need to know
what is that? A cel-style rhythm action game with a rock soundtrack from the mid-2000s.
Expected payment: $30
release date: January 25, 2023
Developer: tango gameworks
the publisher: bethesda softworks
Review date: RTX 3080, Ryzen 9 3900X, 32GB RAM
Multiplayer? No
Link: Official site (opens in new tab)
Against all the screaming electric guitars and raucous drums, Hi-Fi Rush is surprisingly understated. Smashing killer robots to the beat of licensed rock tracks by artists like Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys, The Prodigy and more is extreme. It’s like going out for a run and trying to sync each step to the album you’re jamming.Devil he may fill the light (opens in new tab) This is your chance to continue the combo. But after establishing a hook with a killer opening, Hi-Fi Rush’s high energy begins to wane.
Hi-Fi Rush features bright cel-shaded worlds and heavy killer robots. It’s the sort of goofy aesthetic that plays nicely on a blurry TV screen in the background of an NCIS episode. Mid 2000s. This simple aesthetic is enhanced primarily by the music and its snappy animation style. Trees, lampposts, and pipes bounce along the soundtrack, and main character Chai constantly snaps his fingers, each time revealing a tiny comic book spark.
The stage is the evil organization Bandelei Technologies, which accidentally replaced Chai’s heart with a Walkman. It started by manufacturing robotic limbs for those in need, then shifted its focus to selling useful robots that were software updates away from being military. The man on top, Kale Vandelei, has a very cartoonish villainous plan to use implants for mind control.
Everything in Hi-Fi Rush runs on classic cartoon logic. Chai casually dusts himself off after being crashed through a wall, and in one scene, Rooney turns to the camera in shock just before plummeting down a chute like his Tunes character. He’s not bright, but neither are many characters on Hi-Fi Rush. At times, Chai sounds frighteningly close to Joss Whedon’s character.I thought he said “Well that It just happened!” in the first hour.
Chai’s incompetence is the point, and the game soon makes him bounce back with a much more interesting and engaging crew of characters. Aim for a heavy role. Soon we meet Makaron, a pacifist robot psychoanalyst with his buddy Metal named CNMN (pronounced like cinnamon). And a fourth character that I don’t want to spoil, but that is fun to be with, even if their accent is completely incomprehensible.
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All of these characters (except CNMN) can be used as summons during beat-based combat. Chai has heavy and light attacks that can be combined and finished with finishers to the tune. At any time (or as a finisher) you can pull teammates to help you. Peppermint is needed to blast enemies with guns and knock out enemy shields. Macaron shatters the armor into pieces, and the last character to get it can extinguish the arena’s pocket of fire.
Additional moves and passive bonuses can be purchased as you advance and defeat bosses that test your parry timing and sometimes become a literal rhythm game. Enemies attack only with beats and are telegraphed in lines and circles on the ground, making them easy to dodge or parry to deal damage. Some attacks can only be dodged, but spamming a parry when the song is in line has kept me safe for the most part.
I don’t know if it’s because I poured a lot of upgrades into it to lower the summoning cooldown, or to play on normal difficulty, but Hi-Fi Rush eventually gave up on many of the rhythm games halfway through. The games all feel like they have a similar tempo, they start using original songs that aren’t particularly memorable, and the combat loses all its power. , was playing an OK character action game that repeated calls to perform simple combos. And it all mixes together without any discernible music or challenging tempo changes.
The only place where music matters is in the sections between each battle arena. Lava geysers and other environmental hazards frame the platform section. You’ll need to time your jumps and summon your teammates quickly to break through shields and doors before the next beat comes. Sometimes the game locks the camera and goes side-scrolling. Nailing these pieces without dying or breaking your rhythm is like getting through Mario’s levels with sheer reflexes. You hardly need to look at the screen.
Hi-Fi Rush’s setlist is far too limited to fully embrace the era of music they’ve chosen.
The Exploration section is where the mid-2000s vibe starts to feel a bit cursed. There are crates to shatter, collectibles to find, text logs to read, health and special attack meter power-ups hidden throughout each level, but they all just slow the game down. No matter what Fi Rush throws at me, I’m strong enough. Also, the number of emails I could read about abuse of robot workers and incompetent bosses was very limited. Nostalgia for games from this era (if you have one) can’t make up for the time you spend dashing past so many things you don’t need.
The edge-to-edge approach to gaming that Hi-Fi Rush mimics is striking in its idiosyncrasies, but I think it could have maintained its retro feel without it. A tedious lead by a group of more interesting secondary characters and a handful of solidly licensed rock songs that struggle to match the energy of the game’s first few hours. Replacing Chai with Peppermint and filling the tracklist with sharper rock and punk hits matched the anti-capitalist message the game was reaching, but didn’t quite grasp it by the end.
As a surprise from a developer known for horror games, Hi-Fi Rush is a promising concept. A sequel that refines the same level of design and combat and expands the song list could be the game I wanted Hi-Fi Rush to be. As an average action game with great moments, it’s not worth picking up all the other great options in the genre.
Hi-Fi Rush is like going back and listening to the songs you used to listen to when you were a teenager.Sugar, We’re Going Down is still incredibly hard, but Fall Out Boy’s latest song (opens in new tab) A nod to their roots, they’re able to incorporate just enough modern production and structure to make them sound like something new. It’s too limited to be accepted into, and too old-fashioned to resonate with current fads. , is a strong teaser to a more cohesive game, and one day we’ll hopefully see that come to fruition.
