The Crew Motorfest

The Crew Motorfest is an openly designed racing title from the French studio Ivory Tower that takes players to the fictional Hawaiian island of O'ahu, where a grand automotive festival is taking place. Instead of the sprawling scaled-down model of the United States that players were used to from previous entries in The Crew series, this time the developers focused on a more compact, but denser and more detailed open world full of varied terrain, from beaches to mountain roads and volcanic regions, inspired by the real geography of the Hawaiian archipelago.

The game is divided into so-called Playlists, thematic collections of races linking specific brands, eras, or driving styles, from classic sports cars through off-road quad bikes to boats and planes, between which the player freely switches on the fly, without having to go through menus. On Xbox Series X and S, the open world loads with virtually no delay, and the game benefits from a high density of detail, day-night cycles, and pronounced weather that affects both visibility and vehicle grip on the road. The sound design, with an extensive selection of licensed music spanning genres, contributes to the impression of a continuous festival mood and celebratory atmosphere, further heightened by regular live in-game events.

Critical reception praised above all the variety of content, the return to the qualities of the original series, and a generous offering of vehicles and activities for both single and multiplayer. A minor drawback remains the smaller size of the game world compared to previous entries, which the developers offset with greater content density per square kilometer. Motorfest nonetheless confirmed that the concept of a vacation automotive festival works as a fresh and accessible alternative to simulation racing games, offering dozens of hours of fun for players of all experience levels, from casual cruising to collecting every vehicle and completing every challenge in the individual playlists.

Why play it: For its generous offering of vehicles and activities for both single and multiplayer, it delivers dozens of hours of fun, from casual cruising to collecting every vehicle and completing every playlist challenge.