Hi-Fi Rush: Rhythm Brawler is Baby Driver video game

Hi-Fi Rush now combines action gameplay with rhythmic elements: the beating takes place to the beat of the music. The unusual concept, penned by the horror experts at Tango Softworkds (The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo), of all people, is well received.

The concept is unusual Anyway: Hero Chai only wants a robotic arm and also has his MP3 player built in. From now on he can perceive the “rhythm” of his surroundings, which helps him to call the perpetrators to account in the form of an evil corporation and to thwart their plans.

Music is everywhere

Music in Hi-Fi Rush should be more than just a soundtrack or gimmick, the title should become the “baby driver of video games”. Everything is determined by the rhythm, explains publisher Microsoft, from platforming to traps to fights, in which the opponents announce upcoming attacks more “with sound than with animations”.

The music comes mainly from Tango Softworks, but if the story comes to the fore or bosses appear on the scene, the works of well-known artists such as Nine Inch Nails “1,000,000” can be heard. With this concept, Hi-Fi Rush is a bit reminiscent of Metal Hellsinger, albeit with a more mainstream soundscape.

Microsoft announced the game parallel to its release to create a bang. Hi-Fi Rush can be purchased for around 30 euros on Steam with Denuvo DRM, in the Microsoft Store, as part of Game Pass and for the Xbox Series X|S. Hardware requirements remain trivial at the lower end, little more than an office PC is needed to be able to render the cartoon graphics.

The concept has been well received. Of the currently around 500 reviews on Steam, 98 percent are positive. Soundtrack, art design, story and, above all, gameplay spark: Buyers praise the fact that music and movement flow smoothly into one another, and the comparison to Baby Driver also falls on Steam. What is basically convincing is a fresh, well-implemented idea.