Rise: Race The Future

Good quality arcade racer. Decent rally style physics. Not quite on the level of Grid 2 but probably the closest we will get. More like Sega Rally. Looks cool in VR. Challenges to unlock stuff. Hold space bar and arrow keys to navigate menus with keyboard.

System and Setup: Windows 10 64bit Intel Core i9 10900K NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER LG 27inch 1440p 144hz monitor 27GN850-B Oculus Quest 1 The game ran with max settings at 1440p, 144fps on the monitor without any notable issues. No complaints about VR either. Opinion: + The near-future car designs are nice. + VR mode works well, even if there's no proper cockpit view. A hood cam is the best you'll get. + Despite the store page not pointing it out, it does support cloud saves. - No Achievements/Trophies - Barebones presentation. No flashy intro video, or attact mode. No story. No announcer. The cars must be self-driving because there's nobody in them. Not even a congratulations for finishing the challenges and championships. Just no personality at all. - The music is dreadful. The most generic rock you will ever hear, more fitting for a bad TV commercial than a videogame. - The minimap is useless because it shows you every possible route at all times instead of the specific track you're currently racing. - Racing on water doesn't really add much to the experience. It would've been nicer if there were a few water only circuits. - Your car is always one bad jump, one bump from the AI or one spot of bad luck away from going into an inescapable skid. - There's no rubber banding, so if you get into a snag on the higher difficulties you may as well not waste any time and restart the race. While it's commendable that the game was still able to release despite one of the lead programmers passing away, Rise's lack of polish keeps it from greatness. I would give it a mixed rating if I could, but I will instead give it a begrudging recommendation. I do so because despite the problems, I still found it entertaining enough to complete the Arcade Championship and Challenge modes. This shouldn't be your first choice for an arcadey racer, but maybe it's worth a shot if you've already played everything else. Mehcommended.