Recently Codemasters released an open BETA for their new game ONRUSH. Developed by Codemasters newest team, who are made up of many of the ex-Evolution Studios alum. Here are my thoughts on the BETA.
Gameplay
ONRUSH is a fun and chaotic racer, which sees you pick a vehicle class ranging from a small but nimble bike, to the heavier, bullish 4 x 4’s that can make mince meat out of the other competitors. With a number diverse tracks from beachheads, snow topped mountains and woodland areas, you team up with several players to race vehicle to vehicle, gaining boost and destroying the other team in order to win the round. ONRUSH has a different racing format to most. Instead of the traditional point-to-point race, where you compete to finish in a placed position, there are a number of other modes where you compete for points to win rounds or hit as many time gates to extend your teams racing time.
At it’s heart, ONRUSH is a mix of MotorStorm (developed by Evolution Studios, now part of Codemasters) and Burnout. It’s fast paced and car crushingly entertaining, with blink and you’ll miss it turns, manoeuvres and object avoidance.
The game also features a stampede system. Along with the teams of real players, the world is populated with some feeder cars that make you constantly feel part of the action. With the inclusion of all these vehicles, it creates a constant motion of bikes, cars and trucks, while allowing you to gain additional boost in order to unlock your boost abilities.
Game Modes
The BETA only had two modes available, with the full game sporting four modes.
Overdrive – is a pure ‘Boost to Win’ onslaught until the very end. Get boost any way you can as quickly as possible and burn it up even quicker. You gain boost by performing tricks, destroying vehicles or avoiding crashing yourself. Each round can be swung with a simple use of the boost mechanic, as it will give bonus points.
Countdown – is a race through gates against a decreasing clock. Hitting the gates will add precious seconds to your teams time, keeping you in the game. Winning this event needs team participation, as the more team cars that hit time gates, the more likely your team will win. Causing your opponents to miss gates, allows your team to get ahead. The gates are randomly generated, so they may not follow an ideal racing line.
Again the full game will have four game modes and will include:
- Countdown
- Lockdown
- Overdrive
- Switch
Vehicle classes
There were only four vehicles available in the BETA, with eight included in the final product. Each vehicle has a boost ability and attributes that differentiate them from each other. Here is a quick description of the included vehicles.
Blade – is a motorbike class. Small and nimble, it is more likely to get taken out by attack. It gains boost at a faster rate, by allowing stunts and tricks to be pulled off. The special boost ability allows you to leave a trail of destruction behind you, destroying your opponents.
The Vortex – a lightweight buggy with sharp handling. can hold it’s against most opponents. Has a powerful boost ability, allowing you to charge through the field, disrupting following vehicles.
Interceptor – is a good overall vehicle. Heavy enough to take on all opponents, it can come out the winner in any head-to-head move. It’s boost ability gives you bonus power to plough through cars in front of you, bullying them out of the way and into destruction.
Titan – one of the heavier classes, the Titan is a brute, crushing the opposition with most movements. It’s boost ability lays down a number of sheild barriers, blocking and ultimately destroying any following vehicles.
Final Thoughts
ONRUSH’s BETA was fun and entertaining to play. Environments were diverse, with several paths allowing you to take out, avoid or catch opponents of guard. With only a small mix of modes and no traditional point-to-point racing, it’s unclear if ONRUSH will continue to entertain in the long run for traditional racing fans. The inclusion of vehicle classes does spice up the replayability. With two more modes and twelve tracks in total, plenty of ways to destroy your opponents and eight types of classes to explore, ONRUSH is certainly lining up to scratch the chaotic, heart thumping, mangled metal racing itch.
ONRUSH will be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 5th and is slated to come to PC at a future date.
