Become a sci-fi superhero fighting for corrupt corporate overlords in this new ARPG

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Have you ever wanted to be a superhero battling valiantly for the future of humanity, but also beholden to omnipotent corporate overlords whose whims dictate your every decision? Superfuse, an upcoming hack-and-slash APRG from Stitch Heads and publisher Raw Fury, might be just what you're after.

It's a tale as old as time: Having exhausted the resources of Earth at some point in the (hopefully) distant future, humanity has fled to neighboring planets in the solar system, an exodus enabled by the ultra-wealthy corporate elite. But we apparently didn't learn anything from the destruction of our only home: As the years passed and humanity continued to spread, the billionaires who saved themselves—that is, us—expanded their wealth and power beyond measure, fashioning themselves into virtual gods, while most of humanity struggled simply to survive.

But don't think too much about that, because holy cow, out of nowhere comes the Corruption: Putrid, shambling monstrosities who threaten all of human civilization! The ultra-elite once again intercede on our behalf, this time by granting superpowers to a select group of everyday folks—the Enforcers—who patrol the solar system and "do whatever is needed to maintain order and ensure humanity's future."

Based on the announcement trailer, Superfuse looks like a cross between Diablo and Borderlands, and gameplay sounds familiar: Players can create and customize characters as they like using "a staggering number of possible skill combinations," and earn plentiful loot including weapons, armor, and boosters in a solo campaign and four-player co-op mode.

(Image credit: Stitch Heads)

But even if the gameplay isn't exactly revolutionary, the campaign could turn out to be legitimately interesting. "When humanity needs hope, be the hero!" is the explicit angle on Steam and the Superfuse website, but there's no mistaking the sinistrous undertones of a story about the underclass being granted a portion of their overlords' power to enforce order at all costs. Some of the imagery in the trailer seems a bit on-the-nose in that regard too, and the features breakdown hints that there's more going on than meets the eye: "Uncover a hidden conspiracy among the echelons of humanity and an alien menace on a dark comic book adventure packed with twists and turns."

How much Superfuse will actually lean into that element of "Capitalism, Corruption, and You" remains to be seen, but hopefully it'll go deep enough to keep things interesting. We'll find out when Superfuse goes into Early Access on Steam later this year.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
In-development screenshot of game Psycho Patrol R. It is a low-poly, low-fidelity graphical style with deliberately clashing colors and interface elements.
The next game from Cruelty Squad's creator, a 'policing and punishment simulator', has dropped a new trailer showing off its gruesome mech combat
A chaotic battle in FBC: Firebreak.
Electrified sticky notes and spontaneous combustion: Remedy's new co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak is built for chaos and 'joyful discoveries'
Exoborne parachuting
In the middle of the LA fires, I played a new extraction shooter that challenged me to survive angry robots, other players, and planet-destroying climate change
A cybernetic woman holds a silenced pistol
The cyberpunk immersive sim I've been itching to play finally has a release date
Heart of the Machine
Heart of the Machine is Crusader Kings for speculative sci-fi nerds, flipping the script on the cult AI War series
farcana
'The Middle East's answer to Marvel Rivals' is an 'AI-powered', crypto-infused hero shooter that looks like hot garbage
Latest in RPG
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
Latest in News
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway