At the very recent Xbox Developer Direct, an all-new 3D platform game, ‘Hi-Fi Rush’ was revealed and shadow dropped that same day exclusive to Xbox Series X|S and PC. Published by Bethesda and developed by Tango Gameworks, Hi-Fi Rush mixes the action-adventure and rhythm genres without missing a beat.

Players will take control of Chai, an aspiring rockstar who isn’t able to play guitar due to his disabled right arm. He volunteers for Project Armstrong in hopes his right arm will be replaced with a cybernetic one, so he can rock out once again. Chai soon learns that the project is actually a cover-up that sends its subjects into slave labour once the procedure is finished.

While attempting to escape, Chai’s portable music player ends up getting lodged into his chest during the struggle and gets fused with his new robotic arm as it reacts to the beat of the song. After magnetically pulling together random pieces of junk to form a V-shaped guitar, Chai with his newfound abilities must escape the facility, while playing some sick tunes and fulfilling his dream of becoming a rockstar.

Overall, Hi-Fi Rush is a simple-to-play and easy-to-learn action-adventure game, but the main objective of the game is sticking to the beat and where the rhythm genre comes into play. Almost everything in the game plays along to the beat, from Chai’s finger clicking when idle, to lights flashing, machines pumping, enemies fighting and even the controller in your hands, so keeping the vibration function is highly recommended.

While it is possible to play the entire game without worrying about staying in tune, the real fun is trying to match the beat in every aspect throughout the game. There is a consistent thumping beat that can be heard and felt from start to finish, which also acts as part of the game’s soundtrack. This consistent beat actually gets more music and even lyrics added to it as it plays through the game. The beat builds up just as the players do.

Combat plays the biggest part in sticking to the beat, where if players can time their attack buttons to match it, can jam some extra damage and bigger combos on anyone trying to take out Chai. This becomes even more important when facing bigger enemies who keep their guard up, where matching the beat will break it and stun them, leaving them open to take some damage.

Light attacks are quick and can match every beat, while Heavy attacks are a little slower, but matching every second beat will land some really hard rocking moves. Listening to the beat also helps with anticipating enemy attacks, as even they also play along to the rhythm.

Building up combos by mixing Light and Heavy attacks, will really send the enemies flying. All this also builds up the Rhythm meter that when full, will allow players to unleash a super combo for some epic guitar-smashing action with some sick riffs.

To help players match the beat, the Timing Gauge can be enabled anytime at the press of a button. This displays the thumping beats at the bottom of the screen, so players can time their buttons to the rhythm easier. This along with the vibration function is really helpful for those who may be hard of hearing.

In between all the combat, is some fun and simple 3D and occasionally 2D platforming. Players will also come across some interesting obstacle courses and puzzle solving as well, which keeps things simple and doesn’t take up too much of the overall game. The only minor drawback with going from point A to point B is that there is no sprint option, so navigating through the stages can sometimes drag on a little.

Along Chai’s journey, more combos and upgrades will become available for the tougher challenges ahead, especially the boss fights. Each boss that Chai must face is fun, challenging and will really put players through their paces. Just like everything else, the bosses also play along to the beat, which helps anticipate their attacks and more importantly, keep the rhythm going. Each of the bosses are also very different from one another, which really helps mix things up and keeps things fresh.

The boss battles also includes licensed music from various bands including Nine Inch Nails, Number Girl, The Black Keys, The Prodigy, The Joy Formidable, Wolfgang Gartner, and Zwan. Hearing all these bands only adds to the already hard-rocking epic boss battles. For those wanting to livestream Hi-Fi Rush or post footage online, a Streaming Mode is also available which replaces the licensed music with similar-sounding music performed by The Glass Pyramids, to help avoid copyright strikes.

The cel-shaded graphics help create a cartoonish presentation, very similar to the old Jet Set Radio games that really helped innovate this graphics style. In what would normally be a dark and grim setting, everything from the character designs and environments all look bright, colourful, lively and work perfectly with the rock ‘n roll theme of the game. All the characters that Chai meets along the way, add so much style and personality to the overall atmosphere, whether they’re humans or robots.

For a game that was kept a secret all this time, then revealed and released without any advertising or promotion at all until release day, there is so much to do and enjoy in this game. With everything it offers, it doesn’t feel like a rushed game at all. There’s a good 8-10 hours of hard rocking fun and mayhem for anyone to enjoy. The bright and colourful characters, environments, enemies, bosses, and more, all playing along to the beat, makes this one of Xbox’s best-kept secrets. Hi-Fi Rush is the perfect game for anyone who’s ready to rock!

Written by: Sammy Hanson