Although the ONRUSH open beta doesn’t kick off until tomorrow, I was fortunate enough to get early access thanks to the publisher.
I’ve been playing ONRUSH for the past day or so on PS4 and I have to say that I am very excited about what I’ve seen thus far. ONRUSH is a pure, arcade racer. It wears its inspiration on its sleeve and isn’t ashamed of where its roots lie.
Think of Burnout, Destruction Derby, ExciteTruck and MotorStorm and you’ll have an idea of what to expect. However, ONRUSH has one big difference. You’re not racing in the traditional sense.
There is no finish line
You don’t place first, second or third and there’s no finish line. Instead, you need to work with your team to take out the opposition while completing in-game objectives. Based on the two modes available in the open beta, it seems that Codemasters has worked hard to ensure that players quickly learn what ONRUSH is all about.
The aim of the game in ONRUSH is to earn and burn enough boost to activate Rush. In ONRUSH you earn boost a variety of ways. Near misses, takedowns, jumps, flips, stunts and more. Each vehicle has its own special way of earning boost and each has its own Rush power.
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Boosting helps you keep up with the pack and to takedown enemies. Rush is a supercharged version of boost and sends you hurtling forward, smashing enemies out of the way and leaving a trail of destruction in your wake.
It doesn’t matter where you are in regard to the other racers provided you’re not on the receiving end of an attack from an opponent. When you’re taken down, you’re out of the race for a few precious seconds which can make a huge difference to your final score in the round.
Don’t Race, Wreck
The two modes available in the open beta are Countdown and Overdrive. In Countdown, you’re racing to drive through neon gates which add a few seconds to your team’s timer. The timer is constantly depleting and the team who runs out of time first loses.
There is some value in racing fastest in Countdown as the first racer through the gates earns the most time. Bring removed from the race for a few seconds means you can’t hit those gates and your entire team suffers.
Overdrive is an entirely different mode from Countdown. In Overdrive you earn points by boosting and rushing. The longer you keep boosting the more points you’ll earn.
The aim of Overdrive mode is to drive aggressively, keep your boost meter up and earn the maximum amount of points possible. Again, if you’re taken out of the action, you won’t be earning points for your team and you’ll fall behind.
In a surprising twist, I found that each of the four vehicles available in the demo were viable. Even the Blade — the dirt bike — was able to easily keep up with and even takedown the bigger, heavier vehicles. Each of the vehicles has its own positives and negatives, but each of their Rush powers, passive abilities and ways to earn boost force you to play a specific role on your team.
Drive Your Way
I found that it’s not entirely necessary to have a team comprised of different vehicle classes, but if you come up against a team that does, it’s much harder to win. Whichever vehicle you choose is really going to be based on your personal preference at the end of the day.
They each handle slightly differently and offer something to help your team win. For example, the Blade can earn boost from doing flips and will shoot out a trail of fire behind it when it uses Rush. The Titan, on the other hand, sends out solid walls of colour in a row when using Rush.
When enemies hit the fire trail or the neon walls, they’re damaged, slowed down and even destroyed.
Intense, Arcade Racing
As I said earlier, ONRUSH is an arcade racer and it handles like one. Which is perfect. I found myself careening all over the track, being able to make impossible turns, flying off jumps and getting insane hang time and of course smashing my opponents off the track.
Controls are simple too. You accelerate, brake, handbrake and activate boost and Rush. Nothing more, nothing less. You can press a button to activate stunts while riding bikes too.
Honestly, when I first heard about ONRUSH I was excited about a new arcade racer. When I found out it was being developed by ex-Evolution Studios developers I knew it was going to be great.
Judging by the open beta, I was right.
Make sure you jump into the ONRUSH open beta from tomorrow and get a taste of the best arcade racing action in years.
A digital code for the ONRUSH beta was provided to PowerUp! by the Publisher.
