A horrible accident has left a man permanently disfigured and enslaved to the whims of an apathetic corporation. For most of us, this would leave us grappling with a crisis of a scale most of us are not prepared for. For Chai, this is just Tuesday.
Enter Tango Gameworks' surprise January 2023 release, Hi-Fi Rush.
Billed as a rhythm-action game hybrid, Hi-Fi Rush is equal parts Space Channel 5, Ratchet and Clank, and Devil May Cry; its a product of its influences and perhaps the best mainstream application of the "PS2, dude," mentality that people of a certain age sink into whenever anything remotely resembles the days long gone. Unfortunately, unlike these singular titles that loom large in the brains of console owners before 2006, Hi-Fi Rush never quite lives up to the potential it promises by.....resembling these classic titles.
Instead, we get a "King of everything, master of none," title that oozes personality, but doesn't have the game underneath to make it sing.
Hi-Fi Rush starts big with bombastic set pieces set to licensed music that set a particular expectation for the experience; your character is fused with an iPod-like MP3 player that forces everything he does to move to the beat of whatever music is playing from said device. Combos, dodges, parries; all of this must be carried out according to the tempo of the music at hand. It's novel, and kicking off with a pair of Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails tunes to set early stages and boss battles to makes for an absolutely thrilling first impression.
The thrills dry up early however, with much of the early, middle, and late game lacking the thrill of hearing recognizable music, instead leaning on a wonderful, but unmemorable score by a collection of excellent composers who unfortunately never craft a beat quite as memorable as the licensed early sequences; it makes timing your increasingly elaborate combos, special moves, and ally driven assist actions easy to time to a pumping, consistent beat, but it lacks the impact of say, fighting a boss battle to Nine Inch Nails' The Perfect Drug.
Beyond that, much of the game's standard levels feel under-designed. They most boil down to small stretches of simple platforming that carries you to the next wave of enemies. Your movement abilities feel excellent to manipulate, but many of the games construction zones and designed areas offer little benefit to taking advantage of them; there are glaringly obvious secret areas sprinkled throughout, but no means to access them until you've completed the game once, which does little to motivate me personally. You also just move really slowly through each level due to being tied to the beat of whatever music is playing, which negates the fun of having such responsive platforming controls!
Hi-Fi Rush has great fundamentals, but ultimately comes out of the oven with a gooey center that destabilizes the soufflé just enough to ruin my appetite. It leaves me hopeful for whatever Tango Gameworks does next; with a little more time in the oven, its clear that they can accomplish something great, and innovative. I don't necessarily mean a sequel either; just something creatively ambitious, colorful, and friendly. Here's to whatever's next!
Enter Tango Gameworks' surprise January 2023 release, Hi-Fi Rush.
Billed as a rhythm-action game hybrid, Hi-Fi Rush is equal parts Space Channel 5, Ratchet and Clank, and Devil May Cry; its a product of its influences and perhaps the best mainstream application of the "PS2, dude," mentality that people of a certain age sink into whenever anything remotely resembles the days long gone. Unfortunately, unlike these singular titles that loom large in the brains of console owners before 2006, Hi-Fi Rush never quite lives up to the potential it promises by.....resembling these classic titles.
Instead, we get a "King of everything, master of none," title that oozes personality, but doesn't have the game underneath to make it sing.
Hi-Fi Rush starts big with bombastic set pieces set to licensed music that set a particular expectation for the experience; your character is fused with an iPod-like MP3 player that forces everything he does to move to the beat of whatever music is playing from said device. Combos, dodges, parries; all of this must be carried out according to the tempo of the music at hand. It's novel, and kicking off with a pair of Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails tunes to set early stages and boss battles to makes for an absolutely thrilling first impression.
The thrills dry up early however, with much of the early, middle, and late game lacking the thrill of hearing recognizable music, instead leaning on a wonderful, but unmemorable score by a collection of excellent composers who unfortunately never craft a beat quite as memorable as the licensed early sequences; it makes timing your increasingly elaborate combos, special moves, and ally driven assist actions easy to time to a pumping, consistent beat, but it lacks the impact of say, fighting a boss battle to Nine Inch Nails' The Perfect Drug.
Beyond that, much of the game's standard levels feel under-designed. They most boil down to small stretches of simple platforming that carries you to the next wave of enemies. Your movement abilities feel excellent to manipulate, but many of the games construction zones and designed areas offer little benefit to taking advantage of them; there are glaringly obvious secret areas sprinkled throughout, but no means to access them until you've completed the game once, which does little to motivate me personally. You also just move really slowly through each level due to being tied to the beat of whatever music is playing, which negates the fun of having such responsive platforming controls!
Hi-Fi Rush has great fundamentals, but ultimately comes out of the oven with a gooey center that destabilizes the soufflé just enough to ruin my appetite. It leaves me hopeful for whatever Tango Gameworks does next; with a little more time in the oven, its clear that they can accomplish something great, and innovative. I don't necessarily mean a sequel either; just something creatively ambitious, colorful, and friendly. Here's to whatever's next!