
When you think of Xbox plus Insomniac Games, you likely think of Sunset Overdrive, right? This early Xbox One era exclusive remains one of the high points of that generation, and it's still talked about by Xbox fans today - over eight years since launch.
However, did you know that the team actually developed an Xbox 360 title before it moved onto Sunset Overdrive? This one wasn't an exclusive (the game in question also launched on PS3), but the late-360 era title marked the Californian studio's first foray into Xbox development.
Still none the wiser? Well, we wouldn't blame you to be honest, as it's probably one of the least-revered games from the whole Insomniac library. Any final guesses as to what it is? Okay, okay... we're talking about the team's co-op third person shooter known as "Fuse".

Yep, this thing does exist, and it's 10 years old today! Fuse was launched by publisher EA on May 28th, 2013 in the US, and has largely been forgotten about since. Still, it's worth wishing a happy birthday to anyway, because... why not?!
If we did play any of this game back in the day we certainly can't remember it, but looking at the synopsis now, it sounds like a by-the-numbers co-op third person shooter that lacked the charm radiating from most Insomniac releases. It doesn't sound like a bad game by any means (some people love it according to Google Reviews), but this developer sets such a high standard and that's probably contributed to Fuse's confinement to the forgotten history books.
Anyway, here's an imaginary prize for guessing Fuse at the top of the article - if you did manage to remember it! Let's be honest though, it has provided us a lovely excuse to mention Sunset Overdrive's name once again.
Speaking of which, it's surely time for a replay of the now-cult classic Xbox One exclusive, isn't it? We're absolutely thinking about doing just that, especially considering this writer has never fully replayed Sunset Overdrive since launch!
So, happy 10th birthday to Fuse - Insomniac's obscure Xbox 360 game that marked the team's first attempt at an Xbox release back in 2013. While we're not exactly chomping at the bit to play it a decade later, it's safe to say we absolutely loved what came next.
Did you ever play Fuse on Xbox 360? Go ahead and talk about Sunset Overdrive instead down in the comments section below.
Comments 14
They made another game for Xbox as well. Song of the Deep which is a very solid fun metroidvania! Much better than the EA bungled Fuse too.
One of the best developers in the world for sure!
I remember this coming out and, at the time, I wasn't a big MP gamer. I was also living above my place of work(I run pubs) so the Internet wasn't great at that time. Still I didn't know it was made by insomniac.
They should've bought them... But again xbox didn't know what to do and microsoft seemed not wanting to invest in xbox one at the time
I remember it releasing and the reviews weren't all that great - mostly around 6/10 if I remember and most had the same comments - generic, tired, banal, bland...
That's why I didn't buy into it and soon after, had moved onto XB1/PS4 hardware so I never even consider buying in a sale.
Sunset Overdrive was certainly an under appreciated game on Xbox One and I'd recommend it.
@TakeItEasy I disagree. Microsoft definitely shouldn’t have bought a PlayStation second party studio that’s the main developer of 4 sony owned IPs. They only had 2 multiplatform games and 1 xbox exclusive.
It’s good sony bought insomniac, it’s what Nintendo should’ve done with rare too.
I think Austin Eruption on YouTube just happened to cover Fuse in one of his most recent videos. He also talked about how EA bungled this game by putting their stink on it and removing the charm of Insomniac , of which you can see in the difference between the origibal promo trailer for Fuse and then with what was delivered.
Also... Sunset Overdrive !!!
Here's that video, Fuse at 18:45 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PPpDC_MZmAo
Is sunset overdrive the "orange juice" game?
I remember this game but it was the most generic of EA shooters during the really really dark days at EA. Thankfully EA is really turning itself around. Unfortunately insomniac is now a marvel license factory.
@darkswabber Nintendo did own part of rare. They sold it to Microsoft when rare wasn't turning the numbers they wanted from them anymore.
@Spider-Kev The "Overdrive" sports drink had an orange color if that's what you mean.
Insomniac is probably a top 5 studio. They make some great games and Ratchet and Clank series is one of the best platformer/action games ever.
Think they also made the Resistance series ?
Does it even matter who did what, when?
I used to like insomniac for their ratchet and clank games on PS3. My little brother got me into it. Not a fan now tho.
@darkswabber "Second party" isn't a thing. Insomniac was always third party who chose to mostly work with Sony. Also as Xbox fans are concerned, there's no reason to not have another quality studio under one's belt. Rare had turned to crap by the time Nintendo got rid of them, so such a purchase in hindsight is very questionable.
Yeah I played Fuse on 360 and had great fun with it besides how it turned out from Overstrike to Fuse/the EAness in there somewhat too and how late to a co-op/4 person game it was, and Sunset Overdrive.
I thought Song of the Deep was PS4 only but apparently not (I did play it on PS4 though). What an interesting Gamestop publishing situation SotD had.
Still what a third party period they had on Xbox.
A fair in a way game of Fuse I liked better than Ratchet All For One (I took 10 years to finish A4O I didn't like it that much and tried and tried to get through it without being bored or lost) in how it did things.
Sunset is great fun and my favourite open world besides Gravity Rush and Song of the Deep like Pentiment showing a big studio can have a small team make an interesting game with so much passion behind it and in a genre they appreciate but never made before.
It still feels like a AAA game I don't know enough about metroidvanias but some elements feel so AAA you can tell I don't know many Indies doing some of the design they do in Song of the Deep..
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