After the widespread, generation-spanning success of Traveller’s Tales’ LEGO games, you may think it’s easy to assume exactly what a Funko game would look like. That’s unsurprising, because the two plasticine-based behemoths broadly occupy the same target audience: franchise fans desperate to find merch for practically every IP out there.
Interestingly, Funko Fusion – a third-person shooter crossed with an action game from 10:10 Games – isn’t what you’d initially expect. It’s a little more grown-up, both from the franchises it cherry-picks to the overall tone, but there may not be enough here to convince anyone except the most ardent fans of its selected IP.
The game plays fast-and-loose with its narrative, throwing you into a scenario where an evil version of Funko mascot Freddy gets ominous goo powers and throws the balance of various fictionalized worlds into chaos. It’s up to you to then embody a range of Funko-twinged characters within each universe to save the day. The game lets you pick and choose the order in which you take on each world, which is a nice touch if you’ve got a particular favorite you want to explore.
Gameplay-wise, Funko Fusion is about as far from the well-trodden LEGO formula as you could expect. Yes, you still spend a lot of time smashing practically any nearby destructible object – but this time it’s for vinyl instead of studs. That said, it’s much more of a fast-paced shooter at heart, feeling a lot more like Fortnite’s Save the World story mode than anything brick-based. It’s a slightly more mature twist on the formula, combining its colorful visuals with shooting that feels shockingly good.
That said, the missions are rarely engaging or entertaining enough to make you really care about what you’re doing. You’ll often be left to your own devices in a small sandbox area to find a certain amount of collectibles – and there’s even the odd linear escort mission that it’s hard to fathom made it into a 2024 release. The game functions best when you’re puzzle-solving or shooting at enemies and bosses, so if there was more focus on this over blindly leaving you to your own devices to hunt down a set of objects, it would feel more engaging.
Even if the frame rate isn’t always the most stable in this pre-released build I played – especially when there are lots of NPCs and environmental effects on the screen at once – the game does look consistently gorgeous. Each Funko figure is rendered very faithfully to the real thing, with the accurate levels of grain and shine that you’d expect from a plastic figure. Fans of the brand and its figures will fall in love with the visual design easily, and even the open environments look very good, often lushly detailed and full of areas to explore.
It’s just hard to recommend Funko Fusion in its entirety unless you’re already a diehard fan of the franchises it’s adapting. Without that baked-in loyalty to each IP, it’s likely that levels will feel slightly more laborious if you don’t recognize the characters or catch the tongue-in-cheek references.
Your mileage with the game hinges on your interest in the worlds it pastiches, but there’s enough charm here that even if you’re tangentially invested, you’ll have a good time. It’s not an earth-shattering game by any means, but Funko Fusion is more than enough fun to experience your favorite series in innovative new ways.
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