TECHBOOK played the latest racing game from Ubisoft at Gamescom 2023. The title is intended to give the “The Crew” series a fresh coat of paint.
Featuring Ubisoft’s Fast Track Pass to try out the new racing game The Crew Motorfest – it couldn’t be more fitting. So off to the screen, put on the headset, hold the controller and off you go. Ubisoft showed TECHBOOK a gameplay demo for the third title in the racing series at Gamescom 2023. While there are a few things we’re excited about, the sequel also has some caveats.
Motorfest offers playlists for everyone
As the name “Motorfest” suggests, the game celebrates driving. Against the background of a festival, it should be possible to hold various racing events in the finished game. In this respect, The Crew Motorfest bears a resemblance to the Forza Horizon series.
TECHBOOK itself was able to try out a series of so-called playlists in the demo – a kind of mini-campaign with which players can immerse themselves in different topics in car culture. The races are individually adapted to the respective theme: for example, GPS and nitro boost are missing in vintage car races and cross-country terrain is sometimes the best route for off-road hunting with jeeps.
The Crew Motorfest – a big car party in Hawaii
“Motorfest” offers tailor-made racing experiences for many aspects of car culture. There are playlists just for supercars, F1, EVs, classic cars, off-road, drag racing and even just different Lamborghini models. So there is something for everyone.
As usual for the series, there is again online multiplayer in which players can compete against each other or simply cruise together. In addition to cars, airplanes and boats are also available again.
In contrast to “The Crew 2”, the playable open world shrinks significantly. While in the predecessor you could explore the entire Contiguous United States – as the USA without Alaska and Hawaii – Ubisoft has recreated the Hawaiian island of O’ahu in “The Crew Motorfest”. If that sounds familiar: no wonder, the island was already the setting for “Test Drive Unlimited” and many developers of the game are now at Ubisoft.
“The Crew Motorfest” can now be pre-ordered from EUR 69.99 and starts on September 14th for Xbox, PlayStation and PC. Players can take their fleet of vehicles from The Crew 2 with them.
Promising setting, smaller scope
“As someone who has played The Crew 2, I felt right at home with Motorfest. Simply picked up the controller, quickly refreshed the controls and everything ran smoothly. Personally, I find the concept of different playlists that pick up on different aspects of car culture exciting – because I’m not into every type of car or race. We haven’t been able to try out the open world of “Motorfest” yet. As a fan of the sheer dimensions of the predecessor, I am somewhat skeptical. The beautiful Hawaiian setting on O’ahu might make up for that though.” – Adrian Mühlroth, editor