Hi-Fi Rush Review

A colorful world, spot-on humor, and charming dialogue form the basis of Tango Gameworks' fantastic new IP.

Hi-Fi Rush Review (Xbox Series X)

Release date: January 25, 2023

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Tango Gameworks

Platforms: Windows, Xbox Series X/S

Rating: 10/10

*No spoilers below*

Hi-Fi Rush seemed to come out of nowhere. Originally conceptualized as a step away from survival horror, a genre developer Tango Gameworks had made a significant name in, with the release of The Evil Within series. 

It was intentionally kept under wraps after Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda Softworks, Hi-Fi’s publisher, back in 2021 in order to keep expectations at bay and was subsequently released on Xbox’s Game Pass for this reason. 

Announced and released on January 25th, Hi-Fi Rush is set in a futuristic alternate reality and follows our self-proclaimed rockstar protagonist Chai, who volunteers for a cybernetic limb program at the Vandelay Technologies, a frontrunner in cybernetic tech. After being labeled as a garbage applicant during the surgical process, Chai accidentally has his beloved MP3 player fused to his chest and awakes to find that his life literally moves to a beat. Along with the help of several other secondary characters, with just as flavorful names, Chai’s objective changes from escaping Vandelay’s campus unscathed, to taking down the company’s nefarious SPECTRA program along with its lineup of equally colorful bosses. 

Hi-Fi Rush is a beat-based game where players traverse through-level based chapters that incorporate combo-based fighting akin to several other Japanese action games such as Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Bayonetta. The callback to such franchises definitely helps Hi-Fi Rush not only hook in new players, but adequately establish itself as a new IP. 

Standard battle requires you to execute light and heavy melee attacks with your hardcore guitar, with the option to unlock combo moves in your hideout. Additionally, there are skills that you acquire that can be used both in the environments and fights, such as your magnet, which allows you to hook onto platforms while also drawing yourself closer to an enemy in battle. The secondary characters are able to be called in for both these situations as well, all with their own unique abilities. 

Speaking of upgrades, aside from combo moves, there is also the ability to improve your fundamentals like your health and special attack bars with “chip upgrades”, purchased using the gear parts you find across the world and after defeating enemies. Additional parts found throughout the game can also be used for these upgrades.

Outside of your boss fights, your enemies are deviations of the robotic contraptions cultivated at Vandelay tech. There’s some basic low-level melee and distance attackers as well as heavier foes that have shields, wield saws, and mimic samurai. 

Boss fights are varied and keep the gameplay from going stale. While you can still predict when and where a boss fight will be, the format it takes varies greatly. For instance, the first boss is pretty normal – big powerful fella that will have moves that test your reaction times and combo knowledge. However, another boss is solely fought by parrying shots and another you defeat by draining his R&D budget – that level was a wonderful satirical take on modern AAA gaming by the way. While the game has 3 difficulty modes, I actually found some of the fight sequences kind of difficult and ended up switching down to the easy mode as a result. Given that’s not something I generally do, I was pleasantly surprised that this game offered an actual challenge on its default difficulty setting. 

Each major segment of combat ends with a ranking score, another feature that is very common amongst this genre, and each score is broken down by “chorus, or the checkpoint throughout each level – or “track”. 

All these enemies are wonderfully dispersed amongst a variety of colorful environments that while moving to Chai’s internal beat, include platforming and puzzling to keep the gameplay engaging. NPC robots can be found everywhere, some featuring curious dialogue, and others comedic relief that compliments Chai’s carefree, goofball personality. I found these interactions to be the cherry on top as a fair amount of the NPC lines would reference movies or pop culture phenomena. 

Of course, you cannot talk about the environments without mentioning Hi-Fi Rush's Hi-Fi soundtrack, which includes songs from popular bands like The Black Keys, Nine Inch Nails, and The Prodigy as well as an original soundtrack created by former Konami composer Shuichi Kobori, former Capcom composer Reo Uratani, and Tango Gameworks' senior sound designer Masatoshi Yanagi. Included is an option for “streamer mode” so players can showcase their gameplay live, without the risk of unavoidable copyright claims. 

The attention to detail is really what makes Hi-Fi Rush a unique entry in the “hack ‘em slash ‘em” combo-action genre. The overflowing of colors also makes for a very visually enamoring playthrough as it’s hard to think of another game in the modern area that showcases such vibrant levels and environments so well. This musically-infused environment adds a certain level of elation and engagement, as when combined with the soundtrack, everything about this game feels like it is in near perfect synchronization. I say near perfect simply as there were some instances, specifically after group fights, where the game seemed to lag behind for a few seconds before re-engaging the beat. 

The animation is of course very anime inspired, but is absolutely stunning and executed incredibly well, as is seen in the numerous cutscenes across the game. 

While there were some very predictable battles, combat was varied and even in the latter half of Hi-Fi Rush, I was still encountering new enemies and new moves, something that is quite rare in many other games of this genre. The puzzles of the levels certainly keep me on my toes, as between beat-based timing for some and puzzling for others, along with changes in camera angles from third person to 2D platformer, despite some mild irritations, I was never bored by the gameplay. 

The dialogue, the humor, the little trinkets of satire buried in random conversations enhance the game tenfold and it was hard for me to keep the nonstop smiling at bay throughout almost 20 hours of gameplay. While Chai is not a particularly deep character, his personality compliments everything else Hi-Fi Rush is already excelling at and this is pushed further by the secondary characters introduced along his journey. I fell in love with some of the company memos you can find scattered throughout, which unlock a rare achievement if you find them all, as while some were deep, others were just deeply funny in their ability to be ridiculous caricatures of the real world. 

Hi-Fi Rush is certainly a game that sets a high bar for 2023. With the near perfect combination, it has in music, design, and gameplay, it’s hard to imagine that the year has barely started, and we’ve been graced with such a genuinely amazing release. Hi-Fi Rush drips with charm and a highly infectious energy that makes every moment of gameplay an absolute joy. Chai is a lovable character that while simplistic in thinking, evokes spot-on humor when needed and emotion when the plot calls for it. Even his supporting characters and the main foes are equally entertaining, complimenting not only our rockstar protagonist, but the spirited backgrounds of each level. While the plot is one that we’ve seen time and time again, the execution is superb. The best comparison I can make to this entry is the Scott Pilgrim series, which has a similar type of humor and was just as visually exuberant in its 2010 live action adaptation, though focusing more of the importance of friendship as opposed to romance. 

I adored every minute of playing Hi-Fi Rush. It hooks you in from the start and legitimately keeps you in a rush as you progress through the game. I went into it with absolutely no knowledge aside from glimpses of the positive scores that had been floating around Twitter. I didn’t expect to fall in love with Hi-Fi Rush as much as I did and personally, this is a very rare 10/10 for me. 

Overall, this is a solid entry for a brand-new IP from Bethesda and Tango Gameworks and one that has lived up to all the hype around it. Most gamers regardless of what your go-to genre is will likely enjoy this as it has the ability to challenge the familiar and tease the uninitiated. Hi-Fi Rush stands as a testament to what modern gaming can still bring us and if the industry can keep pumping out games like this, I’m very excited about what the coming year has in store for us. 

Check out my YouTube review below: