I’ve been listening to a lot of The Joy Formidable recently, namely the Welsh band’s 2008 hit Whirring. “Turn the dial on my words, I can feel they fall short,” sings frontwoman Rhiannon Bryan before the band takes over and the guitars escalate to a rapturous peak. The song is, perhaps, about not being able to express emotions in words, the music taking over all feeling for an almost seven minute long crescendo. And that’s how I feel about Hi-Fi Rush as I struggle to put my enjoyment into words.
Hi-Fi Rush review
- Developer: Tango Gameworks
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
- Platform: Played on Xbox Series X
- Availability: Out now on PC (Steam), Xbox Series X/S (Game Pass)
Whirring is one of a handful of licensed tracks used in the game, accompanying a late-game climactic level. Without spoiling too much, it’s the kind of level where you’re approaching the big bad boss and all your friends are with you and the music hits this euphoric high at just the right moment. It proves the power of licensed music, whether that’s a mournful Linda Ronstadt song in the midst of a post-apocalypse, or a young hero with a metal guitar smacking some robots.
Hi-Fi Rush thrives on these sorts of moments. Everything fizzes and bops in time, enemies pop in a whiz and a bang, and the beat pulses through your fingertips.
Tango Gameworks kept Hi-Fi Rush as a complete surprise until its announcement at last week’s Xbox Developer_Direct. One look at the trailer was enough to have me running to the console to play it immediately – I’m a sucker for a music game. The visuals of Hi-Fi Rush may evoke Sunset Overdrive for many, but really the game is a silly cartoon Devil May Cry set to music that answers the question: what if Iron Man’s heart was an iPod?
It’s hardly the first time that rhythm has been applied to gameplay, but it still comes with risks. In practice, the addition of rhythm can sometimes be either too heavily structured, restraining you, or too loose and lacking impact.
Hi-Fi Rush is bang on. Players can move and jump freely, but every step is in time to the beat, as is every attack, dodge, and parry. Where other character action games have a sort of rhythmic flow to combat, Hi-Fi Rush makes that explicit. Light attacks take one beat and heavy attacks take two, while a pause between attacks becomes a launching combo and beat hits reward correct timing with powerful strikes. Then there are special attacks that expend the reverb gauge: hit, hit, smack before launching into a diving guitar thrash that feels oh so good. Gameplay becomes music; attacks become crotchets and minims; combos are musical phrases.
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And so I sit at the TV. The toes twitch. The head bobs. The brow furrows. The eyes and ears focus. The shoulders hunch. The thumbs tap tap pause tap tap pause. There’s no other way to play.
Along with its relentless rhythm, Hi-Fi Rush really excels in its accessibility. Bonus points and damage are awarded when buttons are tapped exactly on the beat, but even if players are slightly off the animation still occurs in rhythm. Its immediacy is gratifying, but levels gradually add in new moves for an ensemble that’s tough to master. Further options include an on-screen metronome, colour-blind indicators, and customisation of your pulsing cat companion.