Hello-Fi Rush occupies an more and more uncommon house within the big-budget online game business: that of colourful, goofy, and light-hearted titles. For its 10 or 11-hour runtime, it has extra in frequent with a Saturday morning cartoon than a skinny try at gritty, status tv, like most triple-A video games today, and that is simply its largest energy. That its gameplay and fight are a singular melding of rhythm and classy motion video games is merely the cherry on high.
Primary character Chai has massive desires of being a rockstar. To attain this dream, he indicators up for Undertaking Armstrong, a program run by the megalithic tech group Vandelay Applied sciences. Ideally, this is able to have changed Chai’s disabled arm, however he has to combat his method out of the ability when he is labeled a defect. Whereas doing so, he meets Peppermint, who’s working to take down Vandelay. The 2 staff up, bringing varied folks disgruntled with the tech behemoth aboard to type a ragtag group of misfits hellbent on ending Vandelay’s monopoly.
Every core solid member is charming and humorous in their very own proper, and I persistently loved the banter, arguing, and varied dynamics. Hello-Fi Rush is a surprisingly well-written recreation that manages to be deliberately corny and, most of the time, pulls it off in a non-grating method. In actual fact, I used to be stunned that the story was my favourite a part of the sport, and I genuinely loved each character and the way they built-in into the broader group. By the tip, Chai and his merry band work collectively in concord, and the story and gameplay match this in satisfying methods.
On the coronary heart of Hello-Fi Rush is a narrative concerning the ills of massive tech – and, extra particularly, the sport business. It isn’t essentially the most radical company protest on the planet. However ranges that poke enjoyable on the lopsided budgets between advertising and growth groups and tyrannical managers who seize management over a product in opposition to high quality or employee security actually get their factors throughout. Tango Gameworks is owned by mega-publisher Bethesda Softworks. Possibly one thing to bear in mind.
All of this performs out throughout Vandelay’s huge company campus. The intense cel-shaded world is consistently in movement, even whenever you’re standing nonetheless. Every thing in Hello-Fi Rush strikes to the beat of the sport’s soundtrack – Chai’s run animation, the rotation of business gears, cutscenes, all of it to the sport’s inside metronome. It was at all times enjoyable seeing how the sport built-in Chai’s love of music into the world, even in small touches, similar to how a swing of your weapon belts guitar squeals in the identical key as any stage’s soundtrack.
Fight is the place Hello-Fi Rush’s rhythm spine actually comes into play. On its floor, the sport performs like several variety of trendy motion video games: you hack, slash, and construct combos and excessive scores. You understand the drill in the event you’ve performed Bayonetta or Satan Might Cry. The distinctive twist, nevertheless, is that doing so on the beat with the sport’s songs nets you higher scores and simpler assaults.
Combating in time to the rhythm, touchdown heavy hits with the snare of a drum, and seeing your flashy animations completely timed to any variety of Hello-Fi Rush’s songs feels pretty much as good because it appears; there is a literal weight as you slam buttons in time. All the surrounding elements of gameplay lean into the identical gimmick – puzzles, platforming, the entire 9 yards. Whereas it has an unique rating, the licensed soundtrack does plenty of the sport’s heavy lifting – particularly throughout tense and dramatic moments. Other than one The Black Keys tune, all of the additions from Fiona Apple, 9 Inch Nails, and particularly The Pleasure Formidable are unbelievable inclusions.
The fight is so good that the early parts of the sport’s noticeable lack thereof endure in comparison with the again half of Hello-Fi Rush. It has a sluggish begin, and for the primary few ranges, I discovered myself desperately making an attempt to get to the following enemy encounter. Fortunately, after a number of hours, Hello-Fi Rush actually hits its stride. By the point credit roll, it is crescendoing into a multitude of colours and riffs fully over-the-top and alive within the spectacle.
Hello-Fi Rush does not require you to combat on the beat; animations will nonetheless land in time even in the event you’re off time, permitting for that very same visible impression as a participant in excellent sync. Moreover, you may show a visible metronome on the display screen that will help you maintain time. And the sport maintains a comparatively sluggish tempo throughout all its songs, by no means requiring to need to sustain with hyper-fast rhythms. All of this goes a good distance in serving to much less rhythmic gamers benefit from the recreation’s conceit, and so they’re all unbelievable additions.
Contemplating the sport was introduced and launched on the identical day, Hello-Fi Rush is definitely one of the vital shocking video games of 2023. A part of that’s literal. The opposite, extra vital half, is simply how good the sport is. Hello-Fi Rush finds a magical candy spot between rhythm video games, trendy motion, and lighthearted, character-driven platformers we do not see fairly often anymore, and by each measure, it comes out on high.
