The likes of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Star Wars Outlaws, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown may have grabbed most of the headlines in the wake of the recent Ubisoft Forward showcase, but the company also offered an extensive look at another one of its major upcoming games that actually looked quite promising. The Crew Motorfest is bringing back Ubisoft Ivory Tower’s open world racing series for a third outing, and this time, it’s adding plenty of Forza Horizon flair to its offerings, for an experience that’s apparently going to have a very different flavour from what fans of the series might be familiar with. Here, we’re going to go over all the crucial details we have learned about the game in recent days.
SETTING
The Crew and The Crew 2 took players to scaled down recreations of all of the United States of America, but with The Crew Motorfest looking to inject some of Forza Horizon’s racing festival vibes into the experience (as its name indicates), it’s shifting to a completely new setting. Motorfest is set on a scaled down version of the island of Oahu in Hawaii, and not only is it promising, as Ubisoft puts it, “a perfect mix of culture, adventure, and the splendor of nature”, it will also boast an ecosystem that will encompass diverse biomes and environments. Speaking of which…
ENVIRONMENTS
From beaches and forests to urban environments and more, players will find plenty of environmental variety on the island of Oahu in The Crew Motorfest. The leeward side of the island will be characterized by dry and arid landscapes, while the beaches of Waikiki will offer up a healthy dose of white, sandy beaches and glistening water. Then there are the dense and lush Hawaiian rainforests, the slopes of a volcano, tracks that run through caves, and much more. That, of course, means there will also be plenty of opportunities for off road driving.
PLAYLISTS
The Crew Motorfest is clearly going to be an expansive experience, with plenty for players to do and see, but those looking to go through its curated offerings of content will find the bulk of that in what Ubisoft Ivory Tower has dubbed Playlists. Described as Motorfest’s chief activity, each Playlist will be a curated themed campaign in and of itself, each of them coming with their own unique challenges, vehicles, rewards, mechanics, and other unique elements.
MORE PLAYLIST DETAILS
While it remains to be seen exactly how many playlists The Crew Motorfest will have on offer upon its launch later this year, Ubisoft has provided details on quite a few of them. The Made in Japan Playlist will scatter Japanese-themed decorations and environmental flourishes throughout the map, while the Lamborghini Playlist will focus entirely on the legendary manufacturer. There’s also the Electric Odyssey Playlist, which will focus, as its name suggests, on electric supercars.
VINTAGE GARAGE PLAYLIST
One particular Playlist that’s bound to turn a few heads is the Vintage Garage Playlist, which will take players to different eras of automobiles, each with unique theming, mechanics, and vehicles. In this Playlist, you’ll start with the ’50s, where you won’t have access to a map and will instead have to make your way around the map by using photos of landmarks as references, all while driving the Cadillac 1957 Eldorado. After you’re done with the ’50s, you’ll continue to move through the history of cars, and make your way through the ’60s, where you’ll be behind the wheel in a Volkswagen Kombi, the ’70s, where you’ll be focusing on rallying and driving a Nissan Fairlady Z 432, the ’80s, where you’ll drive a Ferrari F40, and finally, the ’90s. We don’t know what you’ll drive in the ’90s.
PLAYLIST REWARDS
Completing Playlists will obviously be the primary marker for you far you’ve progressed in the game’s offerings of content, though they will, of course, come with tangible rewards as well. Every time you finish a Playlist, you’ll unlock a special edition vehicle and add it to your growing collection. In addition to that, you will also gain access to new themed challenges, which, in turn, will bring their own rewards as well, on top of being useful tools for improving your driving skills.
FESTIVAL AREA
So those Forza Horizon vibes we’ve touched on a couple of times until now? They’re quite blatant, of course, as is apparent with even a cursory look at the game, and nothing exemplifies more than The Crew Motorfest’s Festival Area, which is a sort of social hub location where players can meet and interact with each other. There will be plenty of activities to check out in this location as well, including a drifting circuit, a drag race track, a massive double loop, and an off roading area. Meanwhile, in the Festival Area, players will also find the Car Meet Tent, where you’ll be able to participate in weekly customization contests to show off your vehicles and all the ways you have customized and personalized them.
OPEN WORLD ACTIVITES
There will be plenty of racing to do in The Crew Motorfest, while simply driving around the open world while being able to switch seamlessly from a car to a plane to a boat is, in typical The Crew fashion, promising to be a lot of fun as well. But of course, the game will also feature a variety of open world activities for players to engage with. These will include slaloms, escape challenges, speed traps, stunt jumps, bullseyes, hidden loot crates to find, photo challenges, and more. Beyond that, players will also be able to tinker around with a wide variety of customization options for their vehicles- though Ubisoft Ivory Tower is yet to provide concrete details on what those options will be.
COLLECTION IMPORT
Given how long The Crew 2 has been out, and given how long Ubisoft Ivory Tower has supported it, it goes without saying that there’s no shortage of people who have clocked in a considerable amount of time in that game and built up an extensive collection of vehicles. When The Crew Motorfest comes around, though, you won’t have to start from scratch. Ubisoft says The Crew 2 players will be able to import their entire collection of vehicles into The Crew Motorfest for free. Exactly how that process will work remains to be seen, but that’s a massive bonus for anyone who’s already invested significant time in the series.
LAUNCH
And when exactly can we expect to play The Crew Motorfest? Well, it’s not awfully far away now. Ubisoft Ivory Tower’s open world arcade racer is set to launch on September 14 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. On PC, it will be available via Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store- yep, like most Ubisoft releases now, it’s skipping Steam. And yes, as always, that’s a bummer.