Harmonix is back at it with another music-related game, only this time, instead of playing a certain instrument, you’ll be playing a bunch of songs in one giant mash-up. The new IP is called Fuser, and it’s described by the developer as “a non-stop virtual musical festival where you control the music.” The main function of the game is that you’ll be playing as a DJ at a festival picking a list of songs and utilizing specific instruments, beats, sound drops, and even singing and blend it into one giant sound wave. On top of that, the game is scheduled to launch later this year in the Fall.
The game will include a single player mode story mode, a single player freestyle mode to test out the game mechanics, and multiplayer where you can battle it out with other players as well as work together for a cool and unique collaboration. Speaking of which, since this is a music game, the tracks are sure to be an essential aspect. Harmonix has stated in the main website that there will be over 100 licensed songs from popular musical artists. They’ve also announced the first 16 songs for Fuser, all of which have gone onto have some degree of success. These include 50 Cent’s In Da Club, Billie Eilish’s Bad Guys, Rock the Casbah from The Clash, and Thunder by Imagine Dragons.
Harmonix has also uploaded a few short clips of actual gameplay from Fuser. From what we can see in these videos, the songs all sit atop the screen while your turntables sit on the bottom. The festival and the crowd are all in the backdrop and will react on how you mix up the songs. When the session starts you pick a certain instrument, or sound, from one of the songs and bring it down to one of the turntables. Once you do this, that specific musical note will begin playing. From there you can pull other music from each song to the other turntables slots and continuously switch it up.
The controls and gameplay seem to be fluid, and it’s an interesting/exciting way to possibly reinvigorate the musical simulator genre. However it’s important to remember that Hamronix can change this at any time before the game’s release. Despite that, the studio has put in impressive display for us to behold right off the bat. Those who are attending PAX East this have a chance to try out Fuser as Harmonix will be there with demo of the game ready to go.
You can check out one of the gameplay videos here:
Harmonix has been a staple in the musical simulator genre for the better part of 18 plus years, starting out with Frequency and Amplitude for the PlayStation 2. They went onto develop the Karaoke Revolution series for the same system, but it wasn’t until 2005 when they became a household name when they released the first Guitar Hero. This alone unleashed a whole new generation of gamers upon the community, and while it didn’t really gain momentum until it’s sequel, Guitar Hero II, the foundation had been set, and the video game industry took notice.
Harmonix would later move away from Guitar Hero and instead compete directly with it when they created Rock Band. They’ve also developed the critically acclaimed Dance Central, and the VR title Autica. Fuser has the potential to catapult Harmonix to one of the top spots in 2020, and this new, fresh, and thrilling idea they’ve come up with could be the catalyst for another wave of brand new gamers. Either way, we’re excited for this one, and can’t wait to see more.
Fuser is scheduled to launch this Fall for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.