Funko Fusion developed and published by 1010 Games Ltd is now available on Playstation 4/5, Xbox One, Series S/X, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Funko Fusion has arrived, a game that I have been waiting for, for a long time. Funko Fusion mashes up 20 different franchises from Back To The Future, Hot Fuzz, Shaun Of The Dead, Battlestar Galactica and many more letting you experience and relive beloved franchises as well as adding a Funko twist. The game opens with a battle between Freddy Funko, the factory manager, and his evil twin Eddy. Eddy is desperate to be recognized and hatches an evil plan to destroy Freddy’s crown into 7 pieces hiding it all over the Funko Universe waiting for you to collect them. The story is pretty simple and unfortunately, nothing overly special but the highlight is reliving the stories from the Universe that you’re in, my favourite being the Hot Fuzz world, getting to solve the murders, chasing the murderous villagers over garden fences and of course meet the hero, the Swan. Funko Fusion contains that humour we all know and love from previous LEGO games and delivers it very well through each of the franchises very successfully.
The biggest highlight for me was journeying through the main 7 worlds and the chapters within them and also the cameo worlds, there is something very exciting about crossovers for me. In Funko Fusion the formula is very similar to the older LEGO games, especially LEGO Dimensions, you’ll go across the Universes collecting different collectables, crowns and more to progress the levels to 100%. Overall Funko Fusion is a third-person shooter with melee abilities and each weapon is themed on the character’s likeness, for example, Number Five from Umbrella Acadamy carries a fire axe, and Danny from Hot Fuzz has a cornetto, little details like this give the game variety. Funko Fusion also features collection-like elements that are similar to the LEGO games. Players will have to go back to get the characters with specific abilities to unlock certain areas, I like that myself, some might feel like it’s a lot of backtracking but I enjoy going through and unlocking the different areas and exploring these places more… Okay yeah I explored the Hot Fuzz chapter a lot, it is hilarious. I was slightly disappointed to see that some of the worlds with more chapters didn’t have more than just a cameo world but either way, it’s still great exploring them and unlocking the characters within them to play wherever you want.
Unfortunately, the game is riddled with some really bad bugs, I don’t mind a game that releases with a few bugs here and there, it’s honestly to be expected in this day and age but Funko Fusion sadly has almost game-breaking bugs that will soft lock you and have you start over from the beginning which can be quite frustrating as the levels can be quite long. The gameplay is there for me, it blends a third-person shooter with some interesting elements and lots of exploration, it is as good as the original LEGO games but the bugs just really let the experience down quite a lot, I think with some time and care it could be so much better, I can’t help but feel that is what is affecting peoples opinions on this game right now. The game has good structure and great ideas but it needs polish desperately. I also have trouble with some of the boss battles, it always feels like there’s so much going on and so many characters charging at you I found myself dying a lot, I feel that there needs to be a little bit of balance, but for those who love the challenge, it is that, a challenge.
Funko Fusion runs on Unreal Engine 5 and it looks really good, Apologies for referencing Hot Fuzz again but I am obsessed with the Cornetto Trilogy. Hot Fuzz felt so close to what we saw in the movies but obviously has to condense them to make it easily playable but it does so in a way that is so satisfying. If you want to go and visit the church where Tim Messenger got killed you can do so, want to see Back To The Future’s Hill Valley Clock Tower? It’s all there and looking fantastic, I do think the design of all the levels and characters is well done and I was getting excited about each cameo included because of the look, design and feel of it all. The team at 1010 have put a lot of heart and thought into it all and exploring it has been a joy. Each chapter also has different soundtracks that feature from the TV shows and movies and there are some really good choices however some can get a little bit repetitive at times, some I could listen to looped over and over but some not so much, overall it ties in with each franchise in a really good way to help you relive those moments we all know and love.
Verdict
Funko Fusion is a great game with a lot of different and fun aspects from its chosen cross-over Universes to its mission structure but it is so broken right now. It is really difficult scoring this down because I am having a good time between the issues. There is a lot to love here and I do want to see more from this franchise of games but it needs some love and polish right now to bring it to a much better standard. There have been some frustrating parts of the game however from escort missions to really tough bosses. While I may not be a fan of every franchise in this cross-over it is still fun learning more and getting to play them from start to finish.
nerdybirdgames.com 