Fuse (Video Game Review)

Fuse is an all new class-based, third-person shooter from developer Insomniac Games and publisher EA. Though the developer is better known for their work on the platforming franchises Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank, the team is hoping to have another popular series with the introduction of Fuse. Players head to a futuristic world where a powerful substance known as Fuse has been discovered and harnessed to create plenty of dangerous new weapons. Fuse grants each of the game's four character unique skills, and the game includes skill trees and experience points as well as customizable loadouts to keep the action fresh while giving players real progression towards an overarching goal. It's a formula that has been done before, and Fuse features plenty of diverse mechanics that make it a fun title that falls just short of greatness.

When Fuse falls into the hands of a terrorist group known as Raven Corporation, it will be up to the four members of Overstrike 9 to find and recover the powerful substance. Luckily, the team still has Fuse powers of their own that gives each character a unique playstyle to couple with their unique backgrounds and personalities. Dalton Brooks is the team leader and can deploy Fuse shields at a moment's notice to allow friendly bullets to be fired through into enemies while absorbing all enemy fire. Jacob Kimble is a former LAPD turned soldier who specializes in saboteur type attacks with traps. Isabelle Sinclair is the "brains" of the group and also serves as the team's medic. Finally, Naya Deveraux may be the most important member of the team as Raven leader Luther Deveraux's daughter and a skilled assassin who can become invisible at will. Each character has their own storyline and unique personality traits, though it feels like Fuse could've done a bit more with the character development throughout the game after presenting such a good foundation. Still, there is a lot to like about the storyline featured in Fuse with many interesting missions scattered throughout that keeps the game's campaign refreshing.

In addition to unique deployable equipment, each character is equipped with a unique weapon including a shield gun, crystallized rifle, plasma rifle and an anti matter gun that can make enemies implode on contact. Each of the guns provides different benefits to the group, and when working together properly, the group can be unbeatable. Characters can each equip two other weapons with customizable loadouts, and this includes the normal array of shotgun, machine gun, assault rifle, snipers and more. There are plenty of hidden items in the world of Fuse as well including ammo drops and additional experience points besides points earned from killing enemies and completing objectives. Leveling up characters in the game earns skill points that can be used for each characters skill tree to unlock boosts for special abilities, increased fire arm damage and the like, but we feel like the class skills could've been more diversified and branched out further such as you'd see in Dead Island or Borderlands.

Fuse is a third-person shooter at its core, but the cover based mechanics don't allow players to easily move between cover or get in and out of cover as effortlessly as we'd like. AI controlled teammates can also seem to be far from helpful in a gun fight, but they make great field medics and show up to revive right on time. Bland graphics couple with clunky controls to place the game's presentation in a bit of a mire, though it is always enjoyable to watch an enemy shatter into crystal shards or implode into a black hole. An epic soundtrack helps boost a far from perfect presentation and helps make shooting through another room full of enemies as fun as it should be. Overall, Fuse is a fun game that doesn't do enough to be remembered as a true classic, but it's still a whole lot of fun, especially when playing in four-player cooperative sessions online. Fuse was built with online play in mind, and it ultimately offers one of the most entertaining cooperative shooting games of the year as a result. Though you might not find the same thrills when playing the game as you'd find in a game like BioShock Infinite, Fuse offers a fun online experience that is hard to beat, and it's the perfect time for the game to release with little other competition on the gaming marketplace at the moment. Check out Fuse today, and bring your friends along for the ride!

Fuse is now available from all major retailers for the MSRP of $59.99 and can be purchased for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Fuse is rated M by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence & Strong Language. For more information on the game, check out the official Fuse website.

Game Features:

Online Multiplayer 2-4

Class-Based, Cooperative Action

Online Leaderboards

DLC Support

Trophy/Achievement Support

Game Information:
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: EA
Platforms: PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 (reviewed)
Release Date: May 28, 2013

Score: 8 out of 10