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FUSE
Available on PS3 (Reviewed), PC & XBox 360
In 2011 EA showed off a game called Over
Strike, it looked like they had made a Stallone movie into a game with
all the B grade action to tag along with it. Cocky dudes, big robots,
fun weapons over the top action galore. For some reason between then and
now EA decided to change major aspects of Overstrike and add an alien
theme to it. Now we have the retitled Fuse. An uninspired piece of
boredom packed into a 6 hour game that most will trade in after one play
through.
I
implore you to check out the original trailer for this game found here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQfUMw5KJ0Q
Now check out the new game trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijlVoaa1uqM
So which game did you want to play?
If like many of us you say you want to play
OverStrike? Well tough luck that game is no more you now get to play the
off track version that I would describe as the Transmorphers version of
Transformers.
Some of what you see in the Overstrike Trailer is now
missing from the final game. The cartoony theme character art style, the
Han Solo Esq. Dalton...Well technically he is still here, some what,
just not as funny or witty. Gone is in-depth hand to hand combat.
Missing is the over the top blow away dudes left right and center,
replaced by a more cover based system with enemies having a much longer
health bar. You win some, you lose some. That game is gone. Let’s get
into FUSE
Fuse,
is a four-person co-op
shooter set in the future,
that puts players in
control a rag tag bunch of Black Ops agents called Overstrike 9.
The team, Dalton Brooks,
Naya Deveraux, Jacob Kimble and Izzy Sinclair, Each with their own and
very unique weapon with its own attributes that can be leveled up and
become some seriously head crushing guns.
The
team is sent on a mission to investigate and potentially destroy a
top secret government weapons lab called Hyperion. Upon investigating
they uncover a mysterious alien substance called Fuse which has been
made into weapons that your team acquires. Raven, a deadly militia
interrupts your mission and claims the fuse substance. You must hunt
down Raven like dogs so you can destroy what is in their possession.
Most of the game is spent
taking on hordes of Raven Soldiers; that only have a few different
classes throughout the game. The regular Joe soldier, the mech
suit solider named the Enforcer, his twin brother with different
weapons aka Lead foot and then other forgotten twin with different paint
coat called Lead fire.
Oh and one more thing to
dampen the game that little bit more, Insomnia planned this game to be a
Co-Op shooter. While you’re free to play Fuse by your very lonesome and
the game does offer a awesome “leap” button so you can utilize all the
characters and their unique weapons but Insomnia made Fuse so you would
play with friends or Co-op online, but the truth is… no one is ever
playing Fuse. So it’s stupidly hard to find those selected few stranded
players that are in the same situation you are in... When you do though,
that’s where the game really shines. Working as a team I found that we
could split up a bit more, flank enemies and get to the goal much faster
and more efficient. The game play is basically the same but playing with
friends is always a better game. Dalton’s “Mag Shield” is made for co-op
it’s a gun that basically sends out a massive shield that the team can
get cover from and still shoot through so it makes picking off Ravens a
real treat.
Each character has its own
skill tree that can be upgraded with the in game points system offering
upgraded weapons and increased damage but unfortunately it doesn’t
really add anything to the game and your primary weapon doesn’t change,
so you are stuck with everything you started with for the rest of the
game.
Fuse’s game play aspects
really had some good ideas. I like that you could leap from character to
character in single player. I liked some of the guns in Co-Op but none
of which carries enough substance if the final game is lack luster. It
doesn’t help that I was originally served up a game 2 years ago that had
more outlandish characters and a heavily stylized look. My opinion on
the late change and delayed shipping of the final game was more then
likely because the team at Insomnia was going for such a fresh look but
with the games market being such an unsure market at the moment EA might
have seen this unique look a bit more of a risk. But then again
Fuse didn’t get any advertisement or full blown release here in
Australia. Which makes me question did they know that the game was going
to tank.... Probably...
Graphics and Audio
Well
they look awesome for PS2 but isn’t this the PS3 aren’t we past bland
colours and steel walls. There is really nothing to this game. The
levels all look the same. The characters and enemies all blend into the
background so it’s hard to tell what’s what from blocky objects that
surround them. At this point no one cares.
Final Level.
My
final thoughts of the game are... Pick up something better. There are
way better titles that do this sort of gameplay all day long even in the
bargain bin. |
