Overall: 7.5
Onrush is an extremely fast racing game with an emphasis on boosting and takedowns. After selecting your class of vehicle, you are thrown into a match with your teammates and several NPCs. Performing stunts and takedowns increases your boost, and utilizing boost fills up a meter that lets you activate your Rush ability, which is unique to every vehicle class. Rush abilities include giving allies a shield or dropping boost pick-ups for them to collect. You can choose from motorcycles as well as off-road vehicles in addition to a wide variety of classes.
There are no standard races in Onrush and all game modes are themed around two teams of six players each. In Countdown, a timer is constantly decreasing and you lose if it reaches zero. Players must pass through gates in order to top up the timer. In Overdrive, you gain points based on boosting while in Lockdown you must stay inside a zone to secure points. In a match of Switch, players are given three lives and must eliminate enemy members to win. All of the above modes were a welcome change of pace, and help Onrush set apart from other games. That being said, I would’ve preferred to have a standard race as an alternative.
There is a career mode of sorts in which you earn points by completing races and side-objectives, which then unlocks new events. Otherwise, Onrush is extremely light on content and fans of single player racing will be disappointed. A bulk of the game is meant to be played online. Thankfully, the actual racing is a thrill unlike any other modern game in the genre. The sense of speed is well complemented by the accessible mechanics. Having two teams compete in objective based modes feels fresh and unique enough to warrant a try. But the easy to pick up and play nature also means that it is not as in depth or challenging as its competitors.
At its best, Onrush is an exhilarating racing game. Its concepts of arcade and fast paced racing are a rarity these days, and it is extremely satisfying. The high asking price and low content is an unfortunate detriment to an otherwise enjoyable game.
