Title: Fuse
Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Four special ops agents, alien technology, an evil organisation hellbent on abusing total power and kick ass weapons! Well it all sounds good on paper and Insomniac Games are behind the project so it’s got some credit to it’s name already but is Fuse all flash and no bang?
When I hear about cooperative games or cooperative modes I instantly shudder, for the most part my gaming life has been that of the lone wolf, only venturing into the world of multiplayer when it was to kick ass or experiment with the community! Games that rely on you having a partner or multiple partners have always turned me off so I tucked into Fuse a little apprehensive and a lot annoyed!
You take on the role of an Overstrike 9 operative, one of four, ‘Naya’, ‘Dalton’, ‘Jacob’ and ‘Izzy’, each of whom have their own backstories and special skills that when combined make them a formidable team. Their latest mission sees them investigating activity in an underground laboratory deep within the Nevada desert, it’s here that you will first encounter ‘Fuse’ and gain experimental weapons (conveniently four, one for each of you!) that hold some awesome power. However the good times don’t last and a terrorist organisation called ‘Raven Corporation’ quickly snatches a reactor filled to the brim with the chaotic energy and now you have to stop them!
The story is also connected with the backgrounds of each agent and you’ll get to learn more about each of them as you progress through the game and while interaction between the characters is amusing, the backstories have all been done before!
From the get go the story isn’t the most deep and it’s hardly going to move you to change your life but I got the impression that Fuse doesn’t care about that and why should it, it’s one of those games you will find yourself turning to when you want something to do. Quick trigger fingers and plenty of bad guys to fill full of unstable energy bullets makes for a happy shooter!
The system isn’t even remotely complicated, you’ve played one shooting game you’ve played them all but there is one thing in it’s arsenal that Fuse employs very well! So let’s just skip over the generic graphics and effects and go straight to the brain of the game… the AI!
If ever it was time to start worrying about Skynet and the robo-pocalypse, it’s now! Fuse employs some fantastic AI both in terms of your enemies and your comrades. With no one around to play the game with me I emotionally blackmailed the other half into picking up controller two and reassured him that it would be pretty straightforward… I lied and he was downed within a few minutes. I was impressed, he’s hardly new to gaming but the AI had him in shreds in minutes and he had to hop to another character to go and recover his original. The AI in the villains is quick thinking with enemies throwing themselves out of reach of your melee attacks, dodging your grenades and using cover to avoid fire. Your AI companions are quick to bring you back from the brink of death, Dalton knows to cover you with his shield and Izzy has yet to disappoint with her healing beacon.
The AI really offers a challenge and my approach of blasting my way through the stages had to be quickly revised as did my choice of partner! Online play is handy for those spots you can’t just fire your way out of opting to let players drop in and out will help you fight your way to the end and the optional mode of battling wave after wave of enemies is good for stress relief and earning yourself some extra credits.
Fuse is hardly going to win a Pulitzer prize (I know those are for books but shhh!) and it is being bashed left right and centre by gamers and critics with many calling it low brow gaming… well I wasn’t born with a silver controller in my hands and Fuse has found it’s way into my trigger happy heart! Grab a copy and relieve some tension!
Good Points
Interesting take on weaponry
Smart AI
Stress reliever
Bad Points
Generic Graphics
Generic Plot
It’s just generic!
Rating: 7/10
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
