Every now and then, you'll run into an enemy attack that needs parrying in a perfect rhythm to overcome it. The breakneck pace is only hampered by certain foes. "This electrifying feeling feeds into the wider world as you race through Hi-Fi Rush's thumping linear levels" It’s all bundled together in a streamlined system that uses merely a few buttons, a design direction that, once again, doesn’t overwhelm players and instead gets you to experiment. There’s last-minute parrying, a zipwire ability to leap from foe to foe, an airborne toss move that throws enemies sky-high for combat chains, and much more. The big guns, including the likes of The Prodigy, The Black Keys, and Nine Inch Nails, come out to play for big showdowns with bosses, bolstering the encounters to a truly special and memorable level as you’re booting enemies in time with iconic bangers.Ĭombat is a surprisingly deep beast and has all the fun markings of a Devil May Cry-like system. The original music, which is more focused on guitars and percussions than vocals, casually underscores the vast majority of time where you’re jumping between platforms and bopping enemies on the head. The majority of tracks in Hi-Fi Rush are original creations by Tango Gameworks, blended with licensed music for exhilarating boss fights and other unique scenarios. It’s a clever little direction from Tango that welcomes in hesitant players while boosting the skill ceiling for those more dedicated to their rhythmic craft. Not every strike and jump has to be in time with the rocking beat of guitars and drums, and you can just take it at your own pace if you aren’t fussed about obtaining a high combat rating for each encounter. Thankfully, you're not actively punished for failing to match the beat. Hi-Fi Rush races you through a vibrant and colourful world that stops short of burning out your retinas with too much neon. There’s platforming aplenty between whacking robots in interspersed arenas, making you feel like you’re always progressing forward at a rapid pace. This electrifying feeling feeds into the wider world as you race through Hi-Fi Rush's thumping linear levels. Hi-Fi Rush’s rhythmic gimmick on its own is absolutely absorbing - landing a string of successful hits in time with the beat and building to a big climactic attack gives an immediate rush of confidence and satisfaction, a high that’s just demanding to be chased again and again because it’s so damn pleasing and not impossibly unobtainable. This constant attention to rhythm creates an incredible energy, picking you up by the scruff of the neck and demanding your attention for eight or so hours. The challenge is to strike and dodge in time with the music, to create a smooth flow to combat and make you feel like you’re a god of the dance. The action part of Hi-Fi Rush is a free-flowing brawler, where Chai smacks robotic enemies with a metal guitar, all while dodging and ducking through hordes of outstretched robot weapons. This beat wants to be synonymous with your own actions, too. We too see these rhythmic motions, as Hi-Fi Rush's soda pop-infused world moves to this steady pulse - platforms move in time with the music, lights flash in pleasing rhythmic patterns, and enemies attack to the beat of the drum. Protagonist Chai has undergone a risky medical procedure and emerged from the other side with a robot arm and an iPod accidentally implanted in his chest meaning his every waking moment is punctuated by a catchy beat. Hi-Fi Rush is an action-adventure game with a mechanical core fuelled by musical beats. Developer Tango Gameworks shadow-dropped the rhythm-action game out of nowhere shortly after an Xbox presentation, jettisoning The Evil Within’s murky mental hospitals and Ghostwire: Tokyo's supernatural shinanigans for something markedly different: bright pulsating neon colours and a gang of loveable anime ruffians, where every whack and dodge is underscored by a beat. Hi-Fi Rush falls into the latter category. Other times I just want to write that a game is really bloody good, actually, and I like it lots. I might smugly write something like “it elevates the genre” while sipping wine and eating cheese, musing on how a game pushes the media forward as an art form. Sometimes I want to describe games in the most high-brow way possible. Hi-Fi Rush is only let down by its writing and character development, or lack thereof. A brilliant combination of rhythmic motions and a deep action-packed battle system make for a compelling adventure.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |