Hello-Fi Rush is a beacon of hope. The rhythm-based character-action sport from Tango Gameworks confirmed up at this week’s Xbox Developer Direct, solely to be surprise-released moments in a while Recreation Cross and Steam. And whereas the sudden arrival was a novelty, the sport itself feels applicable in its timing. It’s an influence fantasy about tearing down an evil company whose executives deal with staff like fodder within the limitless pursuit of wealth.
In a special time, the premise itself might need appeared trivial. Protagonist Chai, a child obsessive about music who continually spouts puns, approaches Vandelay Applied sciences for the promise of robotic augmentation. An incident results in his iPod being inserted into his chest, and now the world is in sync along with his playlist — a mixture of an unique rating with licensed tracks from the likes of 9 Inch Nails, The Black Keys, and The Prodigy.
Vandelay instantly deems the protagonist a defect and sends a military of offended robots to terminate him. Mixing fight paying homage to the Satan Might Cry collection with the spirit of rhythm-infused video games comparable to No Straight Roads and Steel: Hellsinger, the sport sees Chai band along with a crew of surprisingly likeable characters to hack, slash, dodge, and soar to the beat, all in an try to show Vandelay’s evil deeds to the lots.
Throughout 12 ranges, you progress from QA to the finance departments of the corporate, every workplace hall replete with Vandelay propaganda, surveillance bots, and gold statues of the CEO. Talking with the robotic NPCs elicits venting about overwork and their concern of layoffs. Additionally they ask Chai to not be a narc at any time when he spots them taking 5 by mendacity down on the ground.
Picture: Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks by way of Polygon
An early degree places you up in opposition to Zanzo, a boss in command of creating SPECTRA, an AI designed to let Vandelay management folks’s ideas — a poignant state of affairs, contemplating the most recent development that’s already proving to be a catastrophe. As you plunge by the R&D division, one among Zanzo’s staff warns him about losing price range on more and more extravagant, but finally ineffective weaponry. He (unsurprisingly) ignores this warning, and Hello-Fi Rush is fast to make enjoyable of the error: The sport’s UI shows a proportion bar to indicate his price range shrinking in actual time. “Balancing creativity with reasonable objectives is the mark of chief,” says one among your teammates. “Clearly Zanzo wants steerage.”
We’re just a few weeks into 2023, however layoffs are rampant throughout tech and media — even at Microsoft, which owns Hello-Fi Rush’s writer Bethesda — as folks proceed to struggle for unionization. Hello-Fi Rush is a cathartic, hopeful takedown of the company programs (and the folks in cost) that churn by staff like another expendable useful resource.
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Picture: Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks by way of Polygon
A lot has been mentioned about using quips in Forspoken this previous week, evaluating the dialogue to Joss Whedon’s work, and citing it as one more casualty of the Marvel-ization of storytelling. Hello-Fi Rush can be at fault on this regard, however its satire is so poignant, and its characters so earnest, that it really works. Chai’s jokes could be foolish, however he’s unwilling to let his and his teammates’ spirits flicker, decided to maintain shifting ahead and shutting down the deluded plans of Vandelay’s c-suite. Context makes all of the distinction.
The shadow drop was novel in and of itself, however the sport is a triumph. The attractive animations and Jet Set Radio-esque artwork fashion are vivid and arresting. The array of tutorials, visible aids, and intelligent mechanics makes the rhythm elements approachable to style newcomers. And the colourful, optimistic vitality is current in each beat, maintaining you tapping your ft as you are taking down a company constructed on a scarcity of imaginative and prescient. Hello-Fi Rush is a cathartic anthem that arrived on the good time.
Hello-Fi Rush was launched on Jan. 25 on Home windows PC and Xbox Sequence X. The sport was reviewed on Xbox. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought by way of affiliate hyperlinks. You could find further details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.
