It’s only January and we already have what many are calling this year’s first game of the year contender in Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush. Hi-Fi Rush caught the gaming world by surprise when it was announced during Xbox and Bethesda’s Developer_Direct this past Wednesday and shadow-dropped onto PC, Xbox consoles, and Game Pass directly after the show. No prior marketing, no problem for this one as it has been putting up some impressive numbers since launch.
For starters, Hi-Fi Rush trended in the top 10 on Twitter for over 18 straight hours (with many trips into the top 3) shortly after being announced. It has also pulled in an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating with over 98% of over 3,200 user reviews praising the game on Steam. So what is it anyway? Hi-Fi Rush is a rhythm-based action game where everything from the protagonist’s attacks to enemy movements to the environment itself react and move to the beat of the music. Every stage of the game is represented by different music styles and punctuated by a unique boss battle to wrap things up in a groovy, music and combat-filled bundle. Hi-Fi Rush finds a way to tie together the best elements of platformers, fighters, action-adventure, rhythm, and RPG games into a beautifully designed and humorous package that has a bit of something for everyone.
Due to the nature of its launch being held as a surprise, reviews from critics are just now starting to get posted. So far it is pulling in very strong ratings with a 90 on OpenCritic (30 reviews in) and an 89 on Metacritic (30 reviews in) with 100% of critics recommending the game. It’s pretty safe to say that Tango Gameworks rocked out on this one in their first attempt to deviate from the horror genre that they are known for designing games in. If Hi-Fi Rush is any sort of indicator for what’s to come, Xbox fans should also be quite excited to see what the rest of the year holds.
Image from: Tango Gameworks
