Oh, look a new Wipeou-oh, never mind.
I was once a big fan of Wipeout. I loved the sense of speed and style that went along with it. Now I haven’t had a Wipeout game in a while, in fact I think it was Wipeout HD on the PS3 years ago that last had my addiction sedated. So when I booted up Quantum Rush: Champions, I immediately thought I was back in 2008 playing Wipeout HD, but without the polish that comes with the series.
Quantum Rush: Champions (QRC) is a fast paced futuristic racing game that also features some vehicle combat that one might find in a kart racer. Players choose from three campaigns featuring different manufactures. From there, they can start a series of races using a single vehicle, unlock new parts for them, and eventually move up to the next vehicle from that manufacturer.
After unlocking some parts for the ship I was using, I was able to compare performance between them and decided what kind of trade off I wanted. The customization was actually rather deep from what I was expecting and it was nice to have what I wanted for each race.
Platforms: XB1, PC
MSRP: $14.99
Price I’d pay: $9
Too hot to handle.
Much like a Mario Kart type game, while racing, players can run over boosters to move even faster, or gain pickups that can offer weapons to use while racing. These can be mines, rockets, shields, and other standard weapons one would usually see in this kind of game. Each ship also has a standard gun that can be fired at any time. Players must maintain their heat meter. Overheating will not allow them to use their guns or any other weapons for a short time.
Events in a single series include standard races, time trials, demolition style events, and many others. There are a decent amount of types of races to compete in, and it keeps it fresh for the most part. There are also boss races where players take on a special racer to move on. Most of these events include the boss having special abilities that can hinder the player. These are not particularly much fun and teeter more to the frustrating part of the game.
You’re either dumb or you’re a genius.
The AI can be either incredibly idiotic or supernaturally difficult. I never could find much of a middle ground when actually taking on other racers. The bosses seemed to be ten steps ahead of me in everything I did, and the demolition races had my foes just lining up to be shot down. I was stuck on a boss fight for almost ten minutes all because I ran out of boost and only had homing attack I could use so I had to be close to the enemy to lock on to them. The problem was, the boss was too fast for my ship and I ended up having to chase it around the race track for far too longer than I would have liked.
A game like this could have really used an online multiplayer mode, but unfortunately this is a solo affair through and through. Still there is a lot to do in the game as far as numerous campaigns and races go.
Record more than three tracks, please.
The presentation is fine for what it does but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was playing a Wipeout knock off. The menus were fine, but not as solid as other games in the same vein, the frame rate would dip significantly in some instances and take me out of the experience a bit at times. Oh, and the music was grating after the same maybe three songs played back to back in the same series of races.
While I don’t think Quantum Rush Champions is a bad game, it just really doesn’t have the “oomph” that other games in the same genre do. The AI can be a pain at times, and the frame rate can drop in some instances that can take you out of the race. At a discounted price, I think fans of this type of game can get their money’s worth out of it, but I would wait for at least a $5 price drop.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
