Have you ever had one of those days when you just want to play a game but feel too tired for something as complex asStarfield,Baldur’s Gate 3, orCyberpunk 2077(or all of them at once)?
If that’s the case, you probably have a couple of soothingly monotonous games in your collection—ones you can play without overthinking. Maybe it’s a quick arena shooter or a survival sandbox where gathering resources and crafting are the core activities. For me, it’s usually arcade racing games. So whenever I’m in the mood for some laid-back gaming, I fire up one of these and get ready for a zen-like experience. And then, the game startstalking at me.
Ever since someone (probably not even a real human) came up with the mind-blowing idea that gamers want to hear countless stories while driving a car, racing games have become less about the thrill of driving, and more about festival vibes with a cheering crowd. Take theForza Horizonseries, for example. With each new entry, it piles on more and more of these narratives, usually dedicated to some overly positive personality or squeezing a brief history lesson about a car you need to drive from point A to B. I’m a huge fan of the Forza Horizon series, but these aspects have always been the least enjoyable for me. However, considering thatPlayground’s creation has held the title of open-world arcade racing champion for years now, it’s no wonder that other studios are scrambling to replicate its formula, even the most irritating parts of it.
The moment I fired upUbisoft’s latest racing game, Crew Motorfest, I was immediately struck by how confidently it embraces one of Horizon’s most annoying features; something I, for one, am fed up with and want long gone. Right off the bat, the game throws constant chatter at you, seemingly oblivious to how excessive it can be.
Related:The Crew Motorfest: Which Starter Car Should You Pick?
One of the major issues is that this ‘racing muttering’ hardly ever manages to be even remotely interesting. If you want me to get invested in your stories,pleasebother to make them a bit engaging. Instead, what we get is a mishmash of clichéd catchphrases like“make it count”or“you know the drill,”mixed with rather dull trivia about auto manufacturers that nobody really asked for.“This latest model of the car you’re now driving is the most technologically advanced model ever.”Yeah, no kidding. Maybe that’s because, I dunno,it’s the latest model? And if I ever wanted to learn about the car’s creation story, I’d definitely look it up online (which, I note, I never do).
I mean, imagine playing a shooter with actual real-life firearms, and out of nowhere, it starts spoon-feeding you the entire history of every gun you pick up while you’re just trying to shoot some targets. Sheesh, it’s as if I’ve unwittingly unleashed an evil genie from the bottle here.
Related:The Crew Motorfest: How To Buy New Cars
The Crew Motorfest’s problems begin even before you dive into one of its 15 rather great story playlists, like Vintage Garage, Made In Japan, or Electric Odyssey. For starters, it introduces Cara, one of the chattiest AI assistants I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing.
You just can’t catch a break from all the non-stop talking, not even when you’re exploring the Hawaiian island of O’ahu.“Let’s go there!”, or“Let’s do this!”she yells at literally every step of my journey, draining my appreciation of these cool environments. There’s not even an option to disable Cara in the game’s settings.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for my racing games to be completely silent and devoid of any human interactions. But there’s a huge difference between hearing some fighting talkthrown by your opponents as you overtake them in Need for Speed: Unbound, and enduring an endless barrage of trivia or meaningless praise, as if I’m the greatest human being to ever lay hands on a car. The moment another nice lady in The Crew Motorfest chimes in with“You’ve got to enjoy my sweet company!”I can’t help but roll my eyes.
And I haven’t even touched on the most ‘fun’ part yet—the restarts. If you’ve made a mistake or for some reason want to replay a specific event that’s deliberately paired with unskippable chatter, you’re out of luck, and have to go through the torture all over again. I swear, the first company that promotes their arcade racing game as ‘chat-free’ will get an instant pre-order from me.
So please, dear developers, spare us the constant chatter during races, or at the very least, give us an option to disable this pep talk if all we want is to savor the pure pleasure of smooth driving in yourdrivinggame.
