Now this is a shadowdrop. At the Xbox and Bethesda’s Developer Direct, one more game was talked on the show on top of the four previously revealed games. And that extra game is the next title from Tango Gameworks.
The developers of The Evil Within and Ghostwire Tokyo are taking a break from horror to bring us Hi-Fi Rush, a character action game where the world is in sync to the beat. Enemies and hazards also move to the beat.
You play as Chai, and together with his team are rebelling against an evil corpo by smashing corporate drones on the beat.
You can pull off combos any way you like, but the game incentivises you to hit attacks on the beat. If you’re not good at following the rhythm by audio, there are visual indicators too.
Bosses, yes and they are various department bosses in the corporate structure, are all set-piece fights with their own music.
The music is, interestingly, music from bands like Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy and The Joy Formidable. But there is a streamer-friendly mode where copyrighted music won’t be played.
In a way, Hi-Fi Rush feels like Devil May Cry by way of Crypt Of The Necrodancer and No Straight Roads.
Hi-Fi Rush also spots a very sick look. Sharp, comic-booky aesthetics but with the playful punk effects seen in something like Sunset Overdrive.
Having silently announced a whole new game by Tango Gameworks that isn’t a horror title isn’t the biggest surprise. The biggest surprise is that Hi-Fi Rush is out on January 25. In other words, it’s out now. On Game Pass as well. Amazing that this hasn’t got leaked.
Hi-Fi Rush is out now on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store) and Xbox Series X|S. It’s also on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.