Video games are packed with mercenaries. The term encompasses heroes and villains, fortune-seekers and power-mongers, faceless grunts and stars of the show. It can be hard to stand out among the crowd, but fortunately for the protagonists of Fuse, they found some very cool weapons to steal. Whether you're encasing enemies in black crystalline deathtraps or vaporizing them with a pulse from your protective shield, it's a lot of fun to team up with friends and take on the challenges of Fuse. Alone, the tepid campaign neither excites nor bores, while the horde-like Echelon mode is all but impossible without at least a few leveled-up friends. Regardless of what mode you play, "with friends" is definitely how this slick near-future shooter thrives, delivering a solid team-based experience with just enough style and substance to keep you entertained.
The campaign follows a team of four mercenaries who take a job to infiltrate a high-security research facility. When things go sour and a nasty alien element called fuse ends up in the hands of some very bad people, the team members do what they must to remain the heroes of this boilerplate action-movie plot. The narrative treads predictably down well-worn paths, showing occasional glimpses of character that make you wish for more. Though the main characters and a few villains are expressive and visually appealing, their personalities are disappointingly limited. At best, they make you smirk with amusement from time to time.
The environments are similarly serviceable, spanning industrial installations and military outposts that offer decent variety but few moments of beauty or intrigue. A well-appointed jungle compound and a mountainous gondola ride are visual highlights in a campaign largely spent in places that value function over form. Most areas are a bit bland to look at but are well designed as combat arenas. Plentiful cover positions and regular flanking opportunities encourage you to move around in combat, exploiting angles and using team tactics to take apart your foes.
Fuse is a third-person, cover-based shooter, and you do spend a fair amount of time moving in and around cover. Fortunately, the controls respond adroitly and make you feel nimble when maneuvering around barriers, allowing you to remain shielded from enemy fire. Movement out in the open can be a bit sluggish, but on the whole, the core action feels crisp, if very conventional.
That is, until you start flexing your character-specific skills. Jacob's crossbow is the most straightforward of the bunch; it focuses on dealing massive damage to single targets, though he can eventually detonate his shots to set nearby enemies on fire. Izzy's assault rifle fires black pellets that, with enough hits, trigger the instant growth of jagged crystal prisons. Enemies trapped within these structures can be easily shattered, though they escape and come for you if you leave them unbroken.
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