Going into 2023, many were wondering what Xbox had in the chamber following a series of high-profile delays. WhileStarfieldstill doesn’t have a release date, the recent Xbox & Bethesda Developer_Direct assuaged fears that the console’s upcoming year would be barren. Upcoming titles likeMinecraft Legends,Redfall, and the nextForza Motorsportall got updates, andThe Elder Scrolls Onlinefollowed up with its own stream discussing major developments. However, what drew the most attention wasHi-Fi Rush, a shadow-dropped title fromTango Gameworks.
Hi-Fi Rushis a rhythm-action game in the style ofDevil May CryandJet Set Radio, with elements ofGuitar Herothrown in. Nothing else resembles the game in Xbox’s first-party catalog, and it has taken the bold move of dropping Xbox One support. Few would have expected Tango Gameworks to be developing something like this, as its only other console titles areGhostwire: TokyoandThe Evil Withinseries.Hi-Fi Rushdoesn’t look like a typical Tango Gameworks product, but the drive to create something like it has been with the studio all along.
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Tango Gameworks Has Struggled to Escape Its Resident Evil Legacy
When one thinks of Tango Gameworks, they typically think of its survival-horror or other horror-themed games. This reputation was inherited by founder Shinji Mikami, a veteran Capcom employee who directed thegenre-definingResident Evil 1andResident Evil 4. A number of old Capcom and PlatinumGames staffers followed him to Tango Gameworks, but their output hasn’t reflected the breadth of those companies' games. Despite Tango Gameworks being Mikami’s attempt to work on a wider variety of games, he couldn’t divorce his name from the horror genre.
A sci-fi open-world adventure game calledNoahdidn’t get very far, so Tango Gameworks was acquired by ZeniMax Media for additional funding. As the story goes, the studio began work on a project known asZweiinvolving two chained people hunting a vampire, which eventually became themoreResident Evil 4-likeThe Evil Within. Once that released, Mikami stepped down as a director to make way for younger talent.
Hi-Fi Rush Could Mark a New Era for Tango Gameworks
However,Hi-Fi Rushproves that the studio is still capable of making stand-out games that call back to its roots beyond Capcom’s horror classics. Theone piece of information available regardingHi-Fi Rushprior to launchwas a March 2022 Famitsu interview where Mikami revealed thatThe Evil Within 2’s director John Johanas was making something he considered to be “the opposite of horror.” It turns out he was right, and Johanas' own comments onHi-Fi Rushreveal this was a dream project he pitched as soon asThe Evil Within 2was finished.
Mikami’s vision of Tango Gameworks is finally being fulfilled, and it wasn’t done alone. The lead designer ofHi-Fi Rush, Masaaki Yamada, exemplifies this best as another Capcom veteran who was thedirector ofViewtiful Joe 2andRed Hot Rumble. On top of that, he was the lead planner behindResident Evil 2,Devil May Cry, andOkami, as well as the lead game designer behindBayonettaandVanquish. Some may be surprised to hear that Tango Gameworks still has that kind of talent around after so many years spent on horror games, but Capcom’s 3D action teams have always had range. Having releasedHi-Fi Rushto a now-niche genre, all eyes are on Tango Gameworks to see what else it can do outside the horror genre.
Hi-Fi Rushis available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:Hi-Fi Rush is a Fresh Start for Tango Gameworks After Ghostwire: Tokyo’s Lukewarm Reception
