As soon as it was revealed, commenters on popular gaming websites and communities around the internet called the Fuse box art out, citing its odd aesthetic of cutting off the four main characters' faces and intense use of the color orange.

"I'm very clear on what the reaction has been from some of our critics to the cover, but we wanted to pull attention to the Fuse weapons: the Xenotech. That's why they're featured prominently," Insomniac CEO Ted Price told Joystiq during a Fuse preview event showcasing the multiplayer mode Echelon.

"Fuse is - the game revolves around 'Fuse,' storywise and gameplaywise. 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."

The cover itself was created in collaboration with Petrol Advertising, an LA-based outfit whose clients include Activision, Capcom, Konami, Nintendo and numerous other gaming entities. "We worked with them and came up with a whole bunch of different approaches," Price admits. Eventually both parties decided on the image above.

"Our goal was to very clearly indicate that this is a four-player game, a four-character game. We also didn't want to do something that looked like Charlie's Angels," Price joked. "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."