The approach conventional Lego video games have seemingly vanished has come as a shock to me. We just lately noticed the launch of Lego Fortnite from Epic, and Lego Horizon Adventures is on the way in which this fall from Guerrilla, however Traveler’s Tales made greater than 30 Lego video games between 2005 and 2022. Nevertheless, it has been greater than two years because the studio launched a Lego recreation, and with no announcement of what is subsequent, there is no assure it will be one other Lego mission. This follows reviews that making the newest recreation within the franchise, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, demanded “in depth crunch.”
That is troubling for the studio’s workers, nevertheless it additionally means there is a void to fill for households and gamers who take pleasure in the way in which Lego video games routinely reimagine popular culture by way of a kid-friendly lens. Funko Fusion might comfortably fill that position when it arrives later this 12 months.
I just lately performed a number of hours of Funko Fusion, spanning ranges that re-imagined Jurassic World and Sizzling Fuzz, which do an excellent job expressing how assorted the IP concerned on this recreation can be. Even in the event you aren’t a fan of the latest films, Jurassic World is huge, which makes the addition of Sizzling Fuzz cool and sudden. It is a cult basic, not a blockbuster, which signifies that on this approach, Funko Fusion fulfills a task the Lego video games by no means might, as they have been all the time targeted solely on top-tier franchises.
In gameplay phrases, nevertheless, it is very similar to Traveler’s Tales’ a long time of output, although it is most of all like The Skywalker Saga, as Funko Fusion is equally performed from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective. Every degree drops you right into a cartoonish tackle the IP, which means the Jurassic World ranges had me working across the park as Chris Pratt’s Owen, Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire, and others, defeating hostile dinosaurs or rescuing pleasant ones. The Sizzling Fuzz ranges took me to the fictional Sandford, the place I patrolled the streets as a big-headed model of Simon Pegg’s character, Nicholas Angel.
Funko Fusion’s playable characters embody a number of for every IP. I haven’t got any affinity for the kitschy vinyl dolls in my life, however I admit that as a online game, they give the impression of being lighthearted and enjoyable. Their absurd dimensions additionally assist the sport lean into humor, like when Claire’s massive Funko Pop head will get caught in a doorway as she runs away from a pack of dilophosaurus, and when enemies are defeated, they break into items like a real-life determine would if it have been dropped from a roof.
The moment-to-moment gameplay is vivid and quick, with button-mashy melee fight that gamers of all ages can rapidly study. There’s much more capturing in Funko Fusion than in most Lego video games, however customizable purpose help ought to permit even much less skilled gamers to flourish right here, too. I do not love that when the weapons are fired, the bullets land as small pink dots, seemingly made to appear like vinyl niblets, which has the possibly unintended impact of trying like blood. That made me uncomfortable a few recreation I’m in any other case excited to play with my children. If these projectiles have been multicolored, it might make them simpler to abdomen.
When not defeating enemies, gamers are free to discover every hub world, smash up the setting to gather gems paying homage to Lego studs, and clear up minor puzzles. The Lego staff all the time known as these “nuzzles,” as in “not puzzles,” given their lack of complexity. Funko Fusion adopts the same strategy more often than not, although there have been others that I really discovered to be trickier than I anticipated, like a group of water valves that wanted to be returned to their pipes throughout a jungle degree. These appeared to all be tied to a upkeep room I discovered, however as a result of I by no means positioned the ultimate valve, I do not know what secret the puzzle would’ve revealed to me, although I would guess it was a crown.
Just like the comically small crown the model’s mascot, Freddy Funko, wears always, crowns are successfully the sport’s main collectible and a forex used for development. A counter suggests there are a whole lot of crowns within the full recreation. You’ll be able to beat a degree to unlock a crown, however by sticking round to do a degree’s non-obligatory aspect actions, you may earn many extra, with a few half-dozen obtainable in every degree I performed. These crowns can help you unlock different ranges within the recreation’s hub world, so there could also be occasions once you’ll must replay some earlier missions with a keener eye to unlock a number of the later ranges.
I hesitate to make use of the model’s identify so repeatedly, however absolutely Lego followers can see how this all sounds acquainted. Do not get me unsuitable; I do not thoughts it. Funko Fusion is standing on the shoulders of a selected large within the household gaming house. Nonetheless, due to its wider swath of franchises to drag from, I am most excited of all to see some uncommon and debuting online game variations of common IP, like Common Monsters, Shaun of the Lifeless, and even Jordan Peele’s Nope.
The franchises introduced for the sport thus far lean into horror fairly a bit, so I am curious, however largely unconcerned to see how this recreation’s framework handles that. It seemingly can not help however sanitize popular culture landmarks similar to Jaws, The Factor, and Kid’s Play, and as an enormous believer in gateway horror, I really like that concept.
Although my preview time with the sport prevented me from taking part in co-op, the complete launch presents four-player on-line co-op, although no native play, sadly. That is too dangerous, because it means households might want to play in separate rooms, if in any respect, and lots of households have only one console or PC anyway. I noticed one instance of a puzzle that’s doable in solo play, however simply barely, whereas in larger groups, it might’ve been a lot less complicated, suggesting there’s good purpose to deliver a pal or three every time you play.
That works for me, as I do subscribe to the adage that many or maybe most video games are higher in co-op. Funko Fusion feels prefer it’ll be such a recreation, and its prolonged tree of unlockable ranges and characters means my household and I could also be taking part in it for a very long time to come back.