The Crew Motorfest Review (PS5) | Push Square

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Ubisoft's premier racing franchise, The Crew, generally gets a bad rap. Developer Ivory Tower had very strong ambitions right from the starting grid, providing drivers with an open world approximating the entire United States of America. It's a great idea; roam the entire country from coast to coast with your pals, taking on challenges and building a varied collection of vehicles. The Crew 2 doubled down, even providing new ways to get around with boats and planes. For us, however, the execution was never really good enough, with a vapid open world and lacklustre driving. The Crew Motorfest is a different story.

The third entry in the series is easily our favourite, addressing our two biggest gripes with previous entries. For as commendable as it is to give players so much acreage to explore, all that space was never filled with anything memorable. Motorfest takes the reverse approach, shrinking the map down to Hawaii's main island, O'ahu, and packing it with personality. Though it's still a sizeable open world, it's so much more interesting to drive through — beautiful coastal roads lead into verdant forests, volcanic beaches, winding mountain trails, and Honolulu's city streets. It's a fantastic setting that serves as a picturesque backdrop to the action.

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Speaking of action, the handling model is a huge improvement on The Crew 2. Definitely leaning towards the arcade half of the spectrum, Motorfest strikes a nice balance; it's a lot of fun, throwing cars around with relative ease, but still requires you to pay attention and anticipate turns properly. The most impressive thing is the handling feels good regardless of racing discipline. Variety is the order of the