Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush is a rhythm-based action game[1] developed by Tango

Hi-Fi Rush
Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks for the
Windows and Xbox Series X/S platforms. It was announced and
released worldwide on January 25, 2023.

The game follows a self-proclaimed "future rock star" Chai (voiced

by Robbie Daymond in English and Hiro Shimono in
Japanese),[2][3] who becomes a "defect" of an experiment that
gives him a robotic arm and the ability to sense the rhythm of the
world. Using this power, Chai and his friends face off against the
corporation responsible for the experiments and its leaders. Hi-Fi
Rush includes licensed music from bands such as The Black Keys
and Nine Inch Nails.[4]

Gameplay
Hi-Fi Rush is an rhythm-action game where the protagonist Chai,
his enemies, and parts of the environment move to the beat.
Attacking, dodging, and parrying on rhythm is not required, as
actions automatically sync up with the music, but by timing the Developer(s) Tango
button presses right the players are rewarded with higher damage Gameworks
output and more combo options.[5] Publisher(s) Bethesda
Softworks
The game takes place across multiple linear stages, representing
various divisions of the antagonist corporation. Each division is Director(s) John Johanas
based on a particular musical style, and Chai engages in boss Producer(s) Masato Kimura
battles at various points.[6] Shinsaku Ohara
In addition to combat, the game also features some platform game Designer(s) Masaaki Yamada
elements, as well as a system of upgrades to unlock new moves, Programmer(s) Yuji Nakamura
abilities, and perks, which can be purchased with gears, an in-game
currency earned in combat or by exploring levels. Permanent Writer(s) John Johanas
upgrades to health and the special meter also appear in stages as Composer(s) Shuichi Kobori
collectibles.
Reo Uratani
Completing the game once unlocks bonus features, such as the Masatoshi Yanagi
ability to revisit past levels and previously inaccessible areas, a new
Engine Unreal Engine 4
difficulty setting, and Rhythm Tower, a survival mode similar to
Bloody Palace from the Devil May Cry series.[7] Platform(s) Windows
Xbox Series X/S
Story Release January 25, 2023
Genre(s) Action, rhythm,
hack and slash
25 year old Chai, who has a disabled right arm, enters Vandelay Mode(s) Single-player
Campus (which is situated on an island) as a volunteer for Project
Armstrong in hopes of having his right arm replaced with a cybernetic one so he can pursue his dream of
being a rockstar. However, Chai is unaware that the project is merely a front to send its subjects to slave
labour once the procedure is complete. As Chai proceeds to the operation chamber, Kale Vandelay, head of
Vandelay Technologies that runs Project Armstrong, berates his subordinates over the volunteers being of
lowly stature. He then picks up Chai's music player and tosses it aside, falling into Chai's chest just as his
operation began, resulting it fusing to his new robotic arm and reacting to the beat of the music from the
player.

Chai's operation has deemed him as a defect and is pursued by Vandelay's robots, forcing Chai to combat
them using his robotic arm to form a makeshift melee weapon shaped like a guitar. As he makes his escape,
he helps a robotic cat named 808, being remotely operated by a mysterious woman, who informs him that
Chai is in the Production area of Vandelay Industries and the only exit is through the Quality Assurance
building. After venturing to the QA Building and defeating the first boss, Chai meets 808's operator,
Peppermint, who offers him a way out of the island in exchange for investigating and exposing Vandelay's
true intentions, which Chai reluctantly agrees.

Chai embarks on a series of missions and defeats members of Vandelay's management while also gaining
allies along the way. It's revealed that those who are infused with Project Armstrong tech are subject to
mind control by Vandelay using an AI program called "SPECTRA". Shutting it down requires the pass-
keys of all of Vandelay's Management team, including Kale himself. Peppermint is also revealed to be
Kale's sister, who left her family when he forcefully took over Vandelay Industries from their mother,
Roxanne, and has been opposing her brother ever since.

After obtaining all but the final pass-key, Chai and his allies proceeded to face Kale, only to find Roxanne,
alive and well, and traps the group. Kale appears revealing that Roxanne is under control of SPECTRA and
that his modus operandi was to enslave the human race to buy more Vandelay products of his choosing.
Chai frees his allies from the trap and leads them in the final battle with Kale. Kale is defeated and
SPECTRA is shut down.

In the aftermath, Roxanne regains control of the Vandelay Industries with Peppermint and Chai's allies
willing to help rebuild the company, while Chai is offered the role of ambassador for Project Armstrong. In
the post-credits scene, Chai and the gang gather to look at the sunset while he starts learning how to play
guitar - in case his job as ambassador doesn't do so well.

After the end credits, Peppermint informs the rest of the group that she is still detecting SPECTRA signals
on the Vandelay campus. Chai explores and discovers several hidden rooms containing encrypted data.
Peppermint decrypts the data, leading Chai to an underground facility containing the SPECTRA AI, which
takes the form of Kale. The AI Kale reveals that the signals were a trap, and that accessing the facility has
re-activated SPECTRA. Suddenly, the AI is shut down when a cleaning robot stumbles into its power cord,
unplugging it. Chai declares the problem solved and leaves behind a note warning not to touch the plug.

Development
In the March 2022 Famitsu interview, Shinji Mikami, the founder of Tango Gameworks, has stated that he
wants the company to venture outside of the survival horror genre and nurture younger game creators. He
also mentioned that the next game by The Evil Within 2 director John Johanas is "the complete opposite of
horror."[8]
Johanas described the game as a "dream game" idea he had in his mind since "way, way back." He pitched
the title to Bethesda higher ups after completing work on The Evil Within 2 in 2017, and development
commenced in parallel with Ghostwire: Tokyo, which was already in production at that point.[9]

Hi-Fi Rush was announced at Xbox and Bethesda Developer_Direct on January 25, 2023.[10] The game's
appearance was intended as a surprise, although the title and logo were leaked online a day prior to the
event.[11] After showcasing the trailer and some gameplay footage, Tango Gameworks announced that the
game will be releasing on the same day for Windows and Xbox Series X/S.[12]

Music

The game's original soundtrack was composed by former Konami composer Shuichi Kobori, former
Capcom composer Reo Uratani, and Tango Gameworks' sound designer Masatoshi Yanagi.

Hi-Fi Rush uses 8 licensed music tracks throughout the story: "1,000,000" and "The Perfect Drug" by Nine
Inch Nails, "Inazawa Chainsaw" by Number Girl, "Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys, "Invaders Must Die"
by The Prodigy, "Whirring" by The Joy Formidable, "Wolfgang's 5th Symphony" by Wolfgang Gartner,
and "Honestly" by Zwan. Bethesda Softworks also created an official Spotify playlist with most of these
tracks.[13]

To avoid issues such as YouTube copyright strikes, the game includes an option to replace all licensed songs
with similar original tracks performed by the band The Glass Pyramids.[13]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
Aggregator Score

(PC) 90/100[14]
Metacritic
(XSXS) 89/100[15]
Review scores
Publication Score

Digital Trends [16]

NME [17]

Video Games Chronicle [18]

Hi-Fi Rush received universally positive reviews upon its release, according to review aggregator
Metacritic, with an average score of 90 and 89 for its Windows and Xbox Series X/S versions,
respectively.[14][15]

Jordan Middler, from Video Games Chronicle, said that Hi-Fi Rush is "oozing with style and confidence",
although there are "repetitive level design and some clunky platforming", scoring with a 4 out of a 5 star
rating.[18] Jesse Norris, from XboxEra, praised the combat, calling it sublime, but "can become difficult to
read as the screen fills up with utter chaos", scoring it with 9.5 out of 10.[19] Diego Argüello, from Polygon,
called its animation gorgeous and Jet Set Radio-esque art style vivid and arresting.[20] Giovanni Colantonio,
from Digital Trends, called it "Tango Gameworks' most confident, stylish and surprising project to
date".[16]
References
1. Skinner, Tom (26 January 2023). " 'Evil Within' studio releases rhythm-action game 'Hi-Fi
Rush' " (https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/evil-within-studio-releases-rhythm-action-
game-hi-fi-rush-3387304). NME. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
2. Tomakic, Izabela (26 January 2023). "All Hi-Fi Rush English voice actors" (https://dotesports.
com/indies/news/all-hi-fi-rush-english-voice-actors). Dot Esports. Retrieved 27 January
2023.
3. "Behind the Voice Actors of Hi-Fi RUSH" (https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-gam
es/Hi-Fi-RUSH/). BTVA. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
4. Peters, Jay (25 January 2023). "Hi-Fi Rush, a new rhythm-action game from the developers
of The Evil Within, is out today" (https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/25/23571460/microsoft-hi-
fi-rush-tango-gameworks-xbox-developer-direct). The Verge. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
5. Bailey, Kat; Valentine, Rebekah (25 January 2023). "Tango Gameworks Announces Hi-Fi
Rush During Xbox Developer_Direct Showcase, Out Today" (https://www.ign.com/articles/ta
ngo-gameworks-announces-hi-fi-rush-during-xbox-developer-direct-showcase-out-today).
IGN. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
6. Kaser, Rachel (25 January 2023). "Tango Gameworks announces Hi-Fi Rush, which
launches today" (https://venturebeat.com/games/tango-gameworks-announces-hi-fi-rush-whi
ch-launches-today/). VentureBeat. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
7. Leri, Michael (30 January 2023). "Hi-Fi Rush Review: Devil May Fi" (https://www.yahoo.com/
entertainment/hi-fi-rush-review-devil-190000781.html). Yahoo!. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
8. Scullion, Chris (24 March 2022). "Shinji Mikami wants Tango Gameworks to make smaller
and non-horror games" (https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/shinji-mikami-wants-ta
ngo-gameworks-to-make-smaller-and-non-horror-games/). Video Games Chronicle.
Retrieved 25 January 2023.
9. Xbox - Hi-Fi Rush's origins (https://clips.twitch.tv/CharmingTenuousMuleSpicyBoy-1-MiYQB
mPAEgC5dj), 27 January 2023, retrieved 27 January 2023
10. Peters, Jay (25 January 2023). "Hi-Fi Rush, a new rhythm-action game from the developers
of The Evil Within, is out today" (https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/25/23571460/microsoft-hi-
fi-rush-tango-gameworks-xbox-developer-direct). The Verge. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
11. Nightingale, Ed (24 January 2023). "Unannounced Tango Gameworks game leaks ahead of
Xbox Developer_Direct" (https://www.eurogamer.net/unannounced-tango-gameworks-game-
leaks-ahead-of-xbox-developer_direct). Eurogamer. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
12. Cooper, Dalton (25 January 2023). "Evil Within Developer's New Game Hi-Fi Rush is Out
Today on Xbox Game Pass" (https://gamerant.com/new-xbox-game-pass-games-today-hi-fi-r
ush/). Game Rant. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
13. Green, Jake (30 January 2023). " 'Hi-Fi Rush' soundtrack and song list" (https://www.nme.co
m/guides/gaming-guides/hi-fi-rush-soundtrack-3389246). NME. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
14. "Hi-Fi Rush for PC Reviews" (https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/hi-fi-rush). Metacritic.
Retrieved 30 January 2023.
15. "Hi-Fi Rush for Xbox Series X Reviews" (https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-series-x/hi-fi
-rush). Metacritic. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
16. Colantonio, Giovanni (30 January 2023). "Hi-Fi Rush review: a new blueprint for rhythm-
action games" (https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/hi-fi-rush-review-xbox-series-x/).
Digital Trends. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
17. Oloman, Jordan (30 January 2023). " 'Hi-Fi Rush' review: a shockwave of creativity" (https://
www.nme.com/reviews/game-reviews/hi-fi-rush-review-3389232). NME. Retrieved
30 January 2023.
18. Middler, Jordan (27 January 2023). "Hi-Fi Rush is a stylish, loud and messy first album full of
potential" (https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/hi-fi-rush/). Video Games
Chronicle. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
19. Norris, Jesse 'Doncabesa' (26 January 2023). "Review | Hi-Fi RUSH" (https://xboxera.com/2
023/01/26/review-hi-fi-rush/). XboxEra. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
20. Argüello, Diego Nicolás (27 January 2023). "Hi-Fi Rush arrived at the perfect time" (https://w
ww.polygon.com/reviews/23574584/hi-fi-rush-review-game-pass-xbox-series-x-pc). Polygon.
Retrieved 28 January 2023.

External links
Official website (https://bethesda.net/en-US/game/hifirush)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hi-Fi_Rush&oldid=1136621982"