news The Crew Motorfest [Announcement 31 Jan 2023]

[Ryzza5]

The Crew Motorfest announced - Welcome back to O'ahu!

After growing rumour and speculation, Ubisoft's Ivory Tower studio revealed their 3rd game in The Crew series.  First planned as an expansion to The Crew 2, the project has grown large enough to warrant a full title release.

The reveal trailer shows the return to the popular island paradise O'ahu among Hawaii's islands. A variety of vehicles were shown in the video trailer (below), and the return of boats and aircraft has also been confirmed in a developer interview. 'Hundreds of cars' will be available to players.

One notable difference compared to Test Drive Unlimited will be the adaptation of O'ahu into a smaller playable area as opposed to aiming for a 1:1 scale recreation.   Key locations, such as the city of Waikiki, appear to remain close to their original size, but we imagine the long roads and highways linking these points of interest may be squished, taking inspiration from the map design in The Crew 1 & 2.   The advantage of this decision, according to game director Stéphane Beley, is that environment artists can “touch every kilometre” instead of relying on procedural generation techniques, and players can enjoy a "higher density of activities and biomes".

Fans can register their interest in joining the Insider Program, which will allow for confidential play-testing and sharing of feedback prior to launch later in 2023.  Four stages are planned, each inviting progressively more PC and eventually console players to join.

The Crew Motorfest is planned to launch sometime in 2023 on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.  The Crew (1) launched on 2 December 2014, and The Crew 2 launched on 29 June 2017. 

New content continues to be added to The Crew 2 even in early 2023, with Season 7 Episode 2 showcasing high-speed races in Blizzard conditions.  

 

What do you think of this news?  Are you excited to return to O'ahu, even if it is squished beyond recognition in places?  Do you think Ivory Tower and Ubisoft will nail the physics and game progression?  Have you registered for the early access closed beta test?  

[totalnuts]

Personaly I lost fate in Ubisoft/Bluebyte, and frankly i don't want anything from them anymore, even if it was for free

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by totalnuts

[TIMELESS]

I'm surprised there's not more interest here, this looks much closer to a spiritual successor to TDU than TC 1 and 2 were. The game looks great, a smaller more detailed map and better physics, this should be a serious competitor for Forza Horizon.

[Ryzza5]

I get the feeling those who've played previous FH games but not previous TC or TDU games will be more hyped.  TC fans will complain about the dramatic map size reduction, and TDU fans may also complain that O'ahu here bears little resemblance, being squished.  Then there's the high price tag, the grindy gameplay loops to afford overpriced vehicles, and constant push of MTX and season passes. 

Underneath, however, there is a fun and beautiful game in a location with a nice balance of nostalgia and new exploration.  The physics so far look good, at least for the stock vehicles - I don't know how fully tuned vehicles will feel.  You'll find more discussion on Discord.  I know I'd like to play it, I'm just having a hard time stomaching the price, especially if they're likely to heavily discount the game like they have with TC2 over the years.

 

 

[TIMELESS]

These days I just don't look at the price of new games, I'm patient enough to wait for the price to drop

I'm looking the look of the themed playlists, more of a focused linear progression root compared to Forza's 'here's 100 races, do them in whatever order you fancy with whatever car you like' style. It's such a boring grind.

[nestcozy]

I find it surprising that there isn't more enthusiasm here; this game seems to be a true spiritual successor to TDU compared to TC 1 and 2. With its impressive visuals, a smaller yet highly detailed map, and improved physics, it appears to be a strong contender against Forza Horizon.

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by nestcozy

[Ryzza5]

I've been playing it each week.  But you sound like an AI.

 

[TIMELESS]

On 11/10/2023 at 12:32 AM, Ryzza5 said:

I've been playing it each week.  But you sound like an AI.

 

I think you're scaring the people (and artificial intelligence) away.

I like it a lot but it runs like  on my old xbox one and I don't have much faith in my PC these days either. So I'll wait to play it again once I upgrade.