Effervescent caper goes down smoothly and sweetly
ONRUSH does what a number of developers have tried and failed to do since the Burnout series of games - create a racing game for people who don’t enjoy racing games.
Even still, this assessment borders on hyperbole simply because Onrush really does defy categorisation. On the most superficial level yes, it is a game about cars.
Scratch the surface, however and you will soon realise that Onrush is a well-oiled amalgamation of everything that made Burnout fun, combined with the high-octane flick-action of
Smash Bros. and the champion-based competitive action of a game such as Overwatch.
Put simply, Onrush is a stupidly fun vehicle brawler that doesn’t take itself too serious by any stretch of the imagination.
First and foremost, we need to dispel the notion that Onrush is a racing game at all.
Remember the old racing games that featured ‘rubber banding’ as an annoying way for AI opponents to rear-end you at the very last corner and cost you the race? Onrush includes this feature as standard.
While it may sound bizzare, it truly works within the context of the game’s controlled chaos. During one of Onrush’s ‘races’, both teams are grouped together in a pack known as The Stampede. Fall too far behind and you are immediately teleported right back into fray of crunching metal and visceral action.
Onrush doesn’t require you to possess any experience with racing games at all; ensuring you are always in and amongst the action.
While the barrier to entry for Onrush is relatively low, this doesn’t mean the skill ceiling is affected, with Onrush affording dedicated players enough tactical nuance and mastery to perform intricate takedowns and impressive stunts.
While Onrush does provide a single player mode, this is mainly a way of learning the ropes - with the game truly coming alive once you enter the online realm and battle other real-life players.
Truly unique and brimming with character, Onrush is a strong recommendation. The overall aesthetic is busy but gorgeous and the game offers enough content and replayability to justify the premium price tag.
The nature of the game mechanics means players of all skill levels will get something from this thrilling release. CRIME pays handsomely in a convoluted and effervescent caper, which continues the misadventures of the larcenous Ocean family from Steven Soderbergh’s trilogy.
It has been more than a decade since the daring Las Vegas casino heist of Ocean’s 13 and the world has changed beyond recognition.
Director Gary Ross’s stylish picture ditches George Clooney, Brad Pitt and their impeccably tailored brothers in arms for an all-female lead cast spearheaded by Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.
They plot an ambitious robbery in plain sight that subtly acknowledges seismic shifts in gender politics by refusing to hire a male accomplice and strain the bonds of sisterly solidarity.
‘A him gets noticed, a her gets ignored and for once we want to be ignored,’ asserts Bullock’s criminal mastermind.
The loosely coiled plot, co-written by Olivia Milch, requires similar suspensions of disbelief to previous chapters but there’s a loopy logic to each narrative twist and our enjoyment stems from watching the pieces of an elaborate puzzle fall into place, often with seconds to spare.
Elliot Gould and contortionist Shaobo Qin briefly reprise roles as members of the old guard but Ocean’s 8 stands tall and proud on its own stilettofeet without repeatedly flirting with the past.
Danny Ocean’s younger sister Debbie (Bullock) emerges from a five-year stint at Nichols Women’s Prison with 45 dollars in her pocket and revenge on her mind.
Her target is former lover Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), an art gallery owner who set her up for fraud and testified against her to secure Debbie’s conviction.
Her cunning plan is to frame Becker for the theft of ‘ blingy, Liz Taylor jewels’ worth 150 million US dollars, which are set in a necklace that self-absorbed actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) is due to wear to the annual Met Gala fundraiser.
The gems will be closely monitored during the glitzy event by two highly trained guards, Guillermo (Migs Govea) and Yuri (James Biberi), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s supposedly impenetrable security system. To achieve the impossible, Debbie assembles a crack crew from the wrong side of the law including best friend Lou (Blanchett), fence Tammy (Sarah Paulson), jeweller Amita (Mindy Kaling), pickpocket Constance (Awkwafina), hacker Nine Ball (Rihanna) and Irish fashion designer Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter). The con is on.
Ocean’s 8 goes down smoothly and sweetly as a freshly shaken martini, set to a groovy score composed by Daniel Pemberton.
Bullock doesn’t need to flex her comic muscles, allowing Bonham Carter’s eccentricity and Hathaway’s diva to pickpocket big laughs alongside James Corden as a wily insurance fraud investigator, who has a long history with the Ocean family.
Ross’s direction doesn’t steal the limelight from an engaging cast, who are clearly enjoying themselves and their geniality is infectious.
RATING: 7/10