Fuser Review — Not Quite Ready to Headline

Guitar Hero and Rock Band will, without a doubt, get downward as two of the most beloved video game franchises of all fourth dimension. At that place was something incredibly special most grabbing that mesomorphic, plasticky guitar and rocking out with friends. I speak from experience when I say these games defined plenty of people's teenage years. In my case, many a late night were spent in my friend'south summer business firm, rocking out to Cherry Hot Chili Peppers and Tenacious D.

These two games were released at such an opportune fourth dimension; a time when peripherals weren't seen as a hindrance, and it was a complete novelty to use a false guitar or drum kit equally a controller. A time when burrow co-op was nonetheless very much a thing, and a fourth dimension when "microtransaction" wasn't a dirty word. Sadly, despite trying to reinvent the bicycle (run into DJ Hero and Guitar Hero: On Bout), a flooding of the market caused the games to die out. And with them, the mainstream love of the rhythm genre.

In that location have been some contempo efforts to revive the genre, with both Guitar Hero and Rock Band coming back for brief stints on the PS4 and Xbox One; just sadly, for the most part, both failed to gain traction. Not one to give up though, programmer Harmonix created Fuser, a game in which you'll take the stage as an up-and-coming DJ past mixing tracks and pleasing crowds.

Although rhythm games aren't typically known for their story, Fuser doesn't try anything new or different to change that. Y'all start as a small fry DJ at a festival and work your way from phase-to-stage, starting equally the opening act and moving up to the headliner. The story is formulaic and uninspiring; however, it is absolutely essential to play through. There are a total of six different stages, each with a different promoter who volition teach you everything y'all need to know nearly the game. There are and so many different skills and techniques that had I non played through the entrada, I would have been completely lost.

While essentially the campaign is one big tutorial, there's still enough to get your teeth into in Fuser. Each of the promoters has a unlike gustatory modality in music, so they'll claiming yous to mix various genres, helping to create combinations you lot wouldn't have dreamt of. At that place are so many dissimilar stages and challenges that you'll be able to hone your craft and get enough of time with the game. However, the problem with the promoters is that while they're there to help you lot and walk you through the game, they are incredibly annoying.

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Clearly, Fuser is going for perceived realism here. Promoters are seen as loud, brash, and in your face — the ones in the game are certainly that. The trouble is, they are too loud and too advised and far too in your face. The dialogue is extremely cringy, and often information technology just made the cutscenes likewise hard to breadbasket. They'll also shout words of encouragement at you lot during your set, with the same lines cropping up over and over once again.

Fuser

"With and so much to juggle, at times, Fuser felt more similar a demanding direction sim with a thumping soundtrack sim than it did a rhythm game."

The core of Fuser's gameplay is mixing songs and fulfilling requests from both the promoter and the audience. However, that massively oversimplifies things. There are a lot (and I hateful a lot) of tools to master. Not only will you be dropping in and mixing four different songs at the same time, but you lot'll likewise be changing the fundamental, the volume, and the tempo. You'll be fading songs in and out, queuing unlike tracks, and adding furnishings to different pieces of music. You'll be worrying about timings. You lot'll have to play your own instruments, create loops, incorporate those into your mix, and more. This is all while fulfilling the audience's requests and worrying about their happiness.

There is a lot to take on, and generally it just fabricated the game feel too stressful. Fuser is generally fair with the footstep; it throws these unlike techniques at you lot, but there'due south and so many of them that each ready just felt way too hectic. At times, with so much to juggle, Fuser felt more like a demanding management sim with a thumping soundtrack than information technology did a rhythm game.

Again, this is probably Fuser aiming for too much realism. For those ingrained in the musical world and used to creating mixes, this is probably a walk in the park. For those (like myself) who wouldn't even know how to hold most instruments, it tin can feel like fashion too much.

Fuser

"The core of Fuser's gameplay is mixing songs and fulfilling requests from both the promoter and the audience. Notwithstanding, that massively oversimplifies things."

I also found the scoring and leveling within the game to be quite obtuse. Function of this is almost certainly downwardly to my disability to master all of the techniques, but not one time across the whole campaign did I score more than three stars, even when I barely put a foot wrong. Certain, I flirted with four stars a few times, only the skill ceiling to become at that place just felt besides loftier, which in turn intrinsically hampered my ability to level upwards.

The experience you earn after each set is tied to your star ranking. Therefore, by making information technology hard to score points, you go far hard to level upwards. By the stop of the campaign and a few playthroughs on the free play mode, I was barely at level 9. This would be fine if leveling upwardly didn't hateful anything; even so, sure tracks and items within the game tin can't be unlocked until you reach at least rank 45, which just felt obscene. That means an awful lot of playtime is required but to access all of the songs within the Fuser.

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"An awful lot of playtime is required only to access all of the songs inside the Fuser."

Arguably, the near fun I had with Fuser was in the Freestyle mode. Freestyle is exactly what you'd look; there's no rabid crowd throwing requests your mode or loudmouthed promoters trying to hype you lot upwardly. Instead, it's gratis from the constraints and pressures of the more competitive modes. It immune me to relax, mix some songs, and use the tools I actually wanted to use, rather than the ones I was forced to within the campaign.

I establish genuine joy mixing songs that had no right to work with each other without the burden of turning the audience off and failing my set. Some personal highlights include my "Bodak Yellow"/"Never Gonna Give Yous Up" mix and my combination of "Trap Queen," "X Gon' Give It to Ya," and Carley Rae Jepson'south "Call Me Maybe."

While it's definitely fun to kick back in Freestyle mode, Fuser lacks any free play, high score-chasing mode like its guitar-based counterparts. Sure, you can get back and replay the campaign and beat your scores there, but then you face the same restrictions over and over. The game needs a style that'southward somewhere between the two; a mode where you pick your roster of songs, instruments, and effects and chase your high scores inside a fix time period.

Fuser

"I found 18-carat joy mixing songs that had no correct to work with each other without the burden of turning the audience off and declining my set."

The roster of music in Fuser is impressive. The game boasts an array of more than 100 songs that span a huge range of years, genres, and artists that permit you to get creative. After a while, I did find my favorite songs and tended to stick with those throughout every set I played.

Fuser is definitely designed with creating and sharing mixes with the world in mind. In the Freestyle mode, mixes tin exist strung together, recorded, and shared with a click of a push button. If that's your cup of tea and you're looking to create content or produce music to share with the earth, then the game more than makes information technology easy for you.

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"Fuser is definitely designed with creating and sharing mixes with the world in mind."

Fuser definitely deserves some plaudits for trying something new and different. Sadly, by and large, it does also much. Although it's non necessarily trying to, it'southward certainly no replacement for Rock Band for those hoping it would be. The gameplay is convoluted and oftentimes stressful, the story is shallow, and there's just too much going on.

While in that location'southward definitely fun to be had with Fuser, the not-specially-musically-gifted people (like myself) may struggle. The budding Calvin Harris and Tiesto's of the world, on the other manus, will surely find enjoyment in the game.

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