The Crew Motorfest Is What You Need to Unwind After a Hard Day at School or Work

Naturally, you're only sometimes in the mood to go out for a drive or ride. Maybe you're tired, or the weather is too hectic. Or perhaps you're low on cash and need some accessible home entertainment. Racing in Assetto Corsa can become frustrating, especially if you only start with this game. The sim racing experience is not forgiving, and you have to be 100% focused if you're going to be anywhere near fast without wrecking your car.

Get ready to rumble!

On the other hand, you can always go for a more arcade experience if you want to relax. Speaking of which, it was one year ago that I first played The Crew 2. I last tried it out a while ago, but I wanted to see what the upcoming The Crew Motorfest was about. So when I received an invitation for a pre-release test session, I agreed to spend several hours learning more about it. The official release date is September 14, and it will be available on PlayStation 5 and 4, PC, XBOX One, and Series X/S. For this first test, I was given a chance to see how the current version of the game feels on my personal computer.

Jumping behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Revuelto was my first contact with the upcoming Ubisoft title. So that was a clear hint that the list of vehicles will be extensive. Coming fresh from a hardcore session on the Nurburgring, it felt almost funny to me how easy it is to handle a car at 300 kph in this game. But then again, I'll stop looking at it from that point of view and focus on the exciting parts instead.

After several minutes of going through an intro phase, I chose an S2000 as my first car for the game. I always wanted to own or at least drive one, so why not? With all the voiceovers and open-world driving experience, I couldn't help but feel a Need for Speed Underground vibe here. Some of you may even reminisce about the Test Drive Unlimited days.

After fooling around for a bit, I wanted to get a taste of The Crew Motorfest's Playlists. This is how challenges are organized, focused on a particular theme. You may remember that I'm a huge NFS: Porsche fan, so you can guess which Playlist I went for initially. You'll see several real-life video sequences before getting to work and learn more about cars as you play along.

So many choices

The first race was set inside an industrial harbor, and I had to drive an older Porsche against a more modern one. I was surprised to see that it had a Boost option, but I later discovered that most, if not all, vehicles have that. Kids these days won't get near a car if it doesn't have NOS inside. God, I sound old, don't I? Driving on a fantasy track isn't quite my thing, and not knowing the layout didn't help.

Still, I pushed on, using the boost function to keep up with newer Porsches on the grid. Once you finish, you're greeted by many people cheering on you, applauding frantically, with fireworks in the background. I may be grumpy here, but I find this over-validation annoying and dull after a while. Of course, you can skip these generic outros if you're not fond of them.

I didn't fiddle with the game settings too much; I wanted to soak in as much information as possible. But there is no true sense of speed driving around on this island. It feels like you can go full-throttle through every part of it. Even if you're moving at 186 mph (300 kph), it's not that impressive, but then again, my senses are probably numb after riding bikes at high speeds in the real world.

I moved on to a Japanese playlist, and my first impression was that I landed in the middle of a scene from Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift. This guy almost looked like the main villain from the movie, and there is even some Japanese dialogue to get you settled in. I guess that's cool, but I wouldn't say I liked that the NSX I drove was struggling to keep up with a Mitsubishi Eclipse out of all cars.

Ready, set, go!

I'm either a poor driver, or the AI setting was too hot. I pushed my luck and deactivated the Traction Control and Countersteering assistant. That's more like it! Do this right away if you're already experienced in playing racing games. After a while, I remembered that you could also try out other vehicles in the game, so I switched to a jet boat. I've been considering getting a skipper's license, so I was thrilled to take my new toy out to sea for some high-speed action.

Jumping over waves at high speed, I decided to head to the nearest island and beached the thing. As you would expect, you can't go on forever toward the big blue ocean, but there's still plenty of space for exploration. How long would it take someone to go around the island while using the boat?
After a while, I returned to my car and considered customizing it.

The Customization mode in the game seems incredible, and a vast selection of rims and colors was available. I'd spend many hours fiddling around with body kits and colors, trying to find the perfect combo for my FC RX-7 instead of driving it in the game. Then I decided to continue with the Japanese Playlist. A Wangan challenge was up next. But there is no Wangan in Hawaii. And the layout used for the race felt like something other than one too. It disappointed me, and some kids might need clarification about the topic. Your opponents keep blabbering throughout the race, but it all feels repetitive and boring.

The Hawaiian Scenic Tour could have been a fantastic idea if it had been thought out differently. If you call it a tour, why not act like it? I hoped I'd get a slow guided tour of the island, but instead, it's just another race from start to finish. Sure, there's no pressure to win it, but it feels like a reiteration of any other challenge in the game.

Hawaii is your playground

I'm not playing it as I should. Also, as cool as the custom VW Bus looks, it drives just as bad, especially if you're coming after a car like the Skyline GT-R. I decided to loosen up and detach myself from any sim-racer expectations. So for my next waypoint, I chose to use shortcuts. But my shortcut technique was slightly more insane than the one used on the Irohazaka Pass in Initial D.

I just started jumping off the mountain, like you would have done in Grand Theft Auto. But here, your car won't blow up to smithereens, and you can keep it for as long as you want. This was starting to become fun. It would help if you kept in mind that you can drive through most stone walls without worrying about them, but some obstacles will bring you to a complete halt regardless of how fast you're going.

You might want to use the Rewind function to get you back in the race's lead by the time you find that out. I jumped in the Porsche 959 Dakar car for my next challenge and was surprised to see that I was competing against bikes and trucks. I was equally stunned to see you can drive through river beds and shallow water without any problems, and that reminded me of the Dakar Rally game I played a while ago.

Even if you don't care much for racing, you'll find plenty of mini-challenges as you roam about the island: speed traps, escaping opponents, passing through a series of gates, etc. That adds to the fun factor, and you can always try to set a world record if you're keen on that title. I didn't expect to enjoy driving the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, but it was fun. I couldn't wrap my head around it having a boost function, but they have something similar in Formula E, too, so it makes sense.

The Lotus Evija felt a bit slow, though, and I couldn't care about the Electric-Reviewer-Haven't Driven Cars but know all about them- experience with Danny. Toward the end of the session, I went crazy and bought a Red Bull Racing F1 car to go off-road. The fact that this would never happen in a million years made it all the better, and I couldn't be stressed about tire management or totaling the car at any point.

At one point, you can try doing all sorts of crazy combos, like switching to a boat from a plane in midflight- doing it over water is preferable. I couldn't care about the graphics of the surrounding world and the game's soundtrack, but those aren't critical factors in the playing experience either. And I spent too much time trying to play it seriously instead of going all bonkers on it. That's the best way to experience The Crew Motorfest. Just forget about the rules and do whatever makes you happy.