“This game is Xbox’s knight in shining armour right now, it’s exactly what they needed.”
The 2023 video game bar has been set VERY high with the unveiling and launch of new title; Hi-Fi Rush.
I just spent my whole weekend playing Bethesda’s latest release and I feel accomplished.
What was so intriguing about this new game is that we knew absolutely nothing about it, other than a short trailer shown last week (on launch day, mind you).
We had no time to read into it, view gameplay or even think about if it was going to be good, it was just there – ready for the taking.
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Releasing a surprise game of this quality pretty much never happens.
I can’t recall another game I’ve enjoyed so much that just appeared out of nowhere.
Developer Tango Gameworks was behind one of my favourite games of 2022, Ghostwire: Tokyo, so this surprise game is more than welcome.
It’s a completely new game with characters and a world we haven’t seen before, yet it feels familiar.
It’s as if Ratchet and Clank had a baby with Jet Set Radio and adopted it to Metal Hellsinger and Devil May Cry, who in turn raised a beautiful, bright and loving child.
You play as Chai, a wannabe Rockstar in a futuristic world, who has an incident with a machine that leads to an MP3 player being lodged in his chest, handing him powerful abilities and setting him on a new beat.
The game opens with The Black Keys’ hit song Lonely Boy (absolute tune) and it really sets the mood for the game.
It’s quick off the mark.
Following a fast-paced cutscene introducing Chai, you’re thrown into a world wielding a magically mechanical guitar and smashing up robots before you know it.
The music, rhythm and beat are everything.
You use it to attack, dodge, unlock doors – pretty much everything.
Attacking on the beat inflicts more damage on your enemies and it’s so satisfying to pull off.
Should you struggle to find the beat, there are a few things to help, the first being accessibility settings.
Pressing the “view” button on the controller brings up “rhythm assist”, which is basically a beat timeline that sits along the bottom of the screen that indicates when to attack – but I don’t think it’s necessary.
Pieces of the world also move to the rhythm of the track in each area; lights on walls, floor vents, exploding lava rocks – the game really comes to life.
There’s a team of companions you’ll meet along the way, each one adding to your arsenal.
I won’t go into too much detail here as I had a great time meeting these characters and unlocking new abilities.
You’ll encounter plenty of enemies throughout each level, with killer robots spawning in groups at various points.
Defeating enemies is how you proceed to the next area.
I did find with some of the later levels in the game the enemy encounters were a bit too frequent and repetitive, causing the zone to feel dragged out, but once reaching the major checkpoint it quickly righted itself.
Hi-Fi Rush also loves a tutorial, hours in I was still learning new basics moves, like parrying and dodging.
Hi-Fi Rush is fun for the whole family.
I found myself passing the controller to my 7-year-old in between crazy robot battles as she was so intrigued by the game’s world.
We spent plenty of time simply exploring, jumping around, and platforming.
Chai can unlock new abilities and upgrades by collecting gears – and I made sure to fill my pockets.
I’m a sucker for destructible environments and collecting things and there’s no shortage in Hi-Fi Rush.
Crates and barrels are a dime a dozen, with plenty of gears to find as well as upgrades – it really pays to explore in this game.
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I played through the game on normal difficulty, which provided more than enough of a challenge at times.
There’s also plenty of end-game content to pursue when it’s all over.
Visually, this game is bloody impressive.
Tango Gameworks’ team of graphic artists and animators have outdone themselves.
It’s like an interactive cartoon. I could watch an entire TV series with this animation and be thrilled.
It’s exploding with vibrant colour, the world feels alive – it’s pure delight for the eyes.
Hi-Fi Rush seamlessly switches between gameplay and cutscenes, putting you in and taking you out at the perfect time.
If you’re playing on Xbox Series X, the game runs at 4K 60 frames per second. You’ll cop a lower resolution on the Xbox Series S.
With a lengthy wait still ahead for any major Xbox release, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
This game is Xbox’s knight in shining armour right now, it’s exactly what they needed.
Hi-Fi Rush is one of the best video games to release in recent months and a huge start to 2023.
The developers were clearly confident with the product and proved it by dropping it out of nowhere. More of this please.
Quest Daily scores Hi-Fi Rush:
9/10
A review copy of Hi-Fi Rush was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
