Fuse Guest Review

Action game combo meal #4: evil corporations and explosions, with a side of fuse.

Intro:

The majority of actions games are a bit like fast food. Cravable, enjoyable and fulfilling at first, but you can get sick if you have too much. They’re also churned out by huge corporations and hey, what do you know, that brings us to today’s game: Fuse.

How do you make an action game stand out? Do something different. For Insomniac Games (creators of the Spyro and Resistance series) that something different was the use of fuse-powered weapons and gadgets. Fuse, by the way, is an orange alien substance that energizes stuff and does cool things.

Originally called Overstrike with a goofy, Timesplitters-ish art style, Fuse ended up with a more serious, traditional look and tone. The game features four-player cooperative gameplay and follows a team of agents trying to stop an evil corporation from obtaining – you guessed it – fuse.

So basically, you use fuse to stop people from getting fuse. You could say it’s a con-fuse-ing concept. (See what I did there?)

Release Date: 28 May, 2013

Developer: Insomniac Games

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Genre: Action/third-person shooter

Reviewed By: Daniel Kay

Areas of Concern:

Violence:

Mild Moderate Heavy Very Heavy Extreme Ban-worthy

--General gameplay violence involves shooting robots and soldiers with guns, lasers and crossbows, with plenty of blood-splatter effects and explosions.

--Players can also use fuse powers to destroy enemies, the most graphic being the ability to impale and “freeze” enemies, then shatter them (though it’s not as bad as it sounds).

--The most horrific scene in the game features a guy carving an enemy’s eye out with a knife while he screams in pain. It’s pretty graphic.

--In another cutscene, an enemy explodes and splatters all over a platform. There’s an extreme amount of blood and gore, almost comically so.

--A woman shoots a bound man in the head, followed by blood pooling.

--One boss injects himself in the neck multiple times with fuse, which looks like it hurts. A lot. Then he turns into a big, scary dude with temper problems.

Sex/Nudity:

Mild Moderate Heavy Very Heavy Extreme Ban-worthy

--A female enemy/boss wears an extremely form-fitting outfit.

--Occasional suggestive humor between characters.

Language:

Mild Moderate Heavy Very Heavy Extreme Ban-worthy

Fairly heavy use of the F-word, as you’ll hear at least a few per hour of gameplay. Also frequent uses of s**t, d**n, God’s name in vain and others.

Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking:

Mild Moderate Heavy Very Heavy Extreme Ban-worthy

Fuse itself could be considered a drug, as the previously mentioned boss uses it and players end up bonding to it after heavy use. Also, a female character in the game smokes.

Spiritual Content:

Mild Moderate Heavy Very Heavy Extreme Ban-worthy

None.

Morality:

Abysmal Bad So-so Okay Good Very Good

All four characters have moral flaws, but are ultimately dedicated to the mission. However, they don’t hesitate to use fuse when they’re trying to stop others from using it. Their other methods for completing missions can also be controversial at times (cougheyeballscough), so the game stands in middle ground when it comes to morality.

Review of Game:

Basically, if Michael Bay created a game, this would be it. Full of explosions and frenetic action, but with a generic, forgettable story. That being said, the gameplay is pretty fun. There are a variety of cool guns to choose from, a skill tree similar to Borderlands and you can play with friends. Then there are the four fuse powers, which aren’t too distinct from each other, but enjoyable enough to use as much as your guns.

Aside from the story, the biggest flaw is your teammates A.I. They’re horrible, as is the case with many coop games. You can, however, switch characters on the fly, which almost makes up for it. It’s a pretty cool feature I found myself using frequently. But by the end of the game, I didn’t have a huge desire to play it again.

Conclusion:

Remember that one time I said action games are like fast food? Fuse does nothing to disprove that. If you’re in the mood for something different (or simply feel like blowing stuff up), it’s a fun diversion. But its lack of an interesting story and repetitive nature means it doesn’t have a ton of replay value.

If the developers had stuck with the original art style and tone, it could have stood out from the crowd. But alas, this is not the case. I also wonder if the game is worth dealing with the gratuitous cursing and violence. In the end, is this a combo meal worth ordering? You’ll have to pray and decide for yourself.

Quality Verdict: Okay (C+)

Verdict: 16+

For Strong Language and Violence.

Outro:

If this game sounds fun – or if you already played and enjoyed it – I’d recommend looking into Binary Domain. Similar teammate concept, slightly more interesting story and fun gameplay, but without the F-bombs or bloody violence.

Eesh… that was the worst eyeball scene since Dead Space 2.