FUSE - new from Insomniac Games

Dav

Hello all,

I have an opportunity to bring 10 Boardsies along to a press event in Dublin on the 16th for the new game from Insomniac Games called FUSE.

I'll be interviewing Ted Price who's the CEO of Insomniac, so if you have any questions you'd like me to ask him, feel free to post them here.

And now, a video of FUSE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFUwDU-7qj4

So if you'd like to come along to the event (it's in Dublin City Centre between 6 and 9pm on the 16th), stick your name down below and I'll pick 10 at random. If there's big demand, I may even be able to bring a few more of you.

Gunmonkey

Question: Given Insomniacs penchant for ridiculous weapons, are there more than the 4 "standard" guns the 4 team members use or are the character playstyles tied so much to their gun it would be impossible to add others without losing some of their individual flair?

Oh and may throw this in and out of the way before the whingers get typing: Why did you change the game from what it looked like in the original Overstrike trailer, that looked awesome and this looks **** (despite being a 2 minute pre-rendered trailer where the only change I can see is the special forces group now wears camo on deep cover ops rather than street clothes)?

Star Lord

Questions:

What are your influences for this game, and do you feel that any movies/games in particular have helped influence the development of the game?

With the trailer showing a blend of weapon and melee combat, are these adaptable in game, or are the melee moves shown restricted to "Finishing" moves or QTEs?

(Also, please stick my name down!)

CombatCow

Awesome, add my name please!

Team Beck

Awesome, add me as well please

Otacon

In London so I can't go to the press event.

Would you mind asking the below though:

- The first Overstrike trailer hinted at a comedic tone to the game. However the more recent videos I have seen for Fuse seem to have lost this. Is there a reason for the shift in mood?

- With the recent announcement of a Ratchet and Clank movie being created, can you see Fuse inspiring a similar project if (when of course!) it's successful?

- After the PS4 announcement in February and Microsoft detailing their plans in the next month, do you have any initial impressions of the two pieces of hardware? What are you most looking forward to in the next generation of consoles?

EDDIE WATERS

Add my name as well

EDDIE WATERS

Double post

B.A._Baracus

Add my name please

ionapaul

Could you stick my name down as well? Thanks

lazymanschair

Please add my name, thanks


1. Considering the game was in development during the later stages of the current console generation, and is expected to release during the maelstrom of post E3 hype for the incoming new hardware, was there a consideration to prolong the development time and launch on the new consoles. Or is there a plan to have a "enhanced edition" for the next gen products. I ask because as the year goes on, I personally will be shifting my purchasing habits towards saving for a new system, and I believe its the unknown/ unproven franchises that may be lost in the shuffle.

2. Are you as a developer concerned with the current trend of spiraling production budgets for so called "AAA" games. With some recent high profile games considered failures despite critical and what would be normally considered commercial success. I'm curious how these factors effected your decision to go multi-platform, and how that has changed Insomniac as a company going forward. Does it make you more cautious or more daring as a developer.

Thanks, and best of luck with Fuse, looks like it should be great.

Dav

Just wanna give this a wee bump - I saw that the Demo for FUSE is available to download so if you've any further interest, you can download it here on XBox Live and here on PlayStation Network.

I've probably got space to bring a couple of more people if you're interested. Some good questions there for the interview too, thanks for that folks.

super_furry

Played the demo and was very pleasantly surprised. Honestly thought I was burnt out on shooters after so many identikit copies this generation but there's something refreshing and new about Fuse. I had zero interest until playing the demo but now I'm looking forward to it.

Star Lord

Won't actually be able to make this, so you can take my name off the list, give that spot to someone else!

Gunmonkey

If there is still a place, could you throw my name down. Work shifts got moved round so I'm off Friday, would be nice to actually play a game for once in a couple of weeks

Dav

Hello all, I'm calling time on the places attending the preview event and will be contacting all of you who've expressed an interest in attending with the specifics.

Some nice questions listed there too, I'll have about 20 minutes with Ted so I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say in answer to some of these queries.

Thanks for the interest folks, I should hopefully have the video interview posted on Friday.

Angron

Dang, I would have put my name down, but I'd only have about an hour before a concert I have tonight.

Gunmonkey

Twas a good bit of fun at the event tonight, have to say Ted Price was very open and down to earth with answering questions people threw at him.

On FUSE itself, the game plays quite well. Having separate buttons to sprint/roll and interact is a big bonus (Mass Effect 3, pay attention), the game can be a bit challenging at times, Echelon mode was tough and a bit random in telling you what to do/where to go. Maybe it will be easier playing at home...with sound

Dav

Interview's been uploaded. Apologies for the quality and background noise, it's just me with a Flip camera and a tripod for these things and there's not a lot I can do to make it top notch quality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kt_yaiT64c

My own thoughts on the game - I like it. It's not something you'll find difficult if you've ever played a 3rd person shooter before. Think Mass Effect's multiplayer except way more action packed and a bigger need for co-op. The super weapons work together to make special attacks and so on - put me somewhat in mind of Bulletstorm's fun skill-shot system.

I'm looking forward to getting a review copy, several of us from the office went along yesterday and we're all looking forward to giving it a go.

Boards.ie: Danny

I was at this event and I must say I was very pleased with what I got to checkout. I love a good co-op shooter, and especially a co-op 3rd person shooter with offline gameplay. I played the game for roughly two hours, rotating the two controllers with a few of the guys in the office. We concentrated mainly on Echelon, the horde mode, since there wasn't enough quiet to get any snippet of the story without using some headphones and that'd kill the co-op play.

What I experienced was a very enjoyable game. Ted mentioned that they'd spent years on the AI and I found it showed very well. Enemies rush when you even contemplate fortifying a position, and pull back when you're on the offensive. The next wave/mid-wave reinforcement chopper will kill you sight, it's like its primary mission is you kill you, not drop off the troops The AI is not only for the enemies but is as good with the two bots that make up your team. They clearly focus on reviving when you're down but are really useful when not doing that. They'll recognise when you've a magshield up and fire through it to earn the damage bonus, they'll free the other bots/you from strangle holds when a stealthed enemy grabs you from behind, take up the turrets to (try) down helicopters before the backup wave lands, drop enemies without stealing your kills etc. I found them integral to survival instead of a take it or leave it thing like in L4D.

Being able to leap about the team is also a very nice addition - halfway through when you're realising the tank isn't doing the job for you and you'd prefer to be a healer/supporter you can swap over. You don't even have to wait for the end of wave, any time will do except when you're awaiting a rez/dead; keeps it very interesting. The skill trees are also available when you want for a mid-wave upgrade to your Magshield or healing beacon for example. I think you get to keep the skills tree progress when doing the campaign too (with what I presume are skill level adjustments for the AI to stop making it a walk in the park if you played a little Echelon before doing the campaign).

The graphics are akin to anything you've seen on this generation of consoles, there are touches that remind me of Gears of War, Mass Effect, Dead Space and Crysis for example. There wasn't anything revolutionary as far as the engine/graphics goes but that's what happens when you're approach end of life for consoles really so it's not a bad thing. The swapping of art/game style to a more gritty/serious tone is lamented by some, but I didn't think it a bad thing - there were points I was pretty pumped during onslaughts, stringing up three and four melee kills, the sound of the knife giving me a bit of joy and a hint of survival - I can't say I've ever felt that way when playing games like Timesplitters/TF2 or something with less serious/more cartoony atmospheres.

I'll be bugging Dav for the review copy anyway, I can already see how lunchtime is going to be spent for a bit of June; wave 12 will be reached