Xbox did the surprising this previous Wednesday: The corporate completely killed it with its Developer Direct convention, presenting gamers with an trustworthy, thrilling showcase centered on gameplay. We noticed builders communicate on to us about their video games, and whereas it was centered on giving us a have a look at stuff we already knew about, that was blatantly expressed beforehand, which meant we weren’t desperately clamoring for giant reveals.
And though we didn’t anticipate it (even after its leak), there was a shock. Nevertheless, merely decreasing it to “a shock” is a little bit of an understatement. On the earth of online game bulletins, most surprises, particularly these performed by Xbox, quantity to nothing greater than a CGI trailer for a far-off challenge. Fable, Excellent Darkish, Everwild, and Avowed are nice examples of this, as every have been proven again in 2019-2020, but we haven’t seen any of them performed as soon as.
As an alternative, Bethesda not solely revealed Tango Gameworks’ Hello-Fi RUSH with an thrilling gameplay demo, however the presentation ended with a surprising announcement that it could launch the identical day. For a corporation like Xbox to go from its obsession with CGI trailers of tasks which have barely began growth to launching a brand new sport just some hours after its reveal is an astounding enchancment.
As somebody who lately lamented about Xbox’s lack of exclusives, I can admit that the gaming large is forcing me to eat my phrases. Sure, Hello-Fi Rush is only one sport, however the firm has as soon as once more confirmed what makes it particular in comparison with Nintendo and PlayStation: its range in kinds and genres.
What makes Xbox particular
Each Nintendo and PlayStation boast explicit kinds of sport. For Nintendo, the corporate’s hottest titles are cute, pleasant, colourful, and filled with charisma. Pokemon, Kirby, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Animal Crossing, and an infinite variety of sport-adjacent titles all have a specific “really feel” to them that’s indescribably Nintendo.
PlayStation, however, loves telling cinematic tales by way of video games performed in third-person, typically boasting a mixture of open-world and RPG parts with action-focused fight. God of Warfare, The Final of Us, Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank (the brand new ones, at the least), Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Daybreak, and Ghost of Tsushima all have a specific “really feel” to them that’s unmistakably PlayStation.
This isn’t to say that Nintendo doesn’t have distinctive moments with Bayonetta or PlayStation with Stray, it’s simply not the majority of what we perceive as these firm’s acquainted promoting factors.
However what about Xbox? What’s the firm’s stamp of recognition? Even simply attempting to match Halo and Gears, two of the its most prolific franchises, already runs us into bother. And when going past that, it turns into clear how range is the corporate’s best asset.
Obsidian, a developer who has made titles as enormous as Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, crafted Pentiment final yr, a side-scrolling narrative-focused journey sport with a mode that calls upon medieval artwork. This staff additionally launched Grounded in the identical yr, a first-person survival sport about thriving in an infinite backyard with nasty bugs.
We are able to even shrink our focus all the way down to the 4 video games Microsoft mentioned this previous week. Redfall is an open-world co-op first-person shooter with a mixture of stealth and looter parts that decision upon Arkane’s specialities. The Elder Scrolls On-line: Necrom is an MMO, Forza Motorsport is a simulation racing sport, and Minecraft Legends is a tactical technique sport with cooperative and PvP parts. None of those video games are comparable.
And as of this previous week, we are able to embrace Hello-Fi RUSH to that listing. Tango Gameworks is an organization that’s recognized for its entries in horror. The Evil Inside, its sequel and Ghostwire: Tokyo actually make the most of various ranges of motion programs to intensify the thrill of gameplay, however they’re fueled by scares at first.
Hello-Fi RUSH will not be a horror sport. It’s a level-based, combo-driven, hack-n-slash rhythm platformer with a western cartoon-inspired aesthetic and a goosebump-inducing soundtrack that may make you squeal with delight each time you retain up with the tempo.
Nothing about this sport screams “Xbox” to me as a result of the corporate doesn’t have a mode past its recognizable properties. The one issues I can say really feel fairly “Xbox” are Halo and Gears, however that’s as a result of we’ve had them for therefore lengthy and we affiliate them with the corporate.
Backside line
Xbox must work on its prolificacy in releasing good video games all through a console technology, however what makes the corporate particular and provides it an edge over PlayStation and Nintendo is its range.
Kirby and the Forgotten Lands reinvented what that franchise can do by shifting it right into a 3D area, but it’s clearly a Nintendo sport within the vein of their different 3D platformers; it’s no secret what console that artwork model and people environments belong to. Ghost of Tsushima was an epic enterprise into new territory for Sucker Punch, however the graphical constancy, cinematic story, open-world traversal and third-person motion fight scream “PlayStation” on the high of its lungs.
Once I picked up Hello-Fi RUSH this previous week, at no level did I believe “this screams Xbox.” And I think about after I soar into Redfall, Starfield, Minecraft Legends, and S.T.A.L.Ok.E.R 2, I nonetheless gained’t really feel that Xbox has discovered some kind of pattern to nestle itself inside and infrequently step outdoors of. If the corporate has a signature stamp, it’s range. Something past that I can’t fairly determine, which is what makes it particular.
