As someone who has amassed an obscene amount of Funko Pop! collectible figurines over the years, the idea of a game with them front and centre instantly caught my attention. The game in question is Funko Fusion and it’s a third-person action adventure featuring a host of well-known franchises. The fact that Funko Fusion is developed by 10:10 Games, founded by people with experience working on some excellent LEGO games, gives credence to the concept being in rather good hands.
Should Funko Fusion be seen as a spiritual evolution to the LEGO games, poised to take the world by storm?
Well, right now, it’s highly doubtful, but I’ll explain where it’s gone awry and why there’s still potential beyond the current problems.
Originally billed as an online co-op game for up to four players, Funko Fusion has arrived bereft of such capabilities for the time being. Hence, this is a solo offering in which you must help company mascot, Freddy Funko, as he faces a terrible new threat. It’s the nefarious Eddy, who’s attempting to kill off poor Freddy in order to take over this world, as well as those in other dimensions. Thus the adventure begins as you follow his path of destruction and try to put a stop to such tyranny.
It’s not the most interesting overarching plot involving Eddy and Freddy, but it does just about manage to knit the rest of the game together. You see, there are more exciting stories to be told here; those inspired by various NBCUniversal owned television shows and movies. As such, expect to witness memorable moments from the likes of Hot Fuzz, Jurassic World, The Umbrella Academy, and more, paid homage to in Pop! style. These cutscenes are reminiscent of the classic LEGO ones, with a key difference being that blood and gore are on the cards here. While you’ll find numerous attempts at humour within the short scenes, very few are likely to actually make you chuckle.
In total there are seven different worlds to venture through in Funko Fusion, each comprising five levels to complete. The worlds are themed based on Battlestar Galactica, Hot Fuzz, Jurassic World, Masters of the Universe, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, The Thing, and The Umbrella Academy. In regards to the IPs, there’s something for everyone, but the wide spectrum may also mean folks aren’t familiar with everything. What’s great though is that you can choose whichever realm you want to unlock first and the rest are playable in any order, once you earn the required amount of crowns.
At the start of a level, you’ll pick from one of four characters of the world you’re in and have the ability to switch at any point via a Funko Pop! box. No matter which level you are on however, the core gameplay is made up of three things – combat, puzzles, and exploration.
Focusing on combat initially, enemies are likely to swarm you while trying to follow the objectives given and there are two ways to deal with them. One option is to melee attack using weapons relevant to the character you’re playing as e.g. Prince Adam and his sword, or Danny Butterman and a Cornetto. The other is to perform ranged attacks, with shotguns, plasma rifles, a magical wand, and such things. Swapping between the two is an absolute must, mainly due to foes occasionally being immune to certain damage, but also as a result of their offensive approach too.
The fighting is always intense, perhaps a little overwhelming for novices, which becomes even trickier to handle during boss encounters. Regular bosses have simple patterns to watch out for, but it’s not super clear as to how to cause them damage. The jumbo-sized bosses are a real slog as you shoot the gooey parts to collect them, before calling in a jumbo ally for assistance. Dying is highly likely as the bosses and minions combine to drain your health bar rather swiftly. Once your lives are gone, that’s it.
Funko Fusion is no pushover, which would be less of a problem if there was an opportunity to retry from the current objective. Instead, it forces you to restart the entire level from scratch and that leads to repetition. Avoiding death is the optimal choice, but the odds are stacked against you when even the health-increasing sodas are more of a hindrance than a help. Equipping and using an item is finicky, taking far too long to consume in the heat of battle.
Fortunately, the puzzling aspect is damn good and offers a wide range of ideas, both old and new. Completing electrical circuits with puzzles inspired by Pipe Mania and that buzz wire game where you move a wand along a wire, are commonplace. There are also a raft of craftable gadgets and gizmos that are used creatively to aid you past obstacles. Gas canisters blow things up in a literal and figurative sense, amps smash glass and transport you across gaps, and portals get to those hard to reach places. Considering the timed problems also in effect in some areas, it provides a real good mixture of concepts to keep you thinking.
The final part, the exploration, is necessary in order to locate treasure chests, secrets, and generally just find things to break apart. Anything you do destroy within the environment garners Vinyl, which is the currency of Funko Fusion. You’ll gain more of this from chests and may need to spend Vinyl to open up other treasures, which might include powerful weapons.
As for the secrets and collectibles, I’ll not spoil too much, however there’s plenty of scope for replayability. That’s because certain puzzles might require tools or people unlocked in a world you haven’t traversed yet. Bumping into familiar characters and unearthing special cameo levels from other franchises is certainly a good enough reason to return to previously completed areas. The only caveat though, is how the freeplay of levels you’ve already finished are just as tricky as they were the first time. A chilled mode without any hassle, as well as a mini-map, would be a much better setup to enjoy the exploration side more.
Moving on to the roster, and I feel like it’s very limited. Possessing just over sixty characters may seem a lot, but a fair few are there to make up the numbers. Especially in regards to Jurassic World and Hot Fuzz, where I doubt anyone will try half of the available options for lack of interest. What I do like however, are the special abilities that some of the others have to ensure they stand out. Teleportation, the art of coercion, and a flamethrower are enough to get me excited for a little while.
Design-wise, it’s hard to fault the environments created for each world as they fit the franchises almost perfectly. The Masters of the Universe setting is where it peaks, with a wonderfully cartoon-y style that really sets it apart from the rest. I think it helps to have licensed music too, with every noticeable backing track adding to the vibe of what’s going on.
Disappointingly, I can’t end on a positive note, for there are issues galore in Funko Fusion, to the point where many would just give up trying. Most of the problems lead to the game needing a reboot because it’s bugged out. Enemies not spawning as intended or appearing stuck inside a structure are just other examples. Another sees the whole thing freeze up while changing characters or whilst using the molding machines to mold gadgets. But there are a ton of weird glitches that occur, all of which put you on edge, wondering if you’re going to have to restart again.
While I will give credit to 10:10 Games for working swiftly on releasing some fixes already, it’s poor form to release Funko Fusion in such a state.
Ultimately, Funko Fusion ends up being a pop culture-fest that’s overly difficult and a bit of a mess. The technical issues are worrisome, but the fact that the gameplay is geared up for a co-op setup not yet available is a real head-scratcher. Nevertheless, when it works, the puzzles are smartly implemented and the worlds are very well-created. There’s a generous amount of replayability too, which is enticing for completionists.
As it stands, I’d hang fire on grabbing Funko Fusion until it’s less problematic and has co-op functionality.
Funko Fusion brings Funko Pop! to life – release date confirmed! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/funko-fusion-brings-funko-pop-to-life/
The Ultimate Funko Pop Game: Funko Fusion is on Xbox, PlayStation and PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-ultimate-funko-pop-game-funko-fusion-is-on-xbox-playstation-and-pc/
Buy Funko Fusion on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/funko-fusion/9n1dxpflxwmx
