Today, I will be posting about the second Oculus Quest game that I bought back in 2019 – Rush. Strictly going by genre, Rush is but a simple racing game. Even so, it has a competitive advantage by means of the VR platform it is on. This, I find, makes it unique enough to have a distinct flavour of its own. Despite the fact that even VR cannot make racing games physical (unless you add in guns and stuff), making Rush far from a calorie-burner, I feel that it is still worth a try for those who are drawn by the thrill it provides. This, I will now elaborate upon.
Rush is not a racing car game. Instead, it is a flying human game. Rather than stepping on the accelerator and completing several laps on a racetrack, the player flies through multiple checkpoints (with a five second penalty for missing each) to arrive at the last endpoint. Then, you get the standard gold, silver bronze medals. Now, that sounds pretty normal, yeah? Really, what is so unique about it?
Remember what I said earlier and think about it again, more carefully this time. This game has no racetrack. What does that entail? Well, it must mean that you can fly whatever route you wish so long as you make sure to pass through the checkpoints. This is pretty different from a car game. Which brings us to the next major difference. A standard racing game has a gas pedal and a brake pedal. That’s basically part of the essential navigation controls. However, Rush has neither one of these.
In Rush, you jump off a helicopter in your glider and henceforth glide through the air. You cannot stop moving unless you crash – there’s a wreckage scene and it’s game over for that round (I think that there may be a parachute?, but I only know how to end those races by crashing too!!). Thus, being unnecessary, these navigation controls are non-existent. Instead, what is really key is your steering function.
Truthfully speaking, the game has several different steering functions available. However, to me, there is only one that makes sense, which is the looking function. Yes, it’s literally looking – that head-tracking function of the Quest steers your character for you. Rather than a standard analog stick (that option may be there, but it makes no sense to use it here), you make proper use of VR’s potential by moving in whatever direction you are looking at.
And here comes the ‘groundbreaking’, defining feature of the game that fits the pieces of the puzzle all together – the boost function. A boost bar is available which serves as kind of a limit break. How can this boost bar be filled? Well, there are basically two ways. One way is simply by passing through a checkpoint. The other way is literally to fly close to surfaces. This MAKES the game (as in make or break).
In this game, you live dangerously close to the edge. In order to fill the boost bar for that limited period of acceleration, just passing a checkpoint is nowhere near enough. You’ll find yourself swooping mere inches above the ground, zooming dangerously alongside a mountain’s surface, just to fill that boost meter. In all actuality, the limit-break like acceleration period can be unlimited. You just need to make sure that you are keeping close to a surface all throughout to keep the boost replenished! Alternatively, start a boost a distance away from the next checkpoint such that you will be able to renew it by passing through it before it runs out. After that, look for a surface to stick to and zoom along. If there isn’t one, well then, too bad. It’ll have to wait till you fill it up from scratch again…
The thrill of this game comes from zooming along the edge – close enough to fill up the boost bar, far enough not to crash. You easily find yourself staring at your ground, your head at an angle where that distance between yourself and the ground is maintained just perfectly. However! In front of you, the ground starts to slope up… Now you must literally look up too, or you’ll smash headfirst into smithereens! Zoom!
That, basically, is the appeal of the game named Rush. I think it’s quite a simplistic game and probably not that super popular and well-rated. The lack of physicality in the game also gives me less motivation to play it. However, I believe that if you join others in multiplayer (friends especially), it should make the game a much more fun and enjoyable experience. Overall, this game is indeed unique and, in my view, a great demonstration of VR’s potential.
Check out my previous post for a review of my first VR game, Swords of Gargantua! (Yeah, I think I may be revisiting the games I bought in chronological order).