Growing up as millennials, we had a ton of ways to let our imagination run free. Whether it was childhood games on the playground like Cops and Robbers, house, Prison Break, Survivor, or Chicken, or reenacting a scene from one of our favorite cartoons, TV shows, or movies, there were a variety of different ways to play. When not out at the playground, we could use our imagination to create beautiful worlds using Legos, Cardboard boxes, K’NEX, Playmobile, or Lincoln Logs.
As video games became more prevalent, developers were able to share their Imagination with us and give us stunning worlds like God Of War, Zelda, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and even Lego. To this day, Lego still has a prevalent hand in the video game atmosphere blending its real-life pieces with digital products. Seeing the success of the Lego franchise, Funko decided to release a game of their own with the help of 1010 Games Ltd called Funko Fusion. Below, we will share our review of Funko Fusion.
Welcome to Funko Fusion where you must rescue & revitalize Freddy from the evil actions of Eddy, the spawn of Satan, just kidding he’s a misunderstood lad. After an almost fatal encounter, you must gather the World Crowns (not the Chaos Emeralds) from seven different universes. Upon going to look for the world crowns, the player is allowed to choose which universe they want to explore first; the player can choose between Jurassic World, Scott Pilgrim US. The World, Umbrella Academy, Masters of the Universe, Hot Fuzz, The Thing, and Battlestar Galactica.
Level Exploration
Upon completing the first level in the selected universe, the player will receive a golden crown that they can use to unlock one of the remaining locked ones. Through the varying levels, players can find multiple silver crowns, upgrade components, and sometimes even cameo events. These events are interactions with characters or one-off giant levels with some of the most popular franchises in history. Players can find and interact with Marty McFly, OmniMan, Voltron, Megman, Freddie (FNAF), and Xena Warrior Princess.
Throughout each level, the player will need to switch between characters in order to complete the base challenges. You will need to unlock most of the universes in order to complete the additional challenges. Clearing a level sounds easier than it really is. You will have to solve a variety of puzzles and use the different character abilities to progress. Although you may complete the level, the level is not done with you. The game insists on have you replay each level in order to find all of its hidden gems and collectibles.
The game features over forty different levels for the player to explore and utilize the different abilities of each character. Some characters are not as necessary as others. The game gives a variety of mission types within the level for the player to complete. The collectible gathering and swapping of characters is similar to how the Lego games handle these aspects.
Downsides
Although each universe’s story can be enjoyable giving players glimpses at key moments that define each franchise, the game’s incomplete nature holds it back. As a game that was advertised as a four-player co-op experience, its current single-player limitation makes the worlds and fights feel unbalanced. Certain puzzles within the game feel like they were designed to be completed by two or more people, but feel like they are barely doable by the skin of your teeth. On multiple occasions, we barely completed a challenge to the point where even the game didn’t fully grasp or depict the completion; it just gave the reward.
On top of the lack of co-op, the game itself does not feel complete; in multiple levels, you can encounter invisible walls that stop you from progressing, items floating in mid-air, and enemies/NPCs running into obstacles and being unable to process what to do next. During multiple stages, even key components of the level were missing. Walls missing showing the map as a whole or objectives being completely invisible without a marker available to guide your way. Additionally, markers would point you in a direction that was not reachable or wouldn’t show a completed objective and leave you to fend for yourself.
Aggravatingly, the game has an issue with not spreading out abilities between different characters and requiring a specific character to complete all the challenges for one type of ability.
Graphics
The game’s level design when it fully loads in or is complete is beautiful. In fact it is comparable to the Lego games and other AAA universes. The game does have an issue with frame dropping and lagging when switching characters; in two instances, it crashed the game entirely. Using a character from a different universe also seemed to cause the game to lag.
Audio/SFX
Funko Fusion has a wide array of music for the player to listen to throughout the story. Certain levels will actually have more than others but the singular levels can have a better soundtrack. On multiple occasions, we were actually surprised that it featured a certain song; in the Umbrella Academy universe, They Might Be Giants – Istanbul (Not Constantinople) song played and hyped up the combat between 5 and the Commission Agents.
Customizable Settings
Funko Fusion offers a wide variety of customizable settings to make the player’s overall experience more enjoyable. In the graphics menu, players can adjust the shadows, view distance, textures, effects, reflection, motion blur, frame rate, and chromatic aberration. With sound, players can adjust the game’s volume and limit the background audio. The game features seventeen languages ranging from English to Chinese. Whether playing with a mouse and keyboard or a controller, players can adjust the mapping layout.
The game offers additional settings to help those who need assistance. The game features three color-blind mode features; when on, players can adjust the colorblind strength settings. There are multiple subtitle options; players can adjust the subtitle text size, color, border, and background opacity.
Replay Value
Funko Fusion looks to give players a good bit of replay value by having certain challenges be unobtainable until completing other levels. As someone who has limited time and is constantly jumping from game to game, this style of progression and expanded gameplay can be quite infuriating. If you do not complete the universes in a certain pattern, you will have to go out of your way to replay levels in order to gather all the collectibles and unlock the different funkos.
Once the game has the previously promised Co-op, replay levels should be more enjoyable, but at the current moment, it feels more like a hassle-hoff than a smooth ride in K.I.T.T.
Verdict
Funko Fusion has the potential to become an enjoyable co-op experience but at this time isn’t quite there. The game feels like it was rushed to market to meet a deadline versus being a completed project. The game offers a good amount of universes but its forced replay aspects can be daunting to players with limited time. The variety of the universes makes it so the game does not feel stale with its enemies or combat and gives a refreshing feeling after spending a good amount in the other universes.
The developer 1010 Games Ltd has stated that they plan to bring co-op to the game in the near future, but at the moment its lack of truly holds it back. The asking price of $49.99 feels rather steep for being an incomplete unpolished game. If you are considering picking up Funko Fusion, we recommend that you wait until the updates have gone through or it goes on sale.
