Fuse

Fuse is a game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first installment in the franchise and was released on May 28, 2013 (US) and May 31, 2013 (EU) for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, making it Insomniac Games' first multiplatform title, as well as their first fully owned IP through working with EA's Partners Program arm (now closed).

Plot
The game is set in the near future and follows a misfit team of professional mercenary agents called Overstrike 9. The team is comprised of four members: Dalton Brooks, Jacob Kimble, Naya Deveraux, and Isabelle Sinclair. They are assisted by Lyndon Burgess, who guides the team under the alias "Oculus".

Overstrike 9 are hired by a client to secure Hyperion Base, and quickly discover that they are testing weapons using an alien substance known as Fuse. Soon they also need to stop the exploits of a rogue paramilitary organization called Raven, who are attempting to steal the Xenotechnology for their own purposes. The team's pursuit of Raven lead them to locations all over the globe, including a heavily palatial stronghold in India, an underwater outpost, an island military base in China and the peaks of the Pakistani mountains.

Gameplay
Fuse is a third-person shooter that allows one to four players to play cooperatively, either offline or online. Players can use the LEAP feature to seamlessly switch between the four agents while playing. In order to LEAP, there must be an A.I. controlled character available. Fuse also features a Unified Progression system; any progress players make in the campaign will be carried over to Echelon Mode, and vice versa.

The game is split into two modes. Campaign follows the story of Overstrike 9 as they try to stop Raven from exploiting Fuse, while Echelon is a wave-based mode made up of twelve rounds set in six arenas based on Campaign battleground. Instead of being defensively-based like most Horde modes, Echelong encourages aggressive gameplay through randomly chosen round types such as Carnage, Priority Target and Critical Drop. The exceptions are rounds 6 and 12, which are always boss battles.

The showcase of the game are each characters Xenotech Weapons. Early in the game the four members of Overstrike 9 pick up weapons that run on Fuse; Dalton the Magshield, Jacob the Arcshot, Naya the Warp Rifle and Izzy the Shattergun. Each weapon has a unique primary and secondary function that helps each member perform a particular role in the team; for example, Dalton's Magshield creates a large shield that makes him perfect as a tank role, while Jacob's Arcshot makes him a very effective sniper. For more on the functionality of the weapons, visit their respective articles.

Each character has seperate skill trees which are powered by Skill Points that are acquired by earning Fuse Points through killing enemies and accomplishing objectives. Once a character reaches a new level, the Fuse Points are converted to a Skill Points which can be used to upgrade items in each character's skill tree.

Fuse features a combo system that allows much greater amounts of Fuse Points to be awarded when team mates work together. For example, if Izzy crystallizes a group of enemies with her Shattergun by shooting through Dalton's Magshield, both team members will earn the Darkshard combo. This can be taken further if a third team member kills the crystallized enemy. There are over 60 different named combos in the game that cover many different co-operation kills.

Fusion Mode occurs when players upgrade their Xenotech branch in each characters skill trees. Fusion Mode will be triggered when enough Fuse Points are earned, and when activated will allow the player to become invincible and have unlimited ammo. A further uprade to Fusion Mode will allow it to revive downed team members and give other team mates unlimited ammo for a short time.

Development History
On May 25, 2010, Insomniac Games announced the start of a multiplatform game for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. On June 6th, 2011, during Electronic Arts' press conference at E3 2011 the game's title, Overstrike, was revealed along with an announcement trailer.

On August 31st, 2012, the game was revealed to have gone through a retooling and rebranding after further developing the story and realizing that it called for a more serious tone. The title, Overstrike, was changed to Fuse to emphasize that the alien substance, also known as Fuse, is the driving force behind the story of the game. The change was met with negative feedback from fans who claimed the charm of Overstrike had disappeared.

In response to the negative fan feedback, Insomniac Games made some changes to Fuse. Environments and other details, like character wardrobes, were changed from shades of grey's to more vibrant, bright colors. They also assured fans that the humor from Overstrike would be present in Fuse.

In September 2018, Insomniac CEO Ted Price stated that he was the one responsible for the change in tone. He specified that the gameplay remained unchanged between the two iterations.

Reception
After the initial trailer for Fuse was released, revealing Overstrike to be rebranded, the game was met with mixed to negative reviews from fans. Many believed that Fuse became another "generic shooter" and had lost the charm and humor that was presented in Overstrike. Another major concern was the shift in art style. The change from Overstrike's vibrant, colorful campiness to Fuse's more gritty and serious style prompted fans to believe that Fuse was meant to appeal to the typical shooter.

In the following months, Insomniac Games made some visual changes to Fuse in response to negative feedback. The changes became most apparent in the games color and textures. Shades of grey, became more colorful and vibrant. This change was welcomed by many fans.

While fan feedback was initially negative, many game critics responded positively to Fuse. IGN stated "After a full year of wondering what went wrong with Overstrike to cause such silence from EA and Insomniac, the new direction with Fuse proves there was never anything to worry about." Shaun McInnis from GameSpot wrote "There are so many people focused on what Fuse isn't, when what it is happens to be pretty damn fun."