Gameplay, a release date and the cover cars have been revealed for The Crew: Motorfest. The open-world racer is set to land on 14th September, 2023 and be the first console and PC racing game to feature the new Lamborghini Revuelto. The latest V12 Lambo is also set to grace the cover of the game, along with the mk4 Toyota Supra.
On release in September, the game is set to be the most widely-available open-world game on the market. This will give PlayStation players their first taste of a Horizon-esque experience, while also being available on ‘last-gen’ consoles.
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown was initially touted for release on both current and last-gen, but the development of last-gen ports was latterly cancelled. It's also expected to bring cross compatibility – long-requested in the community – allowing players on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and beyond, to explore Oahu together.
The game has for the last few months been undergoing beta testing, with PC players getting a first look before the latest console players were invited in. Impressions are of a game very much aimed at being the 'Horizon' that Turn 10 and Playground have yet to quite manage, with a focus on the ‘Motorfest’ festival activities, multi-class racing and exploration of the Oahu-based map.
Though decidedly smaller than the US-based map of previous entries, the road network and layout of Motorfest’s map looks to be a vast improvement on rival Horizon. Most exciting are reports of vastly improved driving dynamics, including very pleasant racing racing wheel physics, which go a long way towards enriching the experience on what is an unavoidably smaller map than Crew players are used to. Sharper graphics – with 4K and 60FPS capability on the latest consoles – and a more vibrant colour palette are almost a given.
It’s also been confirmed that players will be able to import their cars over from The Crew 2, all of which carry over on Motorfest’s expanded vehicle list. As well as the Supra and Revuelto, that list includes additions such as the Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder, Honda NSX NA1, Porsche Taycan, Lotus Evija, Shelby Cobra and more road cars besides.
In terms of race cars (drivable on the road or track), the Red Bull RB18 F1 car and Lamborghini Essenza track special are new to the game too. Interesting too are what appear to be class-specific parameters and UIs, with older cars for instance not having GPS and Formula cars featuring a tyre wear indicator.
Are you excited for The Crew: Motorfest, or are you hedging your bets on Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown? Either way, Playground and the Forza Horizon team are going to have stiff competition very soon.
The Crew
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Racing games