When I first saw gameplay footage from Funko Fusion, my first thought was, “Hmm, this looks a bit like a Lego game.” This makes sense, of course, since developer 10:10 Games is full of former employees from Traveller’s Tales, the studio responsible for pretty much every Lego game ever made (except for the upcoming Lego Horizon Adventures), but it was still a bit weird to see the familiar Lego minifigures replaced with vinyl figures from Funko. Having now played some of the game, that odd feeling is still there, but I definitely didn’t hate my time with it.
If you’ve played Lego Dimensions or any of the Lego games, much of what’s on offer here will seem very familiar. There’s a central world through which you enter game worlds based on various IPs, most, though not all, seem to be drawn from Universal’s library. You select a character, usually one from the world you’re playing in, and jump in.
In terms of story, there isn’t much to talk about yet. This is an early version of the game with only a few worlds available, but it feels like most of the story of Freddy Funko – the game’s main protagonist – takes a back seat to the story of the world. In the version I played, there were two main worlds available, one based on Jurassic World and another based on Hot Fuzz, and since I’ve never seen Hot Fuzz, I mostly focused on the Jurassic World… world.
Each world takes you through a loose interpretation of the story it’s based on, toned down a tiny bit to make it a bit more family-friendly. Jurassic World didn’t need much help in this regard, but suffice it to say you won’t see a realistic depiction of someone being ripped in half by a dinosaur with blood pouring out. That’s not to say there isn’t any blood, because as you’ll see in the Hot Fuzz level, there’s certainly a surprising amount of it for something that’s rather family-friendly, but it’s not scary in the slightest.
Instead, the narrative leans into the Funko quality of it all, acknowledging and even poking fun at the fact that the world and its inhabitants are made of vinyl. This approach worked in the Lego games and largely works here too – it’s silly, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and can provide the occasional laugh.
Like a Lego game, you wander through the world, following little pieces of the story, beating up enemies that shatter into pieces of vinyl, and solving environmental puzzles. To be honest, I don’t like the combat, which mostly consists of hitting enemies from a distance with a very generous aim assist or mindlessly hammering the melee button when enemies are nearby. Sorry to bring this up again, but the whole thing really does feel a lot like a Lego game, and the combat being a bit boring is fitting too. The aim assist is at least customizable, but there isn’t much reason for it since the combat isn’t really the main attraction here.
Solving the puzzles, however, is much more interesting and varies a lot. Some of the environmental puzzles are similar to a Lego game where you just wander around until you find the really easy solution, but some were actually quite tricky. I’m not saying any of these will leave you stumped for more than a few minutes, but I actually had to think about some things and one of the puzzles I didn’t finish at all because I couldn’t quite figure it out before I decided to move on.
Funko Fusion also does a good job of integrating its source material into each world. The Hot Fuzz world requires you to use a scanner to find clues about a suspicious car crash and then investigate the murder of a man named Tim, which I’m told is pretty accurate to what happens in the movie. The Jurassic World world requires you to track down and tranquilize dinos so they don’t terrorize guests or run away from large dinosaurs stomping around the park, and the whole thing feels very respectful and somewhat faithful. It’s clear that the team at 10:10 have a lot of admiration for the IPs they’re working with here, which goes a long way to making it feel less businesslike and sterile.
And I think that’s my main takeaway from my time with Funko Fusion. Despite being a Funko video game based on one of the most corporate merchandise lines in recent history, Funko Fusion just about manages to get away with a level of seriousness you wouldn’t expect. It’s entertaining, it looks good, and the gameplay is mostly pretty entertaining. It might just be a Lego game with swapped out minifigures, but there’s never been anything wrong with Lego games, and there’s nothing really wrong here either.
Funko Fusion will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on September 13, 2024, followed by a release for Nintendo Switch and PS4 on November 15, 2024.
