What you need to know
- Tango Gameworks, the studio behind The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo, has unveiled and launched its latest game: Hi-Fi Rush, a stylized rhythm action brawler in which the entire game world pulses with the beat of the music.
- Players are encouraged to move, dodge, and attack to the beat, as the game rewards them with devastating combos and a dynamically changing soundtrack.
- The game can be played now on Xbox and Windows PC, and is also available via Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
During the highly anticipated Xbox Developer_Direct event, developer Tango Gameworks officially announced Hi-Fi Rush, a new rhythm action brawler with a high-octane rock soundtrack, colorful stylized visuals, and a whole lot of melee mayhem. While the game was rumored to be at the show ahead of time on social media, something nobody saw coming was that the game launched today, right after the trailer and gameplay was shown. That's right — Hi-Fi Rush is officially available to play right now on both Xbox and Windows PC, and notably, it launched right onto Xbox Game Pass, too.
Like most action brawler-type games, Hi-Fi Rush strongly emphasizes flashy, frenetic movement and fast-paced melee combat. What sets it apart, however, is that you're rewarded for jumping, dodging, and attacking opponents to the beat of the music. While the game syncs these actions to the soundtrack automatically, you can get big boosts and land devastating combos by punching in actions with the right timing. This system is also in place outside of combat as well, as many puzzles and obstacles require you to smash objects or move around to the beat in order to progress. There's even a stylistic benefit to staying on beat, too, as each perfect combo you land dynamically changes the score with extra guitar riffs and other added tunes.
At the end of each level, players will also have to face off against exceptionally tough opponents in boss battles, which are "climactic setpieces" in which things start to get really crazy. Some boss fights play out like more intense versions of normal combat, while others shake up the experience with unique minigames or chaotic chase sequences.
In Hi-Fi Rush, you play as Chai, who the developers describe as a "wannabe rockstar" that possesses the ability to sense the rhythm of the game's world as it pulses to the soundtrack. Your goal is to kick the megacorporation Vandelay and its mechanical armies to the curb, as they have a nefarious corporate agenda and hate Chai for being a "defect." Throughout the game, Chai will team up with other characters that expand his combat repertoire with moves like shield-breaks, juggles, and smashes. By tag-teaming with these allies, you'll be able to perform uniquely powerful combos.
The standard edition of Hi-Fi Rush is $30, but if you want to "crank things up to 11," there's also a special $40 Deluxe Edition (and a $10 Deluxe Upgrade Pack for those that get the base game first) of Hi-Fi Rush that includes a variety of bonus items and unlocks. We've listed them below:
- Two Chai outfits, individual pieces of which can be mixed and matched with other gear
- Seven bonus Chai t-shirts
- 808-Themed Guitar Skin
- 808 Alternate Skin
- 20,000 Gears for unlocking combat skills and other upgrades. (Gears are earned during gameplay and isn't purchasable with real money).
Interestingly, Hi-Fi Rush is a huge departure from previous Tango titles like The Evil Within series and Ghostwire: Tokyo, which were horror experiences or, at the very least, had elements of horror in them. Like the studio said in the Xbox Developer_Direct trailer, "Hi-Fi Rush is like nothing we've made at Tango before...and we think it's like nothing you've ever played before, either."
Hi-Fi Rush is available to play now for $30 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, and Windows PCs via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store. Subscribers to Xbox Game Pass and/or PC Game Pass also have access to the game and can jump right in. It might just be one of the best Xbox games for rhythm fans, so if that's you, why not give it a shot?
