Season 9 of The Crew Motorfest is almost here and it promises to be the most ambitious effort for Ubisoft’s open-world racer yet. With such a claim on the line, GTPlanet has been getting some one-on-one time with the upcoming season through a preview code provided by Ubisoft for PC.
Having a virtually unlimited purse to indulge in the game’s wide variety of cars, planes and motorbikes is a strange kind of freedom. We spent almost an entire day buying cars and going through the game’s myriad customization bits, including the all-new stance and wheel options introduced when Year 3 kicked off last October.
When Season 9 kicks off on March 4, players will have immediate access to the all-new NASCAR playlist, TrackForge, and Playground Island. Of the three, NASCAR is by far the most impressive.
NASCAR Playlist
For something that’s “merely” a playlist, it feels like it could have been a standalone expansion in and of itself, that’s how differently the game plays and feels when you’re behind the wheel of these stock cars.
While it’s far from being an out-and-out sim racer, it certainly bridges the gap between simulation and arcade racers a bit more than the base game. For starters, every race held in the playlist is adorned with a unique HUD displaying a NASCAR-badged speedometer, and a second gauge that relays tire wear, remaining fuel, vehicle damage, and even a draft indicator.
What really pulls everything together is the racing itself. Despite the fact that tire and fuel wear are accelerated, it still offers a distinct experience that really stands out from the rest of the game. The races are several laps long and pit strategy is certainly something that will remain on one’s mind through every corner of every lap.
The introductory race in the NASCAR Motorfest Tour exemplifies this best. Behind the wheel of Ford’s Next Gen Mustang Dark Horse, you’ll take part in a qualifying event suitably named “The Speedway”. The oval race has a pre-determined outcome, however, and is one that sets up the rest of the playlist’s narrative across a total of 10 events, 25 challenges, 10 feats, and 3 photo ops.
Pit strategy is the strongest aspect of the brand’s inclusion in the racer because upon entering the pits, you’re met with an interaction where you can choose to repair the car’s body, replace the tires, or refill the fuel tank. You can choose one, two, or all three options depending on what chaos has ensued on-track. Repairing the body is met with a mini-game where you’re required to press a series of inputs on the directional pad, and if even one input is wrong you’ll have to start again from the beginning.
Replacing tires is just as engaging as you’ll need to rapidly press all four face buttons in-series. There’s a meter beneath each button that must be filled before moving on to the next; the faster it’s pressed, the faster you move on.
Finally, there’s refueling and it’s the simplest: press and hold the L2 button until the gauge is maxed, or it can be released at any point for a faster pit exit. With an empty tank you’ll have to nurse the car back to the pits on nothing but hope and fumes.
These are all additions we would love to see in more serious sim racers as it’s incredibly engaging and keeps you on your toes during every pit stop. Time is of the essence, no different than it would be in a real-world race.
Now, for the negative. The biggest one is races only allow for up to 8 cars on the track at the same time. NASCAR is chaos on four wheels, and with only a fifth of the sport’s real-world grid size (up to 40 cars) you’ll find yourself wishing there was more traffic in the field. It fails to properly recreate the ambiance and environment of the races and while what’s there is great, this sticks out like a sore thumb.
Then there’s the AI that’s aggressive, sometimes overly so, and not the brightest bunch of ones and zeros. At times it felt (and looked) like the AI drivers were not only trying to take us out, but its fellow drivers as well.
On more than a few occasions we’ve had to restart a race because an AI driver thought it would be a good idea to drive back onto the racing line while we’re barreling down the straight at 200+ mph, or it goes for a PIT maneuver mid-corner, or its fighting amongst itself and winds up flipping the car or rocketing into the nearest wall barrier and spinning like a top.
There’s also the usual offenses such as rubber banding. It feels especially egregious here as drafting is pivotal to the playlist and the AI can somehow manage closing speeds that you simply cannot match. Once you’ve distanced yourself from it though, well, you know how this story goes by now.
On the whole, we couldn’t be more pleased with NASCAR coming to The Crew Motorfest. It added something to the game we didn’t realize was missing until now, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store with the radio-controlled cars in May.
TrackForge
Also making way on day one of the new season is TrackForge, TCM’s answer to the EventLab in Forza Horizon 5, and we have to say it fits the bill almost perfectly.
This is the most powerful tool Ubisoft has ever created and it shows in the sheer variety of parts to build with. There’s straight pieces, elevated, system, normal and s-turns, tangled, magnetic, decorative, and gameplay assets. We had access to a total of 374 pieces to select from, spread across the Motorsport and Coaster Kits, and each of the track pieces can be customized further with banking, layout, and checkpoint options.
Of particular interest are the ‘Super Modules’, which are larger chunks of track sectors heavily inspired by real-world locales. While going through the 10 available options we were able to pick out what appeared to be Monte Carlo’s Grand Hotel Hairpin, Circuit de la Sarthe’s Dunlop Chicane, and Spa-Francorchamps’ Raidillon and Eau Rouge — to name a select few.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see those locations (and others) recreated in-game sooner rather than later, as the game is practically begging for it to be done.
Once that’s all said and done, head over to Event Settings and set the mood with such options as vehicle restrictions, vehicle life and tire grip gauges, number of laps, as well as weather and time of day. There will be no shortage of available options to build the event as you see fit, within what the editor allows.
There are some shortcomings, such as Super Modules being unable to be used as a start/finish line, even if there’s a pit lane present. Players will have to use one of the 12 system pieces, which can break up the flow of a design a little bit, at least in our limited experience with the tool.
If building isn’t in your bag, feel free to take part in others’ creations that will fit into one of three categories: Authentic Motorsports, Unleashed Motorsports, and Coaster Tracks. Authentic Motorsport tracks are, as the name implies, purpose-built venues focused on delivering “pure” racing action, even down to the ideal racing line.
Unleashed Motorsports takes that ethos and turns it on its head by adding interrupted track segments and aerial jumps, all while seamlessly feeding back into the flow of serious racing. Finally, there’s Coaster Tracks which abandons realism and introduces magnetic tracks, speed boosts, loops, and jumps — all in favor of pure chaos.
Playground Island
We won’t mince our words here: if you enjoyed the Hot Wheels expansion from Forza Horizon 5, you will absolutely adore Playground Island, a suitably named addition to the game that players will have access to on day one of Season 9.
Located on Kaho’Olawe, players will find themselves driving to the island to take part in the opening event of the NASCAR Motorfest Tour on the island’s eponymous oval speedway. Beyond that, roughly southwest of the venue is where we suspect most players will be spending their time: Pu’ukahua Coaster Park.
Here, players will find a network of paths that lead to loops, corkscrews, jumps, high-banked curves and more — there’s even booster and magnetized tracks. Moreover, there are attractions along the track network, including a Kraken (no, we didn’t release it) and passing through a ship and out the mouth of a toothy stone shark sculpture.
While a smaller island, there’s still plenty to keep players occupied and this isn’t taking into consideration the live element. Additional players will undoubtedly add to the allure of the chaotic island, and the proof is in the pudding, or in this case the name. It’s a playground to do as one pleases, and we’re looking forward to see what the community comes up with.
The park takes on a different appearance at night as light strips cast the tracks in a warm orange tint. As you can probably surmise, this makes the tracks look even more like a Hot Wheels creation and we’re not complaining. At the end of the day, Playground Island is a welcomed addition that fits right into the world of Motorfest.
Final Thoughts on Season 9
Season 9 is undeniably the most feature-rich update The Crew Motorfest has received to date. Between the NASCAR playlist’s surprisingly deep pit strategy mechanics, TrackForge’s expansive creative toolkit, and Playground Island’s gleeful chaos, there’s something here for virtually every type of player.
NASCAR alone would have been enough to headline a season. The fact that it arrives alongside a track editor with 374 pieces and an entirely new island is a statement of intent from Ubisoft. If the rough edges — the small grid sizes, the occasionally unhinged AI, and the rubber banding — can be smoothed out over time, the NASCAR integration has the potential to become one of Motorfest’s defining features.
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