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Fuser is a rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by NCSoft. It was released on November 10, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Fu…
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Fuser is a rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by NCSoft. It was released on November 10, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Fuser is a rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by NCSoft. It was released on November 10, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Fuser allows players to create DJ mixes from a number of licensed musical tracks, scoring the player based on their remix. The game features both single-player and multiplayer modes as well as the ability to share remixes with other users. Following the acquisition of Harmonix by Epic Games in 2021, Harmonix shuttered the multiplayer servers in December 2022 and removed the game and additional content from sale, while leaving the single player components playable.
In Fuser, the player takes the role of a DJ at a large concert, creating mashups of various songs. Gameplay consists of controlling a virtual DJ table with four record players, custom instruments, sound filters, and up to 24 pre-selected songs called a "crate" available to remix. Each song is separated into four stems, which are keyed by color and related to a type of musical instrument such as drums, guitar or vocals. At any time, the player can pick a song, select a stem from that song, and place it on any of the record players to add the selected stem the current mix. The game automatically adjusts the mix's tempo and musical key. Additionally, players can cue a second instrument track, which can be then switched back and forth individually with a single drop or using a "riser" that transitions them over a short period. Audio filters can be used on each instrument, and the user has the ability to create various instrument loops via a synthesizer which then can be added as another instrument. This concept is comparable to Harmonix's prior game DropMix, which was a physical card game incorporating NFC technology with an electronic game board and mobile app that was published through Hasbro.
The game has a single-player campaign featuring multiple sets across various venues. At each set, the player's mixes are scored, with more points given by adding new tracks either on the downbeat or at specific beats by each instrument where the track drops. Additionally, the virtual audience will give requests, such as for specific songs, songs from a specific genre, or a certain type of instrument. Completing these requests in a short amount of time scores additional points. The player is ranked on a five-star scale based on their total score during the set. To achieve a high score, the player has the opportunity to customize the contents of the crate to be as efficient as possible in switching between tracks.
Before their discontinuation, Fuser also included both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes in which players collaborated on creating a mix or battled against each other. Players could also participate in weekly mix events that tasked players with creating a mix based around a particular musical genre or instrument that was then voted on by other players. The game also features a freestyle mode that allows players to create their own mixes and share them with others over social media.
Harmonix introduced the Headliner Spotlight feature in May 2021, which presented a few "Diamond Stage" dedicated Twitch channels where players could perform Fuser mixes in front of viewers. Players could earn in-game diamonds from other game activities to reserve spots on the Diamond Stage as well as to unlock additional cosmetics, songs, and other features. While a player was performing on the stage, viewers could submit requests, in similar fashion to those in the game's campaign mode, to challenge the current player.
Harmonix had announced a publishing deal through NCSoft in August 2018 for a rhythm game for personal computers and consoles. Harmonix's Dan Sussman said that NCSoft had seen the game in an early state and quickly became their publishing partner for it, including support for showcasing the game at industry events. Fuser was announced at the 2020 PAX East event in February 2020, with plans for release on November 10, 2020.
Sussman said that Fuser was a continued evolution of their music games in how they have looked at player agency. With Fuser, Sussman believed that many players of their games have a wide range of musical tastes and wished to have more control of how they interacted with the game's music, thus enabling them to be creative with their tastes. Additionally, Harmonix found that with games like Rock Band, which offered a large number of songs, the songs essentially became disposable as players didn't have much incentive to learn the songs in details; players wanted a game that gave them an opportunity to get more familiar with the structure of a song. Compared to many of Harmonix's past games, Fuser does not require any special peripherals; Harmonix's Dan Walsh said the main driver behind this decision was accessibility and ease of bringing the game to market, both as retail and digital products. Sussman also found that because Fuser featured gameplay distinct from their previous games, it was able to draw both experienced rhythm game players and new players.
Sussman said that as with past Harmonix games, songs from bands closely associated with Harmonix employees will likely also appear on the full setlist. Sussman also said that for music licensing purposes, they assured that the rights for these songs allowed for the ability to mix with other songs and for the sharing of game mixes to social media.
Harmonix announced that the game's online features will shut down on December 19, 2022. The game and all DLC would be removed from sale, though players would still be able to use all content they own in the game's offline modes following this date. However, it was announced on December 16, 2022, that the servers would stay up until early 2023, due to an unspecified issue.
The following songs are included with the base Fuser game:
Three songs were also available as pre-order bonuses. The pre-order bonuses were later released as normal DLC on January 21, 2021.
Source: Fuser (video game) (CC BY-SA)
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