Developer: 1010 Games Ltd
Publisher: 1010 Games Ltd
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PC
Funko Fusion – Review
Even though we aren’t the biggest Funko collectors out there, we do have a few of the plastic big-headed figurines in our dimly lit dedicated gaming space. Many either love the collectibles, while others find them the equivalent of the nearly-forgotten Beanie Babies that were all the rage back in the ’90s. Nonetheless, when we saw some early footage of Funko Fusion we were hoping for an experience much akin to that of the LEGO games, but sadly we were proven wrong only minutes into the game. While the developers probably had something similar in mind, the lack of polish, odd game design choices, and the ridiculous amount of technical issues turned this title into something that should not have been released yet.
Story
Truth be told, we had to go look up who the rivaling characters in Funko Fusion were, as we witnessed Funko Freddy being attacked by the dastardly Eddy Funko. Without too many bells and whistles, we see Eddy Funko take over other Funko characters by employing a purple gooey substance that immediately puts these characters under his control. You and the many other characters from different Funko universes have to stop his villainous deeds by any means necessary. It’s a simple premise, and it works for a game such as this. However, we felt that the presentation and overall cohesion of the plot could have been a lot better.
Graphics
Funko Fusion’s graphics may be one of the game’s strong points. All the characters in the game look great, and it’s as if the actual Funkos came to life, albeit digitally. We loved the overall diverse selection of Funkos, and it was quite interesting to see new ones being added to the roster or what enemies would pop up around the corner. The characters from the different franchises were immediately recognizable, and the diverse selection was also rather impressive. The levels themselves, however, were a bit of a mixed bag. Some levels looked great with fun backdrops and just the right amount of clutter, while others looked empty, bland, and very uninspired. We also encountered a few visual bugs where button prompts would remain on the screen for the entire duration of the level we were in at that time.
Sound
All in all, the sound design isn’t too bad, and you’ll hear some iconic tunes here and there. Once again we were reminded of the old-school LEGO games where characters make gibberish sounds and the SFX rely on comedic sounds. The supporting soundtrack does its job, and it sets the tone for many of the game’s stages.
One thing became increasingly grating the further we progressed through the game, and that was a very annoying sound bug. Even though our volume was already turned down quite a bit, every time a cinematic began, it would raise the volume during said cinematic to almost a deafening volume. This didn’t happen once or twice, but literally during every cutscene the game has. We looked in the options menu to see if there was a separate volume setting for cutscenes, but we couldn’t immediately find anything there.
Gameplay
Mixed presentation and sound issues aside, it all goes wrong when it comes to Funko Fusion’s gameplay. This quirky action platformer has all the right building bricks to be a success, much like the LEGO games are, but it seems the development team behind the game simply doesn’t know what actually makes a game entertaining. You’ll play through fairly short stages with characters of different ‘universes’ to beat enemies to a pulp, solve puzzles, and hopefully find a few collectibles on the way. The offset is very straightforward, but the execution is extremely lacking.
As stated above, the overall gameplay format is fairly straightforward. You go from one Funko universe to another, to play through levels in said universe. You’ll have to battle many of the same generic grunts over and over again, and they keep relentlessly attacking you as you try to solve puzzles. Some of the puzzles are a bit unclear, and the game often doesn’t really give you a great explanation as to how things work or what is really expected of you. You’ll probably go through a bit of trial and error in some of the stages, and you might even get annoyed as in some levels the enemies seemingly keep on spawning endlessly. Even so, when things are clear, and you aren’t struggling with the floaty and unresponsive controls, Funko Fusion shows you what the game could have been. Sadly, this feeling wanes rather quickly when nearly identical boss battles provide the closing chapter of the different Funko universes. With a bit of additional polish and some more engaging gameplay mechanics, this could have been on par with many of the LEGO games.
Outside of the monotonous gameplay loop, the dodgy controls, and the general blandness of the characters’ abilities, the game also suffers from many technical issues. More than once, we couldn’t progress through a stage because certain events did not trigger at all. We did what the game required of us, simply for it to never progress. We also saw this issue with boss battles where we received the objective of killing the boss, for the boss never to spawn, even when enemy waves stopped spawning as well. On top of that, we saw numerous crashes and the aforementioned sound bug. We do have to give credit where it’s due, as during our review period we did see the developer putting out quite a few patches in order to fix issues. It’s currently not even close to being a stable gaming experience, but we have some hope that the game will be ‘fixed’ further down the line.
Conclusion
As stated during our review, Funko Fusion has all the necessary building blocks for a hit title but sadly due to poor design choices, clunky controls, repetitive levels, and a whole lot of technical issues, the game falls rather flat. When the game worked and the level design proved to be a little more than just bonking plastic figurines in the head, we actually enjoyed ourselves. Sadly, these moments were few and far between, and Funko Fusion ended up becoming a frustrating mess. Even so, there’s still a bit of a silver lining for those still hoping that the game could redeem itself, as the developers are clearly still actively patching the many technical issues.
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