Game developer Harmonix has been dormant for some time when it comes to big, new titles. Its last attempt to create a shiny new rhythm property was Super Beat Sports back in 2017, which came and, sadly, went. Now Harmonix is creating a new type of rhythm game that puts a different spin on things.
The game is called Fuser, and it puts players in the shoes of a DJ playing to a massive audience. Fuser is vibrant and colorful, boasting over 100 songs from famous artists. The premise is that players will be fusing these songs into a harmonious beat to keep the crowd happy.
Fuser was announced with a reveal trailer back in February, and showed off some graphics, if not samples of gameplay. That has changed with the reveal of the Fuser gameplay trailer, which dives a bit more into what players can expect. The first part of the trailer simply shows the kind of environment the players will be in, with massive, colorful stages to perform on before big crowds. The trailer shows players dropping songs onto a four-disc mixing station and adjusting settings to weave the songs into one.
Each of the four disc players represents a different aspect of the song on that track, and there's actually precedent for this from Harmonix. The company previously developed a game released through Hasbro called Dropmix, and Fuser is its spiritual successor. In Dropmix, each of the four segments (not discs like in Fuser) represents a different song component: vocals, lead guitar, piano, etc. Dropmix utilized cards that could be inserted to play that section of the song on the card, splitting them for different combinations. In Fuser, the songs come pre-packaged with the game, but it presumably works the same way.
The focus here is very different from other rhythym games, which put emphasis on precision and focus. Harmonix's previous Rock Band series' long-time rival, Guitar Hero, was famous for this. Since then, Guitar Hero's controllers have been unconventionally used in many frantic games, but Harmonix looks to take rhythym in a different direction. Rather than frantic and frenetic, Fuser looks like it will be a game about artistic creation and flow.
The goal with Fuser seems not to be hitting accurate notes, but keeping the mood of the dance party right. It's definitely an outlier in this, as rhythym in games has been trending towards the action-heavy. Games like Sayonara Wild Hearts and the upcoming GUN JAM even mix rhythym directly with action. Whether Fuser's more laidback approach works will be interesting to see.
Fuser will release in Fall of 2020 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
