Funko Pop! Vinyl figures feel like they’ve always been in our lives and there’s so many available, that there’s literally a figure for everyone. From iconic franchises such as ‘The Walking Dead’ through to classic Hollywood films such as ‘Jurassic Park’, there’s pretty much no stone left unturned. It was inevitable that at some point the popular collectibles would be turned into a game and 10:10 Games have done just that. ‘Funko Fusion’ aims to bring many of the different Pop! Vinyl worlds together in an action-shooter game. Released on some consoles earlier in the year, the game has recently made its way to PS4 and Nintendo Switch as a digital release. This review is based on the PS4 version of the game.
On paper ‘Funko Fusion’ sounds like a total blast. Players get the opportunity to take on a range of different Funko Pop! Vinyl figures (with even more released via DLC packs including ‘The Office’ and ‘The Walking Dead’). When you first load up the game you can pick from several worlds including ‘Jurassic World’, ‘The Umbrella Academy’, ‘He-Man’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’. Honestly, it’s a random collection of titles to choose from and aside from ‘Jurassic World’, I’d argue the rest are fairly niche and definitely not as well-known.
There’s some set up about Freddy being taken over by his evil counter-part Eddy, who in turn spreads evil purple goo around the various Funko worlds. Once you pick a world to start in, I picked ‘Jurassic World’, you set off on quests around environments from the franchise. There’s the ability to switch between four different characters, each with their own special skills and strengths (although sometimes these can feel very familiar from one character to another). Collecting vinyl throughout the levels enables you to mould items that you’ll need such as springboards and energy drinks, and you need vinyl to bring your character back to life if you’re killed while playing.
Throughout there are opportunities to complete missions, replay levels and unlock new characters. There are boss fights to look forward to, although these are pretty challenging at times and can be a bit confusing. The combat leaves plenty to be desired with opponents barely registering hits, and at times seeming completely invincible regardless of how often you shoot them.
There are unfortunately plenty of downsides to ‘Funko Fusion’. Right off the bat, the slow-loading of the game is a big issue. On three separate occasions I had to download updates in order to get the game to start up, and once the game loads it took a good 10 minutes or so from loading to being able to actually play the game. Load times in-between stages was painfully long too, killing the momentum and excitement.
Add to that the random feel of the game, which often leaves you completely clueless as to what you need to do. The environments are packed with opponents and collectibles, but it’s about as clear as mud what you need to do. Even the handy hint tool that pops up isn’t always that helpful and you can find yourself running around for a long time and achieving nothing. I also found the game fairly random in terms of its save points, often returning to play it again only to discover I had to replay bits I’d already done as it hadn’t saved.
‘Funko Fusion’ is a great idea on paper but in execution sadly it’s lacking. There’s a good idea in there and with the amount of updates and DLC content, maybe it’ll become the game it could have been in time. At the moment though it plays like a poor man’s version of the LEGO games and it doesn’t capitalise on its potential. Maybe a little bit more time in the studio may have benefitted this game and served up the game that Funko fans deserved.
Publisher: 10:10 Games Release date: 9th December 2024 (PS4 and Nintendo Switch)
