At EGX Rezzed this year we came across two very distinct racers that are throwing away the rule-book and reviving the unconventional: Grip and Onrush.
Grip
Inspired by the Rollcage games from the turn of the century, Grip brings the combat-racer to the fore and turns your life, literally, upside down as you rocket across interplanetary tracks without a care in the world.
Game Director Chris Mallinson decided he needed ‘more Rollcage in his life’ and set to work on Grip, Rollcage‘s spiritual successor – which also has the seal of approval from its original creator Robert Baker. It’s time to let go of ‘staying in the lines’ and let your hair down, as you use the environment to spin across the planets in a variety of ways to roll your vehicle to victory. Grip‘s impressive physics engine encourages you to defy gravity and drive yourself up the walls, on ceilings, and all other aspects of the sprawling landscape ahead of you – just as you used to in Rollcage, but with significant technical leaps, multi-layered tracks, and gorgeous visuals to boot. If Rollcage and Wipeout had a child, this would be the result.
Along with Career and Arcade modes, Grip also includes a mode called Carkour which resembles GTA‘s ‘Cunning Stunts’, as you race around the track to achieve the fastest time while performing death defying stunts. Grip supports multiplayer, not only online, but the highly coveted split-screen local multiplayer too – adding to the throwback nature of the title.
Set for release later this year on all platforms, Switch included, Grip is one to watch on the racing scene – check out the trailer here…
Inspired by the Rollcage games of 1999 and 2000, GRIP is a new IP for a new generation. A return to the hardcore combat racer, bristling with heavy weapons and packing ferocious speed, the game is an intense, sensory feast. Harnessing the awesome potential of Epic’s Unreal Engine 4, GRIP will take you back to your nostalgic past, while simultaneously propelling you into a kick-ass future. For more on Grip visit the official website and follow: @gripvideogame!
Onrush
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, for me, was the pinnacle of the arcade racer – Need for Speed and Burnout aside. With an extensive range of vehicles and zones, Pacific Rift took you out of the city and into dynamic locales with multiple possibilities. Nothing had quite hit the sweet spot since. Until now. Codemasters (Micro Machines, Dirt, F1) and the team salvaged from Evolution Studios (Driveclub, WRC, Motorstorm) have been cooking up a storm with Onrush, by putting the best bits of Motorstorm, Burnout, and Driveclub into a blender – with a pinch of SSX, and Overwatch.
Forget start and finish lines, and instead turn to team-based objective modes for maximum carnage in 6v6 head to head battles, as 24 vehicles – 12 of which are boost-building AI fodder – tear up the off-road tracks in four hair-raising game modes:
- Countdown – Earn as much time for your team as possible, by passing through gates which are sporadically scattered across the landscape.
- Lockdown – Think King of the Hill, but with moving capture zones.
- Switch – Starting out as an army of bikes, each time you are taken out you go up a class and the team with the fewest ‘switches’ remaining wins the round.
- Overdrive – Go nuts by performing tricks, take-downs, and boosting your way to points-based victory.
Onrush has eight vehicle classes, each with their own unique RUSH ability which can take on the offensive, defensive or supportive approach – generating protection for your teammates, or causing enemy vehicles to explode as you blast on by. When you’re crushed to bits the Stampede System puts you straight back into the action, in the middle of the pack, and keeps everyone together – rather than leaving you trailing off into the distance.
Returning from the Motorstorm days are the multi-layered tracks and, for the first time, the team have drawn on their ideas and experiences from Driveclub to bring you a full, seasonal environment. We’re not only talking day/night cycles, but dynamic seasonal changes in which the locales will differ visually and generate route changes. For example vegetation may close up a route in the summer, but you can blast on through during the Winter.
A single player campaign, with almost 100 events, is also part of the package and Onrush carries a stonking soundtrack to boot. The Motorstorm is strong with this one and we can’t wait to see more.
Try it out for yourselves in the May open beta, ahead of its release on June 5th! Check out the trailer here…
Race, smash and take-down your opponents in Onrush, a refreshing break from the norm in action/arcade racer. Dare to be reckless and win at all costs as you enter into the Onrush Championship, the world’s most celebrated underground, and globally streamed, extreme sport of the future.
Onrush catapults you into the heart of the action, as you chase down vehicles in bold, vibrant, yet deadly landscapes that will thrill and excite players to perform the most extravagant take-downs! Win as a team and defeat all to show the world you have what it takes to become the ‘Onrush Champion’.
For more on Onrush visit the official website and follow: @onrushgame!
Emma Withington – @EWithingtons
Follow the gaming team @FMyth_Gaming
Originally published April 20, 2018. Updated December 3, 2022.
