Although it’s easy to be cynical about Funko Fusion – with its lengthy roster of playable characters available to purchase as vinyl figures, and even sneaking in product placement for KFC buckets and Loungefly bags – the timing still feels right for a light-hearted universe-jumping collectathon adventure. We haven’t been treated to something like this for a while, with the numerous and once popular ‘toys to life’ franchises now a distant memory, and ridiculously long gaps between one LEGO game and the next. After playing Funko Fusion for a few hours, much of that cynicism fades too – it’s not only well crafted, but many of the franchises represented here are cult classics, with a handful never receiving video game adaptations before.
The introduction sequence doubles as a tutorial, albeit loosely, and explains the world hopping aspect. While managing the vibrantly coloured Funko Pop factory, company mascot Freddy comes under attack from a shadowy goo-smothered doppelganger known as Eddy. During the ruckus, Freddy’s crown becomes shattered and spread across the universe, while Eddy swiftly sets about possessing the villains from each world – who, obviously, must be stopped. The factory acts as a hub where crowns can be turned in, progressing the plot and expanding the backstory incrementally, and a few other rewards can be unlocked. The majority of worlds take 2-3 hours to complete, spread over a handful of stages, which makes a jaunt back to the factory a welcome reprise before diving back into another franchise.
Worlds can be tackled in any order, and their unique hubs gradually expand the factory’s central reservation one layer at a time, complete with a central floating portal to quickly travel from one to the next. Every world selected sees another layer added, and while it may not sound like much here, it’s a pretty neat piece of tech, tailoring the factory floors to the order of worlds a player chooses. From the outset, worlds based on Jurassic World, Scott Pilgrim, The Umbrella Academy, He-Man, Hot Fuzz, The Thing, and Battlestar Galactica are available. Five Nights at Freddy’s, Jaws, Back to the Future, Shawn of the Dead, The Mummy, Nope, and Invincible feature as smaller cameo worlds. Secret rooms can also be discovered, including a battle against the murderous Chucky. It’s an excellent mixture of franchises, to reiterate the opening paragraph, we haven’t seen the likes of He-Man and Battlestar Galactica in video game form for a very long time. And who thought we’d ever see a Hot Fuzz adaptation?
While it’s easy to make comparisons with a typical LEGO tie-in from Traveller’s Tales – and there are indeed some similarities, including the need to wantonly smash objects to collect plastic shards – it’s a very different experience overall. The tone is more mature due to the 16+ age rating, with a smattering of gore and censored swearing. Fire will also melt a character’s face, making them rather ghoulish. A handful of characters, such as those found in The Thing and Hot Fuzz, carry realistic firearms too. The camera is positioned behind your chosen character – with each world having four playable plastic personas – and as such it feels more akin to a third-person shooter, as each carries ranged and melee weapons. Online shooter-esque elements are present too, with the He-Man world commencing with a tower defence battle, and ‘protect the payload’ style missions appearing frequently.
Worlds have been handled with care and showcase a keen eye for detail, with numerous visual gags and references. The He-Man world crams in key characters and ends with a surprise boss battle (and no, it isn’t against Skeletor) while the Hot Fuzz world is an abridged version of the movie that lets you freely roam around the quaint village. There are some formulaic elements used throughout, including the need to find fuses, charge batteries and configure power grids, but most worlds have unique elements too. Battlestar Galactica includes a scene where sentry turrets must be placed to fight off Cylons, while He-Man has several puzzles based around connecting magic portals. The Thing, meanwhile, adds ice melting into the mix. The worlds are peppered with vending machines that provide tools to solve puzzles or progress, and extra health packs and additional weapons can be purchased, with more added over time.
Each world also has unique collectables, some of which are well hidden. In fact, the sheer amount of collectables is overwhelming: KFC buckets and fossils are needed to unlock Colonel Sanders and John Hammond, while the bones of Freddy’s foxy chum are also scattered. Finding all of these is an arduous task, with the total running into triple figures. It’s perhaps fitting that each world is one you’ll want to explore, going from Jurassic World’s lavish waterfalls and dense jungles to the thick outlined edges and cartoon-like smoke plumes adoring He-Man’s fantasy realms. The decision to use Unreal Engine 5 has definitely paid off when it comes to the visuals.
The final stage in each world involves a boss battle that’s often against a super-sized adversary. There’s a touch of creativity here, as each battle involves gathering purple goo to fill a canister before summoning a giant-sized Funko vinyl to end the fight. This puts a novel twist on things, as you need to be careful when gathering and transporting goo, in addition to working out a boss’ weak points. Battlestar Galactica’s boss, for instance, is shielded and you’ll need to purchase sentry turrets and place power crystals to lower their defences.
The level of difficulty overall is challenging. This is mostly because Funko Fusion brings back the age-old concept of lives. You’re granted three as default – with 2-3 three extra lives hidden within the environments, or simply placed within boss arenas – and if you’re faced with a Game Over screen progress on that stage is lost. There are no checkpoints, which does come off as a lazy and needless way to extend the runtime. Although it’s possible to drink Funko Soda to restore health, this can be tricky when being attacked – it’s vital to find a quiet area to recover. Upon death, characters are transformed into ghosts and must return to a respawn point within a time limit. Each respawn costs a significant amount of plastic shards, meaning you may not have enough left to purchase the silver crown found within each world.
Some worlds are harder than others, and as they aren’t ranked by difficulty, jumping straight into one of the tougher examples can make for a rough first impression. I started with the He-Man world as it opens with a combat-focused mission, I had trouble learning the controls and figuring out how to use portals. A few of the game’s more unique features aren’t explained either; the assumption is made that you’ve simply come across certain things previously. Battlestar Galactica had me stumped twice, requiring crystals to be shot and auto-turrets placed to open doors – with no pointers whatsoever. Ideally, each world needed a brief video tutorial to explain the new ideas and gizmos you’ll come across.
A few glitches also crept in occasionally. I had to endure Hot Fuzz’s boss battle with an image of Chucky in the middle of the HUD, and music also stops playing occasionally, although this isn’t too detrimental. Most worlds simply re-use the musical score from their silver-screened counterparts, consequently playing on short loops (although the He-Man theme tune will always be a belter.) An extra month or two in development to apply additional polish and add the planned co-op mode (due at a later date) would’ve been beneficial.
I still feel the developers should be proud of what they’ve achieved here. It’s a meaty and substantial package, with a lot to become invested in – each world feels suitably different from the last, and although some locations are recycled it’s either done cleverly or is simply down to mimicking the events of the source material. The 2-3 hour runtime of each world means none overstay their welcome, and this bite-sized nature makes it possible to beat a world over the course of an evening (or two) before leaping into the next. I genuinely enjoyed spending time in these worlds, noticing little details while taking in their unique sights and sounds. Combat could’ve been more in-depth, and a few franchises aren’t used to their fullest (Jurassic World is largely forgettable) but unlike the oddly proportioned noggins of the game’s stars, it’s a pretty well-rounded package.
1010 Games’ Funko Fusion is out now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series. PS4 and Switch versions are planned for later this year.