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The Crew Motorfest vs Forza Horizon 5: Battle for the open world throne
The Crew Motorfest vs Forza Horizon 5: We reveal what connects the open world racing games and where the differences lie.
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A music and car festival. An open and freely drivable game world. A gigantic fleet of cars and plenty of special events. At first glance, The Crew Motorfest and Forza Horizon 5 share some similarities.
The following comparison shows what both racing sims have in common and where the differences are.
01
The Open World
The Open World in Forza Horizon 5 is enormously varied.
© Xbox Game Studios
Forza Horizon 5 and The Crew Motorfest both rely on an open game world that can be driven freely and at your own pace. The fifth offshoot of the Horizon series takes you to Mexico, serving up a driver's paradise.
The map is a whopping 50 percent larger than the replica of Great Britain in Forza Horizon 4 and even more varied than ever before: from dense jungles to snow-covered mountains to an active volcano.
The Crew Motorfest, on the other hand, takes you to the Hawaiian island of O'ahu. The map is smaller than its counterpart in Forza Horizon 5, but no less varied.
Picturesque beaches, huge canyons and much more await you here. There's even a volcano in the open world racer, but it doesn't spew lava.
How did The Crew Motorfest come about? In our show 'Levels', developer Ubisoft provides a look behind the scenes at the making of the game.
15 min
The story behind The Crew Motorfest
See behind the scenes and deep dive into the making of the new game by Ubisoft Studios, The Crew Motorfest.
02
The fleet
The Crew Motorfest offers a more varied fleet of cars
© Ubisoft / Philipp Briel
In Forza Horizon 5, you can choose from over 700 vehicles from renowned manufacturers - this only applies to the main game, which also features two huge expansions. From cult classic cars to 400 km fast hypercars, everything is represented.
But the fleet of vehicles in The Crew Motorfest is pretty impressive, too, with 604 types of car to fire up. There are no crumbling wrecks that can barely manage to climb a hill, and the Ubisoft racer is ahead in terms of variety:
In addition to sports cars, hypercars and electric cars, Motorfest even offers Formula 1 cars, racing motorbikes (and choppers), quads, aeroplanes and boats.
03
The gameplay: freedom versus structure
The thematic playlists give Motorfest a clear structure.
© Ubisoft / Philipp Briel
In Forza Horizon 5, everything is in your hands. You can do whatever you want, when you want. Race? Cruise through the Mexican landscape. Take photos? No problem at all. You are free to decide how to spend your time across different disciplines.
This freedom can be a tad overwhelming, however, because there is no clear line in the game. In The Crew Motorfest, however, things are different, because the game is divided into varied playlists, all of which are assigned to a certain theme.
These range from off-road to Japanese tuning cars to bike races and motorsport events. Typically easier to follow and play, we prefer structured layout much more.
04
Playful variety
From off-road to street races, Forza Horizon 5 is packed with variety
© Xbox Game Studios
So then, Motorfest has the edge in terms of structure, but Forza Horizon 5 offers more gameplay variety. While you almost always start in checkpoint races in the Ubisoft game, Horizon has more to offer with expeditions, show races or Horizon Arcade multiplayer events.
Playground Games' racer also scores points with more variety in the side activities within its open world, including 'Barn finds', which keep you glued to the game while sprinkling a dash of adventure to your playtime. Meanwhile in Motorfest there are only hidden crates.
There are of course speed camera challenges and photo challenges in both games. But in terms of the variance of the side tasks, The Crew Motorfest can't quite keep pace.
05
Handling, driving behaviour, difficulty level
Planes and boats provide variety in The Crew Motorfest.
© Ubisoft / Philipp Briel
Both titles can be strongly customised in terms of difficulty. Thanks to optional driving aids even genre newcomers quickly celebrate their first successes, while it becomes quite realistic without assistance.
Forza Horizon 5 offers the more realistic driving behaviour and more precise handling, but The Crew Motorfest is also wonderfully authentic, playing significantly better than its predecessor.
06
Tuning and vehicle customisation
Tuning parts improve the performance of your vehicles
© Ubisoft
Virtual car mechanics get their money's worth in both games, because in Horizon 5 as well as in Motorfest you can modify the vehicles down to the smallest detail. From optical tuning parts to performance upgrades, a huge catalogue is at your disposal.
Forza Horizon 5 offers significantly more options when it comes to tuning parts. On the other hand, The Crew Motorfest progresses by allowing players to unlock parts with differing levels of rarity.
The two racers have nothing in common when it comes to the paint editor: creative minds can apply hundreds of layers of paint in both games to create very individual vehicles.
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23 min
Mechanics of Creativity
Formula One driver David Coulthard travels to Cuba, to drive in a race unlike any he's run before.
07
Online multiplayer mode
In the Grand Races, you compete sequentially across three vehicle classes
© Ubisoft / Philipp Briel
Both open world racers provide a lot of fun in online multiplayer mode. Forza Horizon 5's blueprints allow you to cobble together your own events in just a few simple steps.
The Crew Motorfest is somewhat inferior to this and is clearly more focused on the solo campaign. The online modes present themselves as largely detached from the other events and currently there are only two game modes: Grand Races and Demolition Derby.
Demolition Derby operates in Battle Royale mode. Okay, okay: Forza Horizon 5 also offers a similar mode. But there's only cross-play support in Motorfest. Players on PC, PlayStation and Xbox can compete together.
But given Forza Horizon 5 was released back in 2021, it's had a bit of a head start. Ubisoft will catch up eventually and launch plenty more content.
08
The technology
Ride off into the sunset on your racing bike with The Crew Motorfest
© Ubisoft / Philipp Briel
Both The Crew Motorfest and Forza Horizon 5 look superb, impressing with a detailed game world and stunning graphics. The weather and lighting effects in particular stand out, but it would be remiss not to mention the chic vehicles which make the games worth playing alone.
In a direct comparison, Forza Horizon 5 has the edge. The level of detail is overwhelming. But The Crew Motorfest also provokes real wanderlust with its varied environments.
The soundtrack of both racing titles is in no way inferior, with rich engine sounds and a huge, licensed soundtrack.
The Crew Motorfest and Forza Horizon 5 have a lot in common, but also offer a lot of unique selling points. Regardless of which approach you like better, both open world racing games will keep you entertained for several hours.
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