To many, Guitar Hero and Rock Band were the definitive party games of the Xbox 360 and PS3 era of consoles. These games make players feel like they're the stars at a rock show, and the newest game from Tango Gameworks, Hi-Fi Rush, does the same. The success of Guitar Hero doesn't lie solely in its guitar-shaped controller but instead in the highly-satisfying and simplistic nature of its gameplay. Hi-Fi Rush takes Guitar Hero's core elements of timing and entertainment and weaves them into its foundation to create a rock show of its own.
Hi-Fi Rush serves as a drastic departure from Tango Gameworks' previous horror-themed releases such as The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Its story and writing are light-hearted and cheesy, and its art style looks straight out of a comic book. The cartoony characters and world design pops, where bolded words like "BOOM" even fly out from attacks. Where it feels the most like Guitar Hero is in the fact that Hi-Fi Rush's world and every aspect of the gameplay revolves around a constant, underlying beat, with a soundtrack that never lets up.
Hi-Fi Rush Feels Like Putting on a Rock Show
In Hi-Fi Rush, players take control of Chai, a cocky kid who dreams of being a rockstar one day. Chai has a robot arm and a music player fused into his chest, which causes him to feel the beat of everything around him. For players, this means that everything in the world from Chai's footsteps to his enemies' attacks fall on the beat. For every action timed with the beat, whether it be attacking, parrying, dodging, calling in companions, or even just jumping, players are treated to punchy guitar riffs and higher scores.
Guitar Hero allows players to take part in creating music through precise timing that offers a sense of satisfaction when a song plays clearly. In Hi-Fi Rush, actions performed with accurate timing contribute towards a combo meter that results in a higher score at the end of encounters, culminating in a final grade for each stage. The major difference comes in how the games handle inaccuracy, which happens to be one of Hi-Fi Rush's most appealing features and a major focus for Tango Gameworks.
In Guitar Hero, hitting a note at the wrong time causes a sharp, displeasing noise, which can ultimately lead to failing a song if players miss too many notes. Hi-Fi Rush handles this much differently, as players are not forced to perform attacks on the beat in order to hit their opponents or progress through the environment. There are a few situations where accurate timing is required, but these can typically be repeated several times until the player completes the sequence. Although Hi-Fi Rush mostly removes the requirement for accurate timing, the satisfaction of building up a combo for a high score remains intact.
Hi-Fi Rush's world is extremely linear, with a few deviating paths that offer various secrets and hidden collectibles. Like Metroid, once players acquire new abilities, they are able to unlock previously inaccessible areas. About half of the game consists of exploring these environments in between enemy encounters, and it's entertaining simply to explore because of the rewarding guitar sounds as players traverse its platforming sections. The original music throughout each stage is catchy, and the licensed tracks offer epic moments during its boss fights.
One of the biggest highlights of Hi-Fi Rush is the tone of its story and the characters players come across, whether it's allies, enemies, or random NPCs. There are countless enemy types that require different abilities and attacks to defeat, and the boss fights offer several memorable moments. One sequence in particular has players feeling like true rockstars, as they battle on a stage in front of a massive crowd. When players perform well during these moments and complete Hi-Fi Rush stages with an S ranking, it's the same feeling as getting a high score in Guitar Hero.
Hi-Fi Rush is available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.