Hi-Fi Rush Is Already Being Praised by Critics and Fans
Hi-Fi Rush- that game announced at this week’s Xbox Bethesda Direct- is already being praised by fans after its shadow drop on Wednesday. Its quite a peculiar tactic to announce a game and release it just a few hours later, but the bet has paid off. Thanks in no small part to Xbox Game Pass, Hi-Fi Rush received an incredible influx of players upon release. And it turns out that the hype (regardless of the hype cycle only lasting around three hours) was warranted. Already receiving a 9.3 user score on Metacritic, Hi-Fi Rush is developer Tango Gameworks’ highest reviewed game yet.
Hi-Fi Rush is a big departure compared to the previous games from the Japanese developers. The Evil Within, its sequel, The Evil Within 2, and Ghostwire: Tokyo were all horror experiences where you explored a quiet, eerie world. Now, Hi-Fi Rush takes all of that and turns it on its head. A third person action-rhythm game where you battle oppressive robots to the beat of the background music. Its art style is very reminiscent to the forgotten Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive- which may have served as one of Tango Gameworks’ inspirations. It makes you wonder if Sunset Overdrive would have been more popular and widely acclaimed if Game Pass existed at the time.
Either way, fans are loving Hi-Fi Rush. With slick controls, rewarding gameplay and a difficulty curve that makes you feel like a master of all its tunes, this stylish romp is already a contender for 2023’s game of the year status. But don’t just take my word for it- take a look at some of the user reviews below from Metacritic users UnknownScroll37, bollo82 and snagglepuss respectively:
While there are no critic scores out just yet (to be fair, it is only a couple of days old by this point), it’s safe to say Hi-Fi Rush is an instant classic and a resounding success for Tango Gameworks. Given the widespread love the game has received, I wouldn’t be too surprised if DLCs with new music and stages were coming soon. The acclaim that this game received is similar to the FPS rhythm Metal Hellsinger from last year- which similarly blended two seemingly unrelated game genres. Just like Metal Hellsinger, Hi-Fi Rush hits all the right beats and is yet another example of an inventive rhythm game done right. If this trend keeps up, rhythm games may soon become one of the most interesting genres in the coming years.
