Onrush Review

Onrush smashes its way to victory!

Onrush is out now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is a brand new racing ip from Codemasters and it is surprisingly fun.

Onrush is first and foremost absolute carnage. It brings together some slick arcade style racing, destruction and an always in the action respawn system. Onrush is said to be similar to the Burnout series, but only in a very small way.

The game is bold and brash from the outset with vibrant colours pasting the screen and voice acting that is always in your face. Onrush isn’t scared of being obnoxious and that’s a good thing.

You start off by learning the ropes, you’re thrown into a short tutorial that teaches you the basics of a vehicle. Each vehicle can boost and boosting is the main aim of the game. To hold a consistent boost you must smash, fly and speed your way through a level. Get too far behind or crash and you are taken out of the action until a spawn within the pack of moving vehicles is available.

This means you spawn with the traffic instead of way far behind. It is a mechanic that works well and always ensures you a never far from having an absolute blast. Each vehicle has its own super moves and benefits. Some can throw out a chain boost which only the closest drivers can take advantage of whereas another can throw up plasma walls for your opponents to smash into.

There are various different modes available to play too. Switch sees everyone start off on motorbikes and taking down an opponent grants you access to a more robust vehicle. Overdrive pushes you to boost as much as possible to score points, Lockdown is similar to king of the hill where you must remain in a marker to capture zones and earn points. Countdown is similar to Outrun in where you must hit checkpoints, but prevent your opponents from hitting them before you.

It honestly feels like it could be an e-sports game with the way it is laid out. You have some customisation options for your character and vehicle, but these are purely cosmetic and are awarded via in game loot boxes.

Luckily loot boxes are earned easily with nothing in the game locked behind a tedious grind or pay wall. You can also unlock calling cards as well. There are a few vehicles in the game but in my opinion, not enough. Sure each vehicles can be fitted with a bunch of skins, but they don’t change the vehicle in a big enough way.

Visually the game is well done. It is after all brought to us by the developers of the gorgeous Driveclub. Everything looks crisp and clean even during the mass on screen carnage. The tracks ooze with detail and the cars look great. Onrush is a great looking game.

The voice acting in this game is also well done, sure it is obnoxious but its meant to be. It adds an edge to the game that would otherwise be missing, it makes you feel like a total bad ass even if you are scoring the least points. Luckily winning outright isn’t really the goal here, teamwork is definitely key and a good team will always be king.

Onrush also feels a little retro. There is no forgiveness, only pure skill prevails with not a single driving aid in sight. It feels like a throwback to the days when games were just fun. Onrush brings together a plethora of ideas from different genres, smashes them into an arcade racer and it just works.

I had a rather lengthy campaign I could tackle at any time and I had online multiplayer which brought with it thrills that aren’t so apparent playing solo. I’ll be honest and say that once I started playing Onrush, I found it hard to put down, Much like other stellar games such as Rainbow Six Siege, Onrush begs to be played again and again offering a slightly different experience each round. Its online matchmaking is robust and fast and I never found myself waiting forever in a lobby.

Verdict

Overall, I thoroughly enjoy this game and I say enjoy because I am even playing it whilst writing this review. Onrush is an insanely addictive arcade racer like no other. It offers an exceptional all round experience that is fun, engaging and ruthless. It requires split second decisions and teamwork and it is undoubtedly the best racing game I have played this year