As previously noted, EA came to NY with a bunch of games for member of the press to test drive. Among them was Fuse, the latest from Insomniac Games. It's notable for a number or reasons; it marks the studio's first IP since Resistance: Fall of Man, for the PS3, and is also their first foray into multiple consoles.
Before Resistance, the studio put itself on the map with the Ratchet & Clank series, and it many ways, Fuse almost feels like the perfect combination, of the best parts distilled from those two very separate entities.
Fuse is a third person shooter that emphasizes teamwork. A premise you've heard literally a thousand times already, which is why I approached the game with a certain degree of disinterest. Not helping is how I'm just not a fan of third person shooters in general (something to keep in mind when going over my hands on account).
We were given two different modes to test drive, and both were designed to flex the game's cooperative backbone. First was a portion of the single player campaign, somewhere in the middle of the game, explained Ted Price, Insomniac founder and CEO.
The game has you part of a team of four agents. Each has their own distinct attributes, mostly dictated by the weaponry that they all utilize. Four-player co-operative is clearly the focus, but the game can easily be played with just one player, which seems like an impossible order to deliver. Yet it's actually doable, thanks to the game's core mechanic.
At almost any given point, you can switch to one of the other characters on the fly. For the purposes of the demo, I was teamed up with another player, so at any given time, I only had three other characters to assume. Which was more than many.
One thing that was immediately apparent was how fast and fluid the game felt; it's very light on it's feet. Yet it also keeps you on your toes as well. Granted, we were in the middle of the game, but there were plenty of foes to deal with, who all have your number if you're not nimble enough.
Not only is quick reflexes the name of the game, but so is strategy. I mostly stuck to a two-person combo; the woman who has a shotgun-like weapon that causes mini black holes to suck the enemy away into nothingness, and the male who formed a gigantic barrier when firing, one that all teammates can take advantage of. And that right there was the first real clue as to the developer's pedigree; the inventive weapons seem straight out of Ratchet & Clank. Furthermore, the game's visuals is bright and sunny, and not at all dark and depressing as most third person shooters. Which honestly is a major reason why I don't like the genre as a whole.
Though anyone familiar with the development of the game might recall the game looking even more different, back when it was called Overstrike. Thing back then appeared even cartoonier, but along the way, there were a number of creative changes, and things now feel more rough and tumble, or "mature" as Price has been quoted as saying in interviews. Still, it’s far brighter and sunnier than many of its contemporaries. Yet it's also just as hyper violent as well, so diehard fans of the genre need not worry.
