Fuse (360/PS3)

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Winnow
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Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

I've played this game a few hours now and the game play is comparable to the Mass Effect games.

You have a team of four, all with different special weapons while each also has a selection weapons to choose from to equip in two other weapons slots.

I'll compare it to Mass Effect since it feels the closest. While Fuse has a story, it's nowhere as deep as Mass Effect so think of Fuse as Mass Effect without the deep story but with a little more fun on the action side. There's more Gears of War type action in it with also some climbing/sliding/sprinting, etc.

After an hour or so into the game, you can switch between any of the four characters on-the-fly while you play, but the character you play gains XP much faster so if you want to build a particular character, it's probably best to stick with them. This does come in real handy though if you have a situation (like sniping) and aren't playing a character with a sniper rifle...switch to another character, get the job done, then switch back.

I've only concentrated on one character so far, Naya. She has a Warp weapon that's a lot of fun. If you shoot an enemy long enough, you create a black hole that implodes/explodes, doing damage to nearby enemies. If you "tag" several enemies by hitting them with the warp weapon, you set of a chain reaction pretty much exploding every enemy nearby that's been hit at least once by the warp weapon.

The other characters have something along the lines of an incinerator, freeze and shield weapons.

The few boss fights have been fun. Insomniac also managed to make some objectives a little more interesting than "kill everything".

The dialog between the four characters is well done. Voice acting is decent while the chatter is not overdone. You can rescue downed team members, and they rescue you sometimes after you've been downed.

There are skill upgrade trees for each of the four characters as well as some unlockable character and weapon skins. There's a point system in place so you can unlock these skins or unlock team perks. Each team member can assign one team perk to help out the group as a whole. Besides getting these points in game, there are six side maps that you can play to gather points with randomized objectives.

Multiplayer looks like it will be a blast with Fuse for those that like Borderlands/Mass Effect, small squad type co-op.

Here's an 18 minute director commentary explaining the Characters and Weapons of fuse for those that haven't seen of forgot about the game: (worth watching if the game seems interesting to you)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxs2Y-cI6jY

or 90 second trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwHxvBAqv8c

Animations and special effects are pretty good in this game. I've fucked up a grenade throw a few times and watched myself get blown back. On the flip side, throwing grenades for the most part is well done and the AI helps out with range so you don't waste a ton of time trying to figure out how far to throw something.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

Eh. It looked fun when it was Overstrike. When they changed it over to Fuse I lost interest.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote:Eh. It looked fun when it was Overstrike. When they changed it over to Fuse I lost interest.
What did they change because this game is a blast.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

Winnow wrote:
Aslanna wrote:Eh. It looked fun when it was Overstrike. When they changed it over to Fuse I lost interest.
What did they change because this game is a blast.
I'd rather play this than this. Overstrike looked like it had some personality now it looks like any other generic shooter. They Call of Dutyfied it. More than likely EA's doing.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote:
Winnow wrote:
Aslanna wrote:Eh. It looked fun when it was Overstrike. When they changed it over to Fuse I lost interest.
What did they change because this game is a blast.
I'd rather play this than this. Overstrike looked like it had some personality now it looks like any other generic shooter. They Call of Dutyfied it. More than likely EA's doing.
I think you're overreacting a bit. The game is fun and well put together. Having slightly less "cartoony" characters doesn't change a thing. The dialog between the characters is well done. This game has been a nice surprise. The campaign and fights have been on the more creative side of similar games I've played. Many of the firefights have a 360 degree feel to them.

Without knowing what to expect beforehand, I've also been impressed with the various settings for the main chapters of the story so far. There's even been a 4-player "God of War" type encounter that was great. As I mentioned before, they've managed to make the combat environments a full 360 degrees around you and also make solid use of the z-axis.

I rarely finish games. Fuse is easily entertaining enough that I'll finish it. This game looks like it really shines with multiplayer. (2, 3 or 4 players) Even in single player mode, the NPC team AI reacts really well. For those that like to hunt down stuff, I've found "collectables" in places that looked like I had no business getting to. There's a bit of Lara Croft cliff/wall type climbing that is fun, not frustrating.

While it's not the "slapstick comedy" I guess it was originally going to be, the characters definitely have their own personalities and the story is more of an action movie than epic Mass Effect drama. The game play is the most important part and small team Co-Op gamers are going to like this one.

So the positives for Fuse:

1. Four unique characters with four unique weapons that you can jump in and out of on the fly during combat and also provide some replay value

2. Some thought put into the campaign maps making you think instead of finding some cover and letting the AI kill enemies for you.

3. Fun boss fights, some multistage with a wipeout setting you back just one stage instead of a frustrating entire restart.

4. A little Mass Effect, Gears of War and Lara Croft and maybe a little Bioshock thrown into the mix in a positive way.

5. Tiered Skill trees for each of the four characters allowing you to customize your team to your liking.

6. Varied environments as well as varied encounters to keep things interesting.

7. Separate six maps, with randomized goals, designed specifically to build up points if you want to max group perks, character and weapon skins, etc.

This is a solid game. Ignoring it because it doesn't have cartoony characters seen in a CGI movie is a pretty lame reason. It's nothing like "Call of Duty". This game has it's own personality. For those that that judge games on a a CGI movie made years ago instead of judging the actual game itself, move along!

I'll be interested to see the reviews/ratings it's given by the bloggers in a few days to check their specific "pros and cons". I don't know how long the game is which will play a factor. So far, the action in this game has been as fun as any Mass Effect game, minus having to click through a whole shit ton of dialogs.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

Just because someone doesn't agree means they are overreacting. When I saw the Overstrike trailer I got interested since I'm a big fan of Ratchet & Clank. Then I heard the change to Fuse and more realistic graphics and in my mind it because just another shooter. Which I have no interest in. Also the big co-op push, which more than likely was also the plan for Overstrike, didn't really appeal to me. They tried this with Ratchet & Clank All 4 One and it just felt like half a product to me.
Wrap Up:
Boring enemies and repetitive encounters hurt Fuse in multiplayer and alone

The core of a great third-person shooter is present in Fuse. The team-based insanity offers a unique take on the genre, and Insomniac's reputation for inventive weapons and creative combat helps too. But Fuse only comes together with three or four players, and even then, the late game combat design and boring-to-fight enemies stand in its way.
6.5/10
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote:They tried this with Ratchet & Clank All 4 One and it just felt like half a product to me.
I read somewhere that someone from Rachet and Clank wrote the script for Fuse. I always thought those games were overrated!

Fuse is a fun COOP game and also decent solo. The maps and objectives are interesting. Game play is fun. I could give a shit if a character looks like a cartoon or more realistic.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

Well I'm certainly not going to get in your way of having fun. Be sure to buy it!

However I will be passing. Just a shame that Insomniac's first multi-platform game ended up being a generic shooter. Especially since they already did that with Resistance.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

At roughly seven hours long, it seems like a game that should be ripe for replayability. There are four different characters to level up, and plenty of collectibles to go back and find. Unfortunately, you can’t skip cutscenes, even if you’ve seen them plenty of times. I’d be much more inclined to jump into a quick mission with some friends if I knew I didn’t have to watch the same scenes over and over again.
Typical Insomniac. A very annoying aspect of every single game of theirs. I really don't know why they keep doing that. Sure force a cutscene on me the first time. After that give me the option to skip it. I can only assume they are using that time to do other sort of loading in the background. If that's not it they're just doing it to grief players or they just think their cutscenes are so freakin awesome that hey why would you want to skip them?
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

Frankenrevie: What Fuse Lacks In Story It Makes Up In Gameplay, Six Reviews Say
I'll agree the story doesn't stand out. I think the settings are just fine and varied though. The main point is that the game play is fun, both solo and CO-OP.

Maybe not memorable, but fun. If you want memorable, steamroll someone in EQ!

I remember playing Gears of War and the intense fights while playing COOP. I don't remember a damn thing about the actual story or even a particular situation, but I remember I had fun. Fuse is fun like that. The combat is intense as you get deeper into the game.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

Gamestop already giving a $20 gamecard when you buy this. Must be a stinker with sales not meeting expectations. People would be smarter to wait 2 months and pick it up for $20. A bit disappointed in you Insomniac! Not sure if it's EA influence or what. They should have stuck with their original concept of Overstrike.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Fairweather Pure »

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... 37th-place

Fuse sold about 200 copies in the UK. You didn't have to steal this one Winnow, they'll practically be giving this one away in no time. Brink had better sales. Well, everything ever released this gen had better sales.

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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by kyoukan »

It's a shame they took a game that looked really fun and interesting and just sucked all the character out of it. I lost total interest when they re-branded it. Honestly, the game deserves to fail to serve as a warning to other developers.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

Fun game. It's a shame most people will never play it.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

$5 on PSN this week ($7 for non PS+). Too bad this game wasn't Overstrike instead of Fuse. At least that game looked fun. I hope they learned a lesson for Sunset Overdrive. Enjoy the unskippable cutscenes!
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

Best game that no one will ever play but me!
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

Still shocked by how badly they ruined this game. Thanks EA.

Regardless, just proof as to why you shouldn't listen to anything Winnow says!
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Aslanna »

It’s funny rereading this thread seeing how much Winnow is trying to gaslight us (and himself) that Fuse was actually good.

It won’t happen but I’d really like to see Insomniac make/release Overstrike. The game they originally announced before EA got all up in their business.
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Re: Fuse (360/PS3)

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote: December 15, 2023, 8:47 pm It’s funny rereading this thread seeing how much Winnow is trying to gaslight us (and himself) that Fuse was actually good.

It won’t happen but I’d really like to see Insomniac make/release Overstrike. The game they originally announced before EA got all up in their business.
Oh man my memory is shot. I can't remember anything about most games. I'll take my past words on this thread that I had fun with it though!
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