The latest driving game from developer Codemasters, Onrush, captures the spirit of action-arcade racing in a similar vein as the Burnout series; extravagant crash animations and a heightened sense of speed are at the forefront. Even ex-MotorStorm developers were brought on board for Onrush and the director of Driveclub, Paul Rustchynsky, was tapped to lead the project. However, this new driving game isn't about crossing the finish line first. Instead, Onrush does something different by focusing on team-based destruction and playing objectives.
We got hands-on time with an early build of the game and experienced a number of Onrush's modes. The video above shows a match of Lockdown that plays similarly to a traditional king of the hill type mode, except the 'hill' in constantly moving as players drive throughout the course. Teams need to stay within the circle for five seconds with at least one more teammate than the opponent in order to capture a zone. The first team to capture eight zones wins.
Cordial driving isn't likely to get the job done either. Causing other players to crash and slamming into them to force them out of the zone is part of the process. But everyone is also battling the course's terrain to make sure they don't wipeout. Since Onrush is built around circuit tracks, matches are based on constantly lapping the course as you accomplish the objective.
As for other game types, Overdrive mode is simply a race to accumulate more points than your opponent by wrecking opposing vehicles, doing stunts, and surviving the track's many obstacles. Countdown tasks drivers with passing through narrow checkpoints throughout the track to add time to their own team's clock; destroying other cars means they can't snag the checkpoints for a moment, a key tactic to draining the opponent's clock. Lastly, Switch works like a survival mode where teams have a limited number of spawns and are forced to choose certain vehicle types after subsequent crashes.
You'll get to experience Onrush for yourself with the open beta that runs from May 17 to May 21, or when the full game launches on June 5 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.