating and adding to The Crew 2 bodes well for this title's future. Motorfest isn't fully refined just yet but the game feels like a hugely successful reset button for The Crew series, and we're now totally invested in where things go next.

The Crew Motorfest definitely brings the heat, but in the end, it’s sitting at a distant second until it learns what exactly it wants out of itself.

Ubisoft's latest racing game bridges the gap to the untouchable Forza.

One part MotorStorm, one part Forza Horizon, The Crew Motorfest is a hugely accomplished open world racing game that brings across the best of The Crew 2, while sprinkling in a few neat ideas of its own. Also, the returning on-the-fly car, plane, and boat switching is enormously welcome.

The Crew Motorfest is easily the best entry in the series to date and serves as a new launching point for the franchise. It has needed an identity of its own for a long time and while it may seem odd, going back to what made the first couple of Forza Horizon games work well while keeping some of The Crew 2's vehicle variety intact winds up being a winning combination. Every race type is executed well, with the street racing and open-wheel being true standouts, while the visual design shines and accents the audio with a slick soundtrack and impressive sound design.

The Crew Motorfest embodies the spirit of the Forza Horizon franchise in more ways than one, and though it doesn't ever quite touch the same heights, it does deliver what is easily the most enjoyable game in Ubisoft's open world racing franchise.

The Crew Motorfest is undoubtedly the best entry in Ubisoft’s open-world racing game series yet. Not only that, but it goes toe-to-toe with Forza Horizon 5, perhaps even beating it in numerous ways. The island of O’ahu is stunning; a varied place that feels natural and teeming with things to do. But more importantly, the gameplay, the simple act of driving, is rewarding and fun. Whether you’re exploring the world or taking part in a heated race, The Crew Motorfest puts a smile on your face, even if only because of the beautiful surroundings. And while they’re somewhat put on the back burner here, it’s nice that you can still jump into a plane or boat to explore without limits.

We tell you, it’s a good game! It’s not average! It might have some problems here and there, but you must admit it is a “Good” game.

An open world racer that gets better the more you play it, revealing a wealth of high-quality racing in a beautiful, technically spectacular Hawaii. While it lacks originality, it is better than Forza Horizon 5 in several ways.