Funko Fusion hands-on preview — Collectibles and collaboration

You know ‘em. You probably own a few. They resemble a lot of your favorite franchises and characters. That’s right: Funko Pops. These things have been around for a minute and they’re everywhere, and it’s almost shocking it’s taken this long to make a major video game about them. Still, it was a bit of a stunner when Funko Fusion was revealed this year, and after some time playing it, I’m surprised in a few ways.

The immediate comparison for Funko Fusion, fair or not, is going to be TT Games’ LEGO series. Both are inspired by toys, and both collaborate with pop culture’s best. One major differentiator is rating; the LEGO games are family friendly, while Funko Fusion takes a step up to a Teen rating. There are a few reasons, but one is the franchises chosen for the game.

There is plenty of R-Rated material in Funko Fusion, along with some PG-13 stuff some may even find more extreme. Don’t fear, they don’t push the rating past the Teen ESRB affixed to the cover. Jurassic World and Back to the Future are easy choices for the kiddos, but parents may not want to invite inquiring minds once Shaun of the Dead or NOPE levels come into play. It is certainly a wild concoction when it comes to the franchises chosen for Funko Fusion, but it’s pretty cool seeing it all together.

I was able to play two sections, Jurassic World and Hot Fuzz. Both of these had a ton of references, with little stories based around the movies. Nothing is too intricate, but the world is splendidly built, surprisingly detailed even on a lesser scale. I love how the colors… sorry for this pun… pop. It’s a pretty game, and the nods to the moments from the franchises as you progress are well done.

These worlds are presented in semi-open levels. Sometimes your objective will have you following a specific path, but often you’ll be able to run around. This opens up the small side objectives similar to what you’d find in a LEGO game, with collectibles littering the landscape and tons of chests to open. Again, this is fairly simple in terms of gameplay, with nothing requiring much thought. Most of these objectives will be familiar to you as well, like smashing all of a specific potted plant to unlock a chest or going to open a chest but having to defeat spawning enemies before you can.

Jurassic World was the more action-y of the two. It immediately starts with you having to shoot at incoming baddies or dinos. It’s not graphic, with the heads popping off in a hilarious manner. The gameplay is essentially like a third-person shooter with a big, plastic head mode. I think the team at 10:10 knew going simpler was better, and this stays true to that. There’s some melee in there (I like how they give each character a melee weapon befitting them), but it’s not generally over the top.

Each Funko character in a world comes with its own weapon variety. One uses a set of pistols, another has a shotgun, another wields a submachine gun, and finally more of an assault/long range rifle. Just like most other shooting games, some will be better short, medium, or long range, but the levels don’t generally benefit from shifting gameplay styles. Truly, any character works, so pick your favorite. I also didn’t notice any specific abilities for the characters, meaning you won’t need to swap back and forth to open certain paths or do some tasks.

It has been neat seeing some random special weapons. Funko Fusion features a Fortnite-like inventory for soda bottles and cans which give you perks or special weaponry. Some of these are more HP, others can boost your stamina for a few minutes. The weapons are where the fun is, allowing your character to use a different style of gun. Probably the wildest one I used was the MegaMan arm blaster, loaded with the iconic pellets you know and love. That was certainly one way to take down Reverend Philip Shooter in the Hot Fuzz World.

Speaking of Hot Fuzz, this one was really fun. I’m not familiar with the movie, but the choices here work well. The opening takes a much different approach than Jurassic World, with puzzle-like crime solving to do. There’s nothing special to it, you drop down a blacklight to survey a crime scene, move the focus around until you find something, and move on, but it makes the progression different compared to the Jurassic World level. I hope this continues for the other franchises, because it makes them feel more engaging and unique.

While I do like a lot of this, I’m a little bit concerned with the gameplay loop. There are those fun moments like taking down a huge dino in a boss fight or figuring out a puzzle with cameras in Sanford, but the moment to moment gameplay is a bit bland. You move to an area, figure out what task to do, build items or stuff at vending machines, and participate in the collectathon. I’m not sure if Funko Fusion can hold up over an entire game yet, so I’ll need more time with it.

The good news is it does play really well. What’s here might not be revolutionary, and it borrows a lot from other games, but it’s solid. Running around and doing tasks or fighting enemies felt crisp, which is more than some games can claim. If they can manage some memorable levels or storylines, the sturdy performance can support it well.

If you’re all about Funkos, or just a pop culture junkie, there might be something here for you. I didn’t get to check out the co-op in this build, so another feature we rarely see is also a nice positive incoming at release. By the way, dibs on Scott Pilgrim. Funko Fusion releases on September 13th. It’ll be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC, with Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 following on November 15th.

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: