Guitar Hero and Rock Band were the big thing years ago. But the era of living room bands with plastic instruments is over. Nevertheless, developer Harmonix remains loyal to music and rhythm games, but in a different way: Fuser is completely dedicated to electronic sound and lets you as a DJ let go of the party people who want to dance.
When it comes to the terms DJ and remix, DJ Hero quickly comes to mind. In 2009 it was all about Guitar Hero and Rock Band, just with electronic music and a suitable turntable controller. But just like with the templates, only pre-made remixes were replayed or rather pressed – you couldn't get creative yourself. In addition, the expensive package and the difficult-to-use plastic turntable deterred many players.
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Around ten years later, such hurdles no longer exist. If you want to make music in Fuser, all you need is a controller or the keyboard. The time of bulky accessories is over, instead the game focuses on accessibility. A short demo quickly introduced us to the concept and the most important game elements.
It's all in the mix!
As a young DJ we open a festival and should really heat up the audience. At the bottom of the screen we find four circles that represent our turntables. At the top of the picture there are 16 songs that cover different genres and decades:
- 50 cents – in da club
- Billie Eilish – bad guy
- Blue Öyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
- The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – Don't Let Me Down
- The Clash – Rock the Casbah
- Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank
- Imagine Dragons – Thunder
- J. Balvin & Willy William – Mi Gente
- Lady Gaga – Born This Way
- Lil Nas feat. Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road (Remix)
- Lizzo – Good As Hell
- LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock – Party Rock Anthem
- Migos – Stir Fry
- Post Malone – Better Now
- Smash Mouth – All Star
- Warren G & Nate Dogg – Regulate
In the final game there will be a total of 100 songs; more can be bought as an add-on. Each track consists of four elements: Depending on the piece, these are, for example, vocals, drums, guitar and keyboard. Each of them is assigned to one of four colors, matching the buttons on our controller. The tutorial first requires a drum kit. We select one of the rock songs, press X on the Xbox pad and the drums start playing on the turntable. The next step is to add vocals, so let's take a sample of our choice and press the appropriate key. Then there is the guitar and keyboard, and we already have a crazy genre mix of rock, pop, rap and house. So the basics of fuser are understood – it's really simple.
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But the next step already involves new tasks. Music requests from the audience want to be fulfilled, either in the form of a certain song or decade. Within a time limit, we have to decide and hang up accordingly so that not only are the listeners happy, but our score also climbs up. Because Fuser is again about star ratings and high scores.
With increasing playing time, the demands increase, but so does the musical possibilities. We can change the complete set and thus create a completely new sound. We also vary the tempo of our remix, put on two guitar parts at the same time or completely remove the vocals. When hanging up, we also pay attention to the beat to receive bonus points.
The focus is clearly on the sound, but of course the stage and DJ are also graphically staged. Harmonix remain true to their well-known style: Anyone who has seen Guitar Hero or Rock Band knows at first glance who made Fuser. Effects such as pulsating turntables or changing camera perspectives loosen up the action without distracting from the actual "work" on the turntables.
You love the DJ
A few auxiliary mechanics make our DJ job easier: For example, the game automatically adjusts the speed of a new element to the current sound. Bumpy transitions or dropouts are also prevented. In contrast to the violent booing calls for a failed rock band appearance, the mood at Fuser should generally remain relaxed. If we serve the demand of the audience or mix a really brilliant piece together, it hails likes, emojis and playlist subscriptions. Such a mix can also be saved and reused using the in-game recording function.
With Fuser, the makers of rock band return to DJ Hero, even if the concept is now significantly different.
Fuser is in a good mood right from the start because we enjoy some freedom when we hang up and every change has a direct impact on the sound. Consequently, there will also be a freestyle mode in the finished game, in which you can experiment to your heart's content. On the other hand, the campaign is more stringent, in which we have to mix ourselves up from a DJ newcomer to an absolute superstar. There will also be a multiplayer mode for two to four people, but details will only be announced at this year's Gamescom. In autumn Fuser will be released for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and the PC.
