The Crew Motorfest is at a very important stage at this moment because of the launch of Forza Horizon 6. As racing fans are divided into two racing behemoths, The Crew Motorfest is striving to retake its spot by introducing Season 10 with some very important additions. While it certainly brings new cars and playlists, it stands out because it comes equipped with new gameplay systems, revisits a fan-favourite feature from The Crew 2, and lays the groundwork for more content to arrive in the following months. Ubisoft gave us early access to a preview build of The Crew Motorfest Season 10 Update, and these are our hands-on impressions after experiencing its opening content.
One of my favourite new additions is the biggest race that I have experienced in a very long time. The new Hawaii Grand Tour is a beast of a challenge, spanning over the entire map of the game, including the base game’s map and DLC additions. This grand race takes around 1 hour on average to complete and takes the player through every beautiful spot of the game, giving a true tour of the island. There are no time constraints, but if you do complete within a bonus period, you will get an exclusive reward. Since this is aimed at players who have some prior experience with the game, it comes with a hefty signup price of 2,000,000 credits, but if you complete this behemoth event, you will get the chance of adding the iconic Ferrari 250 GTO to your garage.
While I enjoyed the event and it comes with a significant prize, it should have given us the opportunity of choosing our own vehicle as well for the race. The preview build only allowed me to choose the Ferrari 250 GTO, and it is not the fastest car in the game, so it might be a reason as to why this race becomes longer. With the ability to choose any other car for the challenge, the time will drop significantly. Nevertheless, The Crew Motorfest’s equivalent of the Goliath from Forza Horizon is a welcome nod for fans of the series, who will greatly appreciate this brand-new event. It serves as the epitome of patience, stamina, and challenge for long-term fans who will try their best to unlock the exclusive timed bonus for this level.
With a time requirement as big as one hour, replayability certainly comes to mind, but if I take myself personally, I will not jump into the race again if it forces me to drive the 250 GTO at all times. If it would allow a custom car choice in the future, it would increase the replayability of the race. In addition, there are no AI players in the race as well, so sometimes it does tend to get a little boring. Bringing in AI players, the ability to choose any car for the race, and switching up other settings will definitely keep players coming back to this massive event.
Moving on, the preview build featured the first four events of the brand-new The Motorfest Late Show, the newest Playlist arriving on July 1, in the game. This plays out in the form of a show where players join the show as its official pilot and perform different stunts or events as required by the show’s host, Casey Rollins. This is different from the other playlists already in the game because it follows an episodic release format, with the first four events, comprising the show’s first season, launching first, followed by four events in August, and then finally, in September, the release of the final four episodes.
During the first four events, I was introduced to an insane selection of vehicles, including Alpine A110R Ultime and the W Motors’ Fenyr SuperSport. One of the events also saw me behind a Suzuki Hayabusa with a cockpit-locked view, speeding through Hawaii at breathtaking speeds. The initial impression of the playlist is very strong, with exceptional vehicles and events. Each event also features a commentary between the host and a special guest from The Crew Motorfest’s world. It plays out like a show, and it certainly feels like a show when you are playing through it. I am definitely looking forward to the next events of the playlist.
The Crew 2 fans will be happy to know that Stories are coming back to the franchise with the very first one called Kai’s Garage. Stories were a major part of The Crew 2, and now fans can start experiencing them in The Crew Motorfest as well. These are separate from the playlist because while these focus on a specific theme or category of vehicles, the stories are more character-focused and allow you to experience the story through the eyes of a specific character as you complete races and other challenges. Season 10 is officially kicking them off, with more to follow soon.
Another important aspect of the new season is the addition of a brand-new handling program called the Beta Handling Program, and the first handling style it introduces is Drift Handling. This brand-new Drift handling introduces proper stance, suspension, and tire modifications, which benefit drifting around and chaining together longer drifts. The preview build featured a 2015 Ford Mustang Beta Drift Handling Edition, which came with this pre-build and will be available to everyone in the shop for just 1 CC or 7 bucks. This will give everyone a chance to try out this new handling type and see how Ivory Tower is working towards making different racing disciplines unique.
In my opinion, drifting in The Crew Motorfest always felt like power sliding around with the car never properly responding to throttle inputs, and it was hard to throw the back of the car out to chain longer drifts together. The beta drift handling delivers an authentic sliding experience where the car’s engine power is enough to spin the rear wheels and throw them out. While it is not perfect at the moment, as I had difficulty in chaining longer drifts than I can do in other games like Forza Horizon 5 or 6, it is certainly a step in the right direction. Camber tuning is coming to the game as well, so custom setups will be available for drift builds soon with the new handling system on the inside and proper drift-looking mods on the outside.
The season also brings 18 new cars to the game, with extreme machines like the Alpine Alpenglow Hy6 or Delage D12, and some regular performance cars like the Alpine A110R Ultime, Ringbrothers/Chevrolet Loadmaster Enyo, and classics like the 1968 Fiat 500 F and the 1993 Lancia Delta Integrale. The season will regularly add these new vehicles to the game, with different challenges, events, and other activities revolving around the Season 10 content. The new car roster isn’t just about hypercars. Ivory Tower has mixed classics, everyday vehicles, and some genuinely unexpected additions, giving collectors a much broader range than previous updates.
The Crew Motorfest is certainly heading in the right direction, and with the upcoming season, the game not only brings in new content, but it also gives players new ways to experience this content. My favourite ones are the Street and Touge kits for the TrackForge, along with the new drift handling. For me, drifting was always a weaker mechanic in The Crew Motorfest, and now Ivory Tower is cooking up a brand-new handling just for drifting. I greatly enjoyed the new mechanic because it genuinely feels like drifting instead of just power sliding around. The Late Show is also an interesting take on the Playlist, and I am looking forward to its complete experience throughout the season.
Related Articles:
- Review: The Crew Motorfest: RC Frenzy – A Game-Changing Playlist That Redefines the Experience
- Interview: The Crew Motorfest – Discussing Season 9, NASCAR, RC Cars and the Philosophy Behind the Game’s Design
- Review: The Crew Motorfest Season 9 – Custom Track Creator Arrives with NASCAR Heating up the Ovals
- The Crew Motorfest is Getting Another Free Trial Starting Tomorrow
Ubisoft is also taking the new TrackForge element of The Crew Motorfest very seriously, and the new content arriving for it in Season 10 is a testament to it. The tracks included in the preview build showed how powerful this tool is bound to become with a few more updates. With the new Street and Touge Kits, the levels are already taking an insane direction with tight and crisp turns, aimed at players who want maximum challenge on technical tracks. Apart from the new kits, the other sections are currently offering some insane tracks to experience as well. I have spent this last week experiencing different brand-new experiences coming to The Crew Motorfest in the upcoming season, and I am happy to report that players are in for a treat when they dive back into the game to experience the new content.
Disclaimer: Early Access to The Crew Motorfest Season 10 was provided by Ubisoft for this preview. Certain Season 10 content will be released in the coming months, and it was not included in the preview build we received. For a detailed breakdown of our scoring and review process, please refer to our Review Policy.
