Fuse

use is a strong foray for Insomniac. It’s the Ratchet and Clank/Resistance developer’s first game that isn’t exclusive to Sony systems, and is a polished piece of software.

There may be a few spots where combat feels repetitive and the stealth elements are half-baked, but the sheer audacity on display here deserves commendation.

Some of Fuse's flaws, like the grindy boss fights and a storyline that takes itself a little too seriously at times, can harm the experience, but it's a well built third-person shooter that's fun to play solo or on a team.

I was bothered by the cutscene situation, the basic AI (both friendly and enemy), a couple of glitches that forced restarts, and the dramatic change in fun factor when playing solo. That said, I can’t deny that I spent a lot of time laughing while playing with three others.

Fuse is fun to play with friends, but if you are expecting a revolutionary single-player-campaign, you are going to be disappointed.

It’s a technically solid game, but Fuse lacks a soul; the story and character development are bland beyond belief. The gameplay is a saving grace, though, and the experience can get quite addictive when working with a few friends—but it can also become a tiresome grind when playing solo.

Genuinely funny. [Issue#99, p.70]

Be prepared to get occasionally frustrated by a rather limited solo experience. [Issue#136, p.98]

Fuse is a surprisingly fun experience that has successfully combined elements from other games and sometimes even slightly improves upon them. Sadly, the repetition in enemies and lacking sense of progression make Fuse feel rather cheap. The result is a game that should mostly be played with friends, as the joy of co-op can make you forget about the otherwise noticeable flaws.

An average co-op third person shooter that is rather derivative. The idea of weapons is very original, the rest is rather bland. Is better to avoid if you plan to play it alone.

Fuse is a mid tier in the TPS chart. Insomniac has created a plain game with no outstanding qualities. The overall experience is still good enough and the multiplayer mode is the core element of this game.

This is not a game that was ever going to ingratiate itself well to Super Serious Video Game Critics, but I think that in the right frame of mind and with the right people, it can prove to be a hell of a lot of fun.

I do wish that the story had more meat, and did more to make me care about the four characters.

Fuse is calibrated for people to play together, designed in such a way as to be merely serviceable for solo players, but solid fun for groups of gung-ho mercs.

Apart from the experimental weapons you wouldn’t guess that this game is from Insomniac. Even though this quartet of mercenaries gives Army of Two the boot, it still lacks the passion that you got to know from the Ratchet & Clank or Resistance series.

Fuse may not go down in history as a memorable classic as compared to other Insomniac franchises, but it should find its audience.

Too much grinding to be much fun.

Breaking down the package as a whole Insomniac’s Fuse can be fun at times, but it is a middle of the road experience at best.

It’s a solid game that looks good and plays well, and its cooperative Echelon mode ripped straight out of Gears of War, Halo, Left 4 Dead, etc. is genuinely fun. The only problem is it’s not particularly memorable. Fuse can provide a weekend’s worth of entertainment, but I guarantee you’ll soon forget it.

Some might see it as an enjoyable co-op shooter with a sci-fi bent, some as an exercise of wasted potential. We imagine that it stands as a science experiment for if yet another unremarkable sixty dollar shooting gallery can sell - Insomniac’s solid track record points to a positive outcome, but this might be a case where the catalyst just isn’t strong enough.

Fuse has a promising concept that slowly crumbles to reveal a severe lack of execution.

The core of a great third-person shooter is present in Fuse. The team-based insanity offers a unique take on the genre, and Insomniac's reputation for inventive weapons and creative combat helps too. But Fuse only comes together with three or four players, and even then, the late game combat design and boring-to-fight enemies stand in its way.

If you can overlook the tonal inconsistencies, Fuse’s shallow, familiar shooting can thrive. Success comes when the unacceptable teammate A.I. is replaced by a group of friends unleashing the awesome power of their alien-powered weaponry.

A decent game, but it lacks the depth to be anything more than a time filler. [Aug 2013, p.70]

The quirky weapons of Fuse are the main subject of the game and make for a nice dynamic. It never really transcends that initial moment of charm though, due to a lack of ambition. You’ll probably forget Fuse before even finishing it. Who would have expected that from a game by Insomiac?

It’s clear that Insomniac have more work to do and with a bit more finesse and a personal approach, there’s enough potential to get this right. For now, there are far worse options for a co-op third person shooter and few better ones.

I bet you won’t remember a single character from Fuse by the time you’re done with its campaign.

A matter of surviving endless similar rooms, and repetitive mini-bosses with too much health.

In a desperate attempt not to scare anyone away with their choice of style, Insomniac made a game that will have a hard time getting anyone to love it. Don't get me wrong, the basics are there. And when a team of four unleashes an eardrum-busting cacophony of powerful weapons effects, you do feel solidly entertained. But it's never more than that. Nothing will ever stick out and it's only the passably rounded basic mechanics that pull you through the campaign, never to return once you finished it. The old art direction would probably not have saved it, but at least it would have had an identity.

Even though it's not visually distinguishable from may of this year's games, I have to admit to having more fun with FUSE than anticipated - when I played it with friends. Playing it alone is a chore, and something best avoided.

FUSE feels like a cluster of several half-baked ideas. From generic art direction to a poorly paced and developed script, the title falls short in almost every aspect. All the character classes feel like variations of the same boring template, the enemies are faceless drones with no personality, the boss fights are repetitive and the level design is mediocre. You'll have to be a very hardcore third person shooter fan to enjoy the uninspired combat design and generic nature of this title.

A boring shooter, whose good ideas are obscured by a repetitive structure and uninspired gameplay that makes sense only when playing online. A misstep for a team like Insomniac.

Another Third Person Shooter, with more generic situations than original elements. Good in coop mode, but forgettable for solo players. Fuse has frantic gunplay, but on the other hand also has a generic story, characters and design levels.

When played with at least two other people, it shines bright, but when tackling solo it is a bore more often than not. I recommend picking this one up after a small price drop, and again only if you can convince your friends to join you.

From its unspectacular graphics to its utterly predictable, objective-based spin on Horde mode’s wave-based skirmishes, Fuse never fully comes together.

Fuse's bland art design and overall lack of personality are disappointing in the context of that initial reveal trailer, but under the hood it's still a generally well made third-person shooter with a clear emphasis on co-op and the imaginative weapons Insomniac is so good at dreaming up. But there are too few of those weapons, and a few too many irksome issues, to lift Fuse significantly above the many, many other cover-based shooters it's competing with.

Fuse feels like a five-year-old game wrapped in a ten-year-old art style. [Aug 2013, p.68]

There's nothing wrong with not being wholly original — few titles are — but Fuse doesn't even put forth minimal effort in distinguishing itself from other established franchises. It's the equivalent of store brand food, but without the budget price that should've gone along with it.

Fuse is the pure definition of the word mediocre. Nothing is bad, but nothing is good either. Fuse is unfortunately bland beyond belief.

For the most part it's just OK, the sort of game you'll add to your LoveFilm rental list, forget about until it turns up, then forget again as soon as the disc is back in the postbox.

If Fuse had been made by a lesser known studio, it would simply be forgettable, but set against the expectations of a new game from the house of Rachet & Clank and Resistance, it’s a crushing disappointment.

Fuse is what happens when someone had a great idea that got greenlighted in a meeting 4 years ago, before executives and VPs stripped it down during development until there was nothing left but a shell. It’s what happens when a developer, full of creativity, showmanship and excitement, feels like they need to play it safe because humour and wit aren’t apparently marketable properties in an industry that no longer feels comfortable taking risks.

An inexplicably bland shooter from the usually reliable Insomniac that has no personality and no sense of purpose beyond a few hours of empty co-op action.

Fuse's basic mechanics are functional, even interesting, but they're hamstrung by poor AI (on both sides) and boring encounters. Friends make things better, but even then this locomotive doesn't take long to run out of steam. Fuse is satisfactory at best and frustrating at worst, and a bare-bones shooter without any personality or flair.