Fuse Review

Insomniac Games, developer of the Resistance and Ratchet & Clank series, decided to branch off and bring us something new which resulted in FUSE being made. Published by EA, FUSE brings all of the great elements of co-operative games into one action packed game. Compared to other co-operative games we played this generation, does FUSE offer something unique?

Let’s take a look on what’s HOT and what’s NOT in our review of FUSE.

HOT

Great Co-Op Gameplay
FUSE is a four player co-operative game where players will have to play a role to the character they will choose at the beginning. Each of the four playable characters will have a unique role that each member can choose from; Dalton that holds an energy shield that can repel bullets, Izzy that can launch temporary traps and weaken foes, Naya can generate a black hole and Jacob, is a character that specializes with a crossbow. When played online with four people, each will have to perform a strategy making sure they work together as each of them have their own unique abilities that works well in certain situations. Throughout its eight to ten hour campaign, players will experience the most intense co-op game. Each missions are action packed and will really require a team effort in finishing objectives.

In Fuse, there is some sort of level progression and character build up. Every objective that players complete will have experience points. For every level that they get, they can unlock either a passive or active skill. Think of the of the layout as a MMO game where each of the characters are different classes where different abilities will be available. As for its action, it plays similar to games like Gears of War where it’s a third person shooter with a similar cover system.

Unique Weapons
One of the reasons why the co-op gameplay of Fuse is awesome is due to the weapons that players can use throughout the game. In addition to the basic assault rifle type weapons that players can get in the game, there are these ‘fuse’ weapons that will greatly help their progression of the game. As mentioned above, playing as a team is required as each of the characters will have some sort of unique weapon. An example of this is Dalton’s protective magshield, when casted, it creates a big barrier where other team mates can go behind from and shoot. At a time where the team gets outflanked, taking out Dalton’s magshield will be useful. In addition, there’s also an area of effect (AOE, used term in MMOs) weapon that can damage all of the ranged enemies – this is Naya’s blackhole weapon. From the four unique FUSE weapons, I prefer Jacob’s crossbow as when the bolt hits the enemies individually or in groups, they will melt.

Memorable Boss Fights
Despite being a standard third person shooter, there’s a boss fight at the end of each area. While other shooter games with bosses tend to be lame, FUSE offers a much better fight than most shooter games out there. Since FUSE is developed by the people behind Resistance, one of the things Resistance fans will notice in the game’s boss fights is that they are all in large scale. Each of the bosses will not be a simple cover and shoot as every of them has a way to take them down. Even enemies, not all of them are simply the simple shoot strategy. Those who have played the co-op mode of Resistance will find some sort of a similarity in its co-op play, especially with boss fights.