Ubisoft has released Season 9 of The Crew Motorfest, and it is the most promising update for the game so far. It not only brings a new Playlist this time around, but also the much-awaited custom track builder and a new Playground Island filled with new ways to experience the game. The Crew Motorsport was released back in September 2023, and since then, it has received multiple updates. In our The Crew Motorfest review, we found out that the new playlist mechanic is great for adding new content to the game, and since then, Ubisoft has added multiple new playlists to the game, extending its life. This is our review of The Crew Motorfest Season 9 on PC, in which we explore the new Playground Island, NASCAR playlist, and the TrackForge, custom track builder.
Starting with the new Playground Island, you can say that it is the unofficial Hot Wheels expansion for The Crew Motorfest without the actual branding. This brand-new chunk of land is slated close to Maui Island, and it is called Kaho’Olawe. While this island kicks off the brand-new NASCAR playlist, it is also a vital part of the new Season 9 because it not only features a purpose-built Oval track but has plenty of other activities to do as well, which suits the name. This brand-new island is all about having fun in brand-new ways that were not possible in the base game.
You can access this island from Maui, and after arrival, you will find many different paths leading to the main attractions. If you have built Hot Wheels tracks in the past, you will find a lot of similarities here with different sections comprising corkscrews, jumps, insanely changing elevations, high-speed turns, tight banks, and even loops. To help you navigate these sections, there are different special track section placements, such as magnets and booster pads, in place. These give you an insane amount of grip and speed, respectively, which allow you to take turns at speeds and land huge jumps that are not possible with the base game mechanics.
The whole vibe of the Playground Island fits perfectly with The Crew Motorfest because the main island is also colorful and filled with different attractions. The only difference is that tracks on the Playground Island are insane and elevated differently, instead of the normal, straight roads of the main game. The island is not as big as some of the previous additions to the game, like the Maui, which is huge in comparison, but it brings more unique gameplay elements into play that will ensure that you spend a lot more hours here and experiment around with new locations.
The main highlight of The Crew Motorfest Season 9 is easily the arrival of the brand-new NASCAR Playlist. Similar to the real event, the new playlist is all about oval racing and understanding its discipline. The most impressive fact of this new playlist is that Ubisoft has created a brand-new handling mechanic for these NASCAR cars that feels meatier and is much closer to a simulation rather than arcade. Apart from the handling, the events feature many new HUD elements as well.
For these events, you get a brand-new NASCAR-inspired speedometer along with a meter that tracks your vehicle’s current condition. This new meter shows your tire conditions, fuel level, and any damage that has been incurred to your vehicle. While slipstreaming, you can also see new drafting lines above your car, which show whether you are sharing the air from the vehicle in front of you and reducing drag to reach higher speeds and overtaking them. These HUD elements are found in official NASCAR racing games, and Ubisoft’s decision to add them specifically for this one playlist shows the level of work gone into its development.
The narrative of the new playlist is a typical underdog one as you step into the shoes of a rookie driver and work your way back to the top with a brand-new team. After a tragic first race, you are left with no options but to look for a fresh team, and from there, your journey spans over ten races. The playlist is fairly straightforward as you complete multiple objectives and then finally win the event, and you are presented with a reward car, fairly straightforward as The Crew Motorfest playlists go. You have to travel between the events to the start locations, and everything else is similar to the base game experience.
What sets the playlist apart is how each event takes place. Apart from the visual HUD additions, the entire event in the NASCAR event is completely different from the normal events. Not only are these events on oval tracks, with a few exceptions, but these events also include many other mechanics, like a proper Pit system. As you race around the tracks in high-speed NASCAR vehicles, you will need to keep an eye out for your fuel level, tire conditions, and body damage. You can remedy all three of these during Pit stops.
As you enter the pit lane, you can choose what needs to be done on the car. Every action increases the total time of the pit. Each option comes with its own unique mini-game that you must complete to quickly complete that action. You will be required to complete a mini game fully before moving on to the next. Once all selected options are complete, you will join the race again. As compared to a normal NASCAR event, tire and fuel consumption are sped up to ensure that it plays an important role in each race. The races are not as long as a full NASCAR event, so it makes sense that both tire and fuel are consumed at an increased rate.
The extra NASCAR meter gives you an estimate of how much time you can last in the race with your current fuel and tires, so you will need to manage the pit stops strategically. The AI will also periodically make pit stops. Probably the biggest disappointment for any NASCAR fan will be the race lineup, which is extremely short compared to the real event. Ubisoft went all the way to developing special tracks, HUD elements, and car handling for the Festival, but unfortunately, the car lineup remains short with only a few cars in a single race, as opposed to 40 cars in a real NASCAR event.
It may be for the good because the AI, for some reason, is extremely aggressive during these events. There were different instances where I was in the lead and going at full speed, where an AI would creep up from behind and, instead of overtaking from the side, it would smash right into my rear, or when coming from the side, try to take me out with a pit maneuver. This is a big difference from the base game, where AI tends to properly acknowledge your position on the track and respect your boundaries. Here, the AI feels much more aggressive, and with simple, oval tracks, overtaking or leading a race becomes a nightmare as the AI goes on full rampage mode.
The crashes in these events are nonetheless spectacular as you see vehicles flipping and flying off the sides of the track. Due to the cars feeling meatier, the crashes have more weight in them as well. When you step into these races, expect crashes at every corner, just like the real event, and this keeps the pressure up for you to drive cleanly as well. The NASCAR playlist is probably one of the best additions to the game since its release. It not only brings tons of new cars to the game but also some brand-new mechanics, which is something that very few developers actually try to do post-launch. Season 9 is also introducing another playlist further down in May called RC Frenzy, which will introduce RC cars to the game, and it will be interesting to see what sort of new mechanics it brings to the game.
Finally, another important chapter to arrive in The Crew Motorsport is the TrackForge, which, as you can guess from the name, is a custom track creator. This mode adds two new islands to the game, called Moloka’I and Lanai. These two islands are not connected to the main islands and are completely set apart from the base game. These islands give players a decent-sized playground for creating custom tracks with water bodies and land areas. To help create the tracks, players will find tons of pieces of different track sections like straights, turns, S-turns, elevations, decorations, and tons of other options to place down on the track.
To help with particular sections of the track, TrackForge has special Super Modules that have already created larger sections of the map based on real-world tracks and locations. These Super Modules can be simply picked and incorporated into a custom track without the need to create it from scratch. Other options include setting the event settings like time of day, vehicle options, laps, and other basic settings. Once you are happy with your creation, you can try it yourself and publish it for players around the world to try it out.
If you want to simply jump into tracks created by other players, you can jump into a track from one of three available categories. Based on their types, The Crew Motorsport categorizes tracks into Authentic Motorsports, Unleashed Motorsports, and Coaster Tracks. Authentic Motorsports features tracks that are purpose-built for racing and are suited for players who want a more motorsports-oriented experience. Unleashed Motorsports is a blend of casual and sim-focused tracks, while Coaster Tracks are where realism can hide in the corner. This section features the wildest creations featuring inspirations from the Playground.
Final Verdict:
The Crew Motorfest Season 9 is perhaps the best and most detailed season to arrive in the game since its launch. It shows how creative the developer can be in adding new content to the game, and it has actually made us excited about the game’s future. The arrival of NASCAR marks an important addition to the game, as it is one of the best racing disciplines in the world, and its arrival shows that the game is willing to expand into directions previously considered off-limits. Both Playground Mode and TrackForge are interesting additions in their own way, and both of them ensure that players will always have something new to play when they jump back into the game. If you have been holding back from jumping back into the game, now is the best time to do so with the new additions.
Final Score: 9.0/10
Disclaimer: Early Access for The Crew Motorfest Season 9 was provided by Ubisoft for this review. Read our Review Policy.
