Hi-Fi Rush Feels Like A Passion Project, And That’s Because It Is

Hi-Fi Rush Feels Like A Passion Project, And That’s Because It Is

As mentioned in last week’s ‘What Are You Playing This Weekend?‘ community post, I spent this weekend playing Hi-Fi Rush, and now I’m in a situation where every time I’m not playing it, I’m thinking about playing it.

One could liken it to the concept of Poochie in The Itchy & Scratchy Show. To quote The Simpsons, ‘Whenever Poochie’s not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, “Where’s Poochie?”.’ In this case, Poochie is Hi-Fi Rush, I am the other characters, and the screen is the act of playing Hi-Fi Rush. You get it.

I’ve long been a fan of the odd rhythm game. Metal HellsingerCrypt of the NecrodancerHarmoKnight, you name it. That shit rocks to me. I also loved Ghostwire: Tokyo, a game created by the same developers who made Hi-Fi Rush. That being said, Hi-Fi Rush is like nothing that we’ve seen from Tango Gameworks before.

In fact, Hi-Fi Rush‘s existence is all thanks to one man’s desire to publish his passion project: John Johanes, the director of Hi-Fi Rush and previously The Evil Within 2.

In an interview with Mav on Xbox Plays, director John Johanes explained that Hi-Fi Rush‘s development started before Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, and that it was ‘one of those dream games’ that he pitched long ago and way able to create despite it being ‘the most non-Bethesda game’.

This idea of it being his big passion project also really shines in his Twitter posts made after the games release, clearly showing gratitude for the fact that Hi-Fi Rush was allowed to exist at all.

And you can really feel that when you play Hi-Fi Rush. With most games, there’s a distinct point where you realise just how much work was put into its creation. You sit back, and you say, “Good Fucking Lord, This Is Something”. With this game, it can be felt from the get-go.

While playing Hi-Fi Rush, I couldn’t help but notice at every moment just how good it feels to play. I found myself nodding along to the beat as I smashed up robots with Nine Inch Nails playing in the background. The seamless transitions between 2D and 3D animation and gameplay blew me away.

Hi-Fi Rush isn’t just fun, it’s enthralling. It’s a beautifully-designed labour of love born from a publisher that has never released anything like it. It came out of (pretty much) nowhere at the start of the year, and I’m convinced it’s going to be one of my favourite releases of this year.

Hi-Fi Rush is available now to play on Xbox Game Pass and PC.


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