The all new “The Crew” game has finally been released, and it may just be the best open-world racer this year and maybe even of all time and further helps define this whole genre. This game is huge, bold and puts you into one of the most detailed and varied open-world environments that you’ve ever seen in a driving game.
Here are a few reasons as to why The Crew Motorfest may very well be one of the best open-world racing games that you are able to get your hands on right now.
Awesome Vehicle Variety
One of the first and biggest reasons as to why this may be the best open-world racing game is probably the most important part to any game, and that is the vehicles. However, in The Crew Motorfest, you don’t just have access to cars, but to all sorts of crazy and amazing additions, such as bikes, boats and planes.
The first thing that you’ll notice whilst driving these vehicles, that is if you’ve played any other The Crew games before, is that the actual handling has improved drastically from its predecessors. The Crew Motorfest goes up against some strong opponents within this genre, such as Forza Horizon and Need for Speed Unbound, but how does this game differentiate itself from those?
Although it is definitely similar to those games, the main elements of this game are very different and unique to The Crew franchise. The vehicle choices are one of those main elements that bring a whole new perspective to the open-world genre. Some of these unique vehicle choices include planes, boats, monster trucks, quad bikes, side-by-sides, motorcycles, formula 1 cars and of course old, new, petrol, electric, supercars and SUVs.
The quantity of vehicles in this game is definitely one of the game’s stronger assets, as at the launch of Motorfest you’ll be getting over 600 vehicles and even more via DLC.
If you are someone who has played the previous The Crew games, then you’ll already know that planes and boats have been a part of the series for a while. The on-water boating experience feels pretty similar to that of its predecessor, The Crew 2, however the flying in The Crew Motorfest feels a lot smoother to control, which is definitely a helpful refinement.
The Cars
Although the game includes a large variety of vehicles, the cars are still the main focus of the game. There are also several new cars that you’ll see in the game, such as the new Lamborghini Revuelto and the electric GMC Hummer EV. all of the cars and vehicles in the game also have a detailed cockpit. Then when it comes to the modifications that you’ll be able to do to your vehicles, they’re extensive and range from performance upgrades that you unlock through gameplay progression, to chrome effect paint colours as well as a huge list of visual modifications. So, you’ll almost certainly be able to find your dream car in this game and customise it to make it perfect.
Curated Playlists
The career structure that you may have experienced in The Crew 2 was pretty confusing, but in The Crew Motorfest you’ll instead have access to playlists.
To get to these various playlists you’ll need to first head on over to the clearly defined menu system and then from there you’ll be able to browse through the available curated setlists. Each one of these setlists have a distinct theme to them, which could be to just simply explore Hawaii or it could be a series of events that celebrate the Porsche 911.
When you select one of these playlists, you’ll be greeted with a cinematic introduction that’ll set the scene for you, which are all very high in production quality, after this you’ll listen to a few lines of dialogue from in-game characters. Although this game doesn’t really have a story, it at leasts tries to make you feel like you are playing for a purpose that aligns with the vehicle or mission type that you’ll be partaking in.
So when you pair the huge variety of vehicles together with these organised structures, you’ll find yourself with a fun progression path to follow.
Once you’ve successfully managed to complete a playlist, you’ll get experience points and when you reach an objective you’ll then unlock a new vehicle for your garage. When you do finally achieve these milestones and get your vehicle you won’t just be greeted with an on-screen pop-up, instead you’ll get a whole car reward sequence, which really makes this occasion feel a whole lot more special.
This isn’t where your journey will end though, because you’ll also get a whole suite of additional, optional, challenges that also unlock to give you bonus payouts. If you don’t want to focus all of your attention on just one playlist you won’t have to, instead you can just try out some different playlists or even drive to the various playlist markers, such as the giant Porsche air balloon on your map, in order to try a different event.
One problem that some gamers are mentioning is the performance of the AI-controller rivals in the game. When you race against them you find that you’ll either beat these rivals quite easily or get thrashed by them when you just adjust the difficulty one notch up.
The Awesome Environment
What makes an open-world racing game great is largely dependent on how great the environment that you get to explore is, and in The Crew Motorfest the environment that you’re placed in, the Hawaiian island of O’ahu, is absolutely stunning.
In The Crew 2 we saw Ubisoft try to recreate the whole of the United States with a map size of 7,000㎢. Now, with The Crew Motorfest, the world of O’ahu is a lot smaller in comparison. However, although it may be smaller it is tremendously more detailed than its predecessor. With this new map, we get a sense that Ubisoft actually focused a lot more on their attention to detail, instead of just making the map as large as possible.
Overall, the location is stunning, with dynamic weather, bright colours as well as some stunning sunsets. Whilst driving around this map, you’ll be able to come across beaches, jungles, and waterfalls.
The map that you’ll get in The Crew Motorfest is also quite unique and cool as you’re able to access it any time, where you can actually zoom in, in real-time, and fully 3D and see exactly what’s happening around you. You can really get lost in this map, just panning through the various environments, zooming in on other traffic or trying to find some awesome hidden trails to drive on later.
So although a huge map is fun sometimes, players of The Crew Motorfest much prefer the small-scale O’ahu over the drab, but vast, landscape that you got in the previous Crew games.
Collaborative Gameplay
Not only is the structure of the game a lot clearer and the environment further enhanced, but you’ll further be able to enjoy all of these awesome features with others as you’re able to play together online.
You probably could’ve already guessed that you’d be able to experience the game with friends since it is literally called ‘The Crew’. Apart from just being able to play co-op in the game you’ll also see the series’ ranked play also returns in the form of Live Summits. These Live Summits are basically events where you’ll have a limited amount of time to complete various challenges that will pay out rewards based on where you’ll rank on the global leaderboard. If you’ve managed to place in the top 1,000 for example, then you’ll be scored as a platinum driver, and if you’re further down you’ll be gold, then silver, and then bronze.
This is a great way that Ubisoft have managed to keep players wanting more and coming back to the game on a regular basis, to compete for some really cool prizes. The Crew Motorfest does things a little different though, as this time this event is part of a Main Stage experience where the contender’s are able to display their modified cars at a Custom Show and the various challenges that you’ll have are now stylised as additional playlists.
Ubisoft have managed to take arguably the best parts of The Crew 2, the Main Stage and Live Summits, and put them into an absolutely gorgeous environment withinThe Crew Motorfest.
Final Words
When you compare The Crew Motorfest to other open world racing games, both on paper as well as in practice, you’ll see that this game means business and is easily amongst the best, if not the best, open-world racing games. It is able to achieve such great status because of its depth, the amazing landscapes, the co-op and rank-based online events, the satisfying driving dynamics as well as the incredible attention to detail that Ubisoft have had.
