With no actually finishing lines in sight, the victory in Onrush is about much more than simply seeing who can reach a winning flag first. This idea for an arcade racing game comes from a new studio formed out of the remnants of Evolution Studios. Instead, all of the cars during a match are mushed into what’s referred to as the “stampede", a mob that careens throughout courses causing destruction and explosions with extreme frequency. In the end, there's only a winning team and a losing team.
With this in mind, describing how this mixture functions is best achieved by explaining Onrush's Overdrive mode: Two teams of six go face-to-face in up to eight diverse vehicle classes, with victory achieved by combining together boost multipliers in order to gather up points. Earning boost is done by hitting jumps, destroying opponents and weak fodder vehicles, performing tricks, and other actions that are tied to specific vehicle classes. Once you've collect enough boost you can unleash the cathartic Rush Ultimate, which propels you forward at lightning speed and provides a bonus ability that is tied to your vehicle class. Overdrive is relatively simple and doesn't have the same depth as some of Onrush's other modes, but as an introduction to this brazen new style of game, it's a clear signal of intent: this is not your traditional racing game.
There are four distinct game modes for two teams of six players to compete for specific and direct objectives – none of which have anything to do with individually coming in first place, as said before. Part of Onrush's ingenuity comes from its rubber banding, which sounds absurd until you see it happening. The two teams are congregated together with the AI fodder vehicles in a pack known as The Stampede. If you are too far behind you'll be teleported straight back into the storm of crunching metal for a sustained period of high adrenaline driving. Not only does this keep everyone in the thick of the action at all times, but it shrinks the divide between newcomers and veterans alike.During Overdrive, for example, you might want to play more of a support role, using Dynamo's special ability to drop boost pick-ups for your team to collect, and utilising its Rush Ultimate to supply any nearby teammates with a dollop of sustained boost that will extend their boost multipliers. Or perhaps you're in a game of Countdown, the mode that most closely resembles a traditional racing game, as the two teams battle it out to drive through checkpoints to add incremental time to an never ending clock.
There's a single player mode that does an excellent job of teaching you the principles of each vehicle class and game mode, with challenges that encourage you to focus on particular areas, like whether it's using the hulking 4x4 Enforcer to blind opponents, or taking down vehicles in the Lockdown zone, and so it goes. It's a good primer for what's to come, as Onrush really comes alive once you hop online and start tearing it up with other players. It's a six chapters campaing, called the Superstar mode and it feels largely like a tutorial rather than a replayable challenge or an interesting story. The whole thing can be played in co-op with up to six players, which is a nice touch.
About the tracks in Onrush, they are long and varied. They don’t really feel like typical courses due to how wide the “lanes” are and each of them features multiple elevations, paths, and ramps that facilitate enormous crashes. You won’t find many “shortcuts” here since there is no finish line to race toward, but the long jumps help change things up a bit. Visually, Onrush tracks are a beautiful showcase for electrifying particle effects, dynamic lighting, and increment weather, with each of its 12 tracks catching the eye due to their diversity and multi-faceted aesthetics.There are also loot boxes, although they’re not likely to incite an angry the crowd. By completing matches you’ll earn XP that goes towards an overall level. Each successive level unlocks a loot box containing three random items of varying rarity. These can be things like new bodies and paint jobs for your vehicles, tombstone emojis that are left behind after you wreck, and different clothes for the largely inconsequential avatars. There are no microtransactions, this is just a way to gradually dole out cosmetic items that give your whole style a sense of ownership 'n customization.
Onrush is one of the most original driving games I’ve played in a while, giving it a unique flavor. By forgetting about simply going faster than everyone else and mixing traditional racing mechanics with modes and subtle nuances typically found in other genres, Onrush managed to change the way I think about racing games. Its non-traditional online car-brawls and varied objectives go out of their way to feel different, and even when the maps become repetitive after a short while, its appeal remains for the simple fact that there’s no other arcade driving game quite like this. I've been impressed by how the Studio knew what we wanted even tho we didn't knew that. It's a great game and you should check it out.
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