Fuse Hands On: The Very Definition Of A One Person Army

As previously noted, EA came to NY with a bunch of games for member of the press to test drive. Among them was Fuse, the latest from Insomniac Games. It's notable for a number or reasons; it marks the studio's first IP since Resistance: Fall of Man, for the PS3, and is also their first foray into multiple consoles.

Before Resistance, the studio put itself on the map with the Ratchet & Clank series, and it many ways, Fuse almost feels like the perfect combination, of the best parts distilled from those two very separate entities.

Fuse is a third person shooter that emphasizes teamwork. A premise you've heard literally a thousand times already, which is why I approached the game with a certain degree of disinterest. Not helping is how I'm just not a fan of third person shooters in general (something to keep in mind when going over my hands on account).

We were given two different modes to test drive, and both were designed to flex the game's cooperative backbone. First was a portion of the single player campaign, somewhere in the middle of the game, explained Ted Price, Insomniac founder and CEO.

The game has you part of a team of four agents. Each has their own distinct attributes, mostly dictated by the weaponry that they all utilize. Four-player co-operative is clearly the focus, but the game can easily be played with just one player, which seems like an impossible order to deliver. Yet it's actually doable, thanks to the game's core mechanic.

At almost any given point, you can switch to one of the other characters on the fly. For the purposes of the demo, I was teamed up with another player, so at any given time, I only had three other characters to assume. Which was more than many.

One thing that was immediately apparent was how fast and fluid the game felt; it's very light on it's feet. Yet it also keeps you on your toes as well. Granted, we were in the middle of the game, but there were plenty of foes to deal with, who all have your number if you're not nimble enough.

Not only is quick reflexes the name of the game, but so is strategy. I mostly stuck to a two-person combo; the woman who has a shotgun-like weapon that causes mini black holes to suck the enemy away into nothingness, and the male who formed a gigantic barrier when firing, one that all teammates can take advantage of. And that right there was the first real clue as to the developer's pedigree; the inventive weapons seem straight out of Ratchet & Clank. Furthermore, the game's visuals is bright and sunny, and not at all dark and depressing as most third person shooters. Which honestly is a major reason why I don't like the genre as a whole.

Though anyone familiar with the development of the game might recall the game looking even more different, back when it was called Overstrike. Thing back then appeared even cartoonier, but along the way, there were a number of creative changes, and things now feel more rough and tumble, or "mature" as Price has been quoted as saying in interviews. Still, it’s far brighter and sunnier than many of its contemporaries. Yet it's also just as hyper violent as well, so diehard fans of the genre need not worry.

Back to my one-two punch: my preferred female can also turn invisible for short bursts, perfect for sneak attacks, but generally speaking, she's suited for far and away offense. My go to guy on the other hand has a very limited range, so you have to come up and nice and slow and obvious like. But like a tank, meaning he's hard to mess with. Yet not impossible, as the enemy proved time and time again.

The pace is fast and freewheeling. Look around, shoot, dodge, shoot some more, jump into another body, and repeat. You're constantly jumping back and forth, because you need to, to stay alive.Plus it’s simply fun; the real joy comes from discovering who does what, and how who is most applicable in a certain situation. As a result, Fuse doesn't feel quite as cumbersome as other examples of the genre.

But it isn't sensory overload either; between skirmishes, there was an environmental puzzle to solve, to help even out the pace and emphasize teamwork in another way. Even if it's one person doing all the button presses. And cooperation is rewarded thusly; when a character does a particularly effective or creative kill, it fills the Fuse meter. And once it's maxed out, a tap of the button allows for everyone to become especially devastating. Though, when playing with others, its up to you all to figure out when to pull the trigger.

Otherwise, controls are standard fare. Though I also loved how melee attacks were quite showy; the aforementioned female character pulled off some rather spectacular moves, like head-scissors take downs, stuff that you'd normally see in the WWE ring. Ultimately, and this is something that will surely irk diehard fans, the game is pretty forgiving with it comes to controls. When you choose to duck, you can be somewhat far away to cover and your character will zip towards a safe spot. Which I liked, bit again, you're talking to a newbie here.

The other mode was a purely multiplayer affair, which emphasizes both cooperation as well as competition. It was your standard king of the mountain scenario, but because you have the ability to hop around, from character to character, and which was especially necessary here thanks to the brutally punishing AI (that was in the midst of being adjusted; even the developers conceded that it was too tough), this other portion of the game was definitely more pulse pounding.

As for what the competitive aspect might be, certain enemies will drop large sums of money. The developers referred to it as their ode to Smash TV. So not only are you running around, hoping into different bodies left and right, to help the team as much as possible, you're also given the chance to be greedy as well. Quite the combo.

Again, as someone who normally does not like third person shooters, I came away extremely impressed. It's both frantic yet not overwhelming, and completely accessible while feeling totally dumbed down. A combination that’s already difficult to achieve, and which is all but absent in its contemporaries. Though I'm also curious to see how someone who swears by Gears of War will view Fuse.