Insomniac Games' upcoming four-player cooperative action video game, Fuse has undergone several changes during its developmental cycle including an art and name change.
The game was originally called Overstrike before it was rebranded back in August. Insomniac and the game's Electronic Arts recently released the cover art for the new shooter and it is a bit different than the usually triple-A title.
The four main protagonists are bathed in an intense orange glow and their faces are only somewhat visible. In fact the only thing that is totally visible on the box is the game's title. In a recent interview with Joystiq, Insomniac CEO Ted Price explained the box art.
"I'm very clear on what the reaction has been from some of our critics to the cover," Price told Joystiq. "But we wanted to pull attention to the Fuse weapons: the Xenotech. That's why they're featured prominently."
Price explained that the studio took some risk with the cover art but that Insomniac wanted to do something different than what is standard.
"Fuse is - the game revolves around 'Fuse,' storywise and gameplaywise," Price said. "I think that we wanted to do something that was different. Cutting off characters' heads is not something you see in other game covers. The standard approach is to have the full character, front and center, right in the middle of the box - and we took some creative risks with that. I think some people have spoken out about the fact that we took a creative risk. Some people liked it, some people didn't."
According to the article, the cover is the collaborative effort of Insomniac Games and Petrol Advertising, a company that has worked with the likes of Activision, Capcom, Konami, Nintendo and several other game developers.
Price said both companies settled on the final image and that they wanted to showcase the game's four-player cooperative gameplay.
"We also didn't want to do something that looked like Charlie's Angels," Price said. "I think the temptation with four characters sometimes is to have a very high-action shot where they're posing. And we would've been raked over the coals for that."
Fuse will release in March 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. You can read the full interview on Joystiq here and you can watch the game's trailer below...
