Xbox releases Hi-Fi Rush, an all-new Xbox game

Created by Japanese-based Tango Gameworks, the same developers behind the hit game franchise The Evil Within (and the more recent, hastily forgotten Ghostwire: Tokyo), Hi-Fi Rush is a departure from the studio’s more recent work.

Instead of high-spec graphics, the game has a cartoonish art style and takes place in a world filled with robots — in fact, the player character, Chai, has a robotic arm.

Chai is a rock star, and the game’s music theme makes it more difficult for players to keep up with the pace of the soundtrack. This helps you hit your enemies harder and adds percussion to the background music.

Fortunately, there’s a beat bar to help players to keep time — which you’ll need, as you’ll be battling bosses and testing out your melee skills against a variety of baddies.

The news was announced by Xbox’s partner and subsidiary Bethesda during a 45-minute Xbox Developer_Direct reel: the new equivalent to PlayStation’s State of Play events.

Though news of Hi-Fi Rush’s release had been leaked prior to the showcase, the game has been in the works for at least a few years. Tango Gameworks trademarked Hi-Fi Rush in 2020 but has not released any trailers or screenshots of the title until last night.

Hi-Fi Rush is now available to download on Xbox Game Pass, or to purchase separately for £26.99 on Steam and £29.99 on the Xbox store.

Was there anything else we learned from the showcase?

Trailers galore

We tune in to showcases because we want to hear developers talk about their amazing games. Xbox delivered in this respect, as viewers were given a tour of one of Bethesda’s most-hyped games of the year, the vampire-shooter Redfall. We now know that the game will be open-world, and it looks pretty exciting: the combat looks fantastic and the visuals lean very much into the “black and blood red” colour palette.

Xbox showed off a glimpse of the gameplay for its upcoming strategy game, Minecraft Legends. Blackbird Interactive is developing this game, using all of the Minecraft Dungeons building blocks (ie. Blocks and diamond swords are combined to create a story-driven campaign that allows players to explore the world and wage war against the piglins.

Even better, there’ll be a series-first PvP mode, where teams can go head-to-head to build a fortress and lay waste to their enemies.

Forza win

It wouldn’t be an Xbox showcase without some news about the Forza franchise, and Turn 10 Studios popped into chat about Forza Motorsport. From the sounds of it, they’re throwing the kitchen sink at the latest instalment of the game: it’s been billed as “the most technically advanced racing game ever made”. The team have promised that the whole game has essentially been rebuilt “from the ground up.”

It’ll be released some time in 2023, so watch this space.

Dates of release

Redfall has finally been released on May 2, 2023. It can be bought on Xbox Series X/S or PC as well as through GamePass.

Fans, set your alarms to April 18, 2023 for Minecraft Legends.

What didn’t get announced?

A Starfield release date – or Starfield anything

This was expected. Xbox had previously confirmed before the event, that Starfield, the company’s upcoming monolithic game, would receive its own deep dive event. It’ll need it: the game is rumoured to contain more than a million lines of dialogue and promises not just an open world, but an open universe for players to explore.

It’s currently slated for a 2023 release, but frankly, we wouldn’t be surprised if this was pushed back…