We’re only a few weeks into 2023, but layoffs are rampant across tech and media - even at Microsoft, which owns Hi-Fi Rush’s publisher Bethesda - as people continue to fight for unionization. “Balancing creativity with realistic goals is the mark of a good leader,” says one of your teammates. He (unsurprisingly) ignores this warning, and Hi-Fi Rush is quick to make fun of the mistake: The game’s UI displays a percentage bar to show his budget shrinking in real time. As you plunge through the R&D department, one of Zanzo’s employees warns him about wasting budget on increasingly extravagant, yet ultimately useless weaponry. Image: Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks via PolygonĪn early level puts you up against Zanzo, a boss in charge of developing SPECTRA, an AI designed to let Vandelay control people’s thoughts - a poignant scenario, considering the latest trend that is already proving to be a disaster. They also ask Chai not to be a narc whenever he spots them taking five by lying down on the floor. Speaking with the robot NPCs elicits venting about overwork and their fear of layoffs. Blending combat reminiscent of the Devil May Cry series with the spirit of rhythm-infused games such as No Straight Roads and Metal: Hellsinger, the game sees Chai band together with a crew of surprisingly likeable characters to hack, slash, dodge, and jump to the beat, all in an attempt to expose Vandelay’s evil deeds to the masses.Īcross 12 levels, you move from QA to the finance departments of the company, each office corridor replete with Vandelay propaganda, surveillance bots, and gold statues of the CEO. Vandelay immediately deems the protagonist a defect and sends an army of angry robots to terminate him. An incident leads to his iPod being inserted into his chest, and now the world is in sync with his playlist - a mix of an original score with licensed tracks from the likes of Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys, and The Prodigy. Protagonist Chai, a kid obsessed with music who constantly spouts puns, approaches Vandelay Technologies for the promise of robotic augmentation.

In a different time, the premise itself might have seemed trivial. If you want curated lists of our favorite media, check out What to Play and What to Watch. When we award the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the recipient is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive, or fun - and worth fitting into your schedule. Polygon Recommends is our way of endorsing our favorite games, movies, TV shows, comics, tabletop books, and entertainment experiences.

Hi-fi rush cast