Foamstars does not deserve the hate. Hand-waving comparisons to Nintendo’s Splatoon are shallow; past each video games that includes weaponry that fires one thing aside from bullets, they’re two fairly completely different experiences. Square Enix’s new multiplayer sport is extra of a hero shooter than the rest, and whereas its launch content material is pretty slim, there’s plenty of potential on this off-beat providing.
As the title suggests, the sport has four-player groups firing foam at one another, all with a glitzy, upbeat vibe. Kills are rebranded right here as ‘chills’, and the already vibrant arenas shall be full of suds of assorted colors in seconds. While it sounds uncommon, the usage of foam right here is sort of intelligent. The substance will be constructed up, permitting everybody to create cowl, block off pathways, make vantage factors, attain greater platforms, and so forth. This lends the gameplay a novel tactical edge.
The foam has different properties, too. Spraying your workforce’s foam on the opposing workforce’s will erase it, and you may surf alongside the suds of your color to get round tremendous shortly — however the different aspect’s will gradual you to a crawl. This means you’ve got each purpose to cowl the sector in your workforce’s foam as a lot as doable, minimising the manoeuvrability of your opponents.
Scoring kills chills is a bit more concerned than simply decreasing a well being bar; doing so will flip your enemy right into a ball of froth, and it’s good to slide into them whereas browsing to make the elimination. Furthermore, in case your teammates have been foamed up, you possibly can slide into them to save lots of them, encouraging your squad to regulate each other.
The predominant mode of play is Smash the Star, a spin on Team Deathmatch. You should rating seven chills towards the opposing workforce, at which level a Star Player emerges. Your job is to then remove them, however they’ve buffed well being and energy. It’s a fast-paced mode and the best to know of the three.
While Smash the Star is all the time out there, the opposite two are rotated hourly. One is Happy Bath Survival; this divides your four-player workforce into two, with a pair in a central area and one other pair above it, providing help whereas the spherical lasts. The spherical ends when a workforce within the area is eradicated. It’s a novel mode that additionally strikes fairly shortly, however whenever you’re within the supporting function it may be laborious to discern whether or not you make a significant distinction to the motion.
Rubber Duck Party is an escort-style mode during which your workforce must seize the big bath-time toy and assist it attain your opponent’s objective. The catch right here is that the duck strikes quicker in your foam however slower on enemy foam, plus you possibly can swing the momentum in your workforce’s favour dramatically by performing a dance on the duck. It leaves you uncovered for some time, however in case you succeed, the duck will get a giant enhance. The push and pull of this mode is sort of intense because the motion has a singular point of interest, and its foolish nature simply lends it plenty of appeal.
Aside from the versus modes you’ve got Mission mode, during which you defeat fundamental waves of cutesy baddies as they march in the direction of you. Unfortunately, whether or not you play the solo or co-op missions, this portion of the sport is sort of bland in comparison with the zippy and fewer predictable PvP. However, the single-player challenges particularly are good for studying how every character performs, so they are not with out worth.
The eight characters at launch are pleasingly distinctive. They every have their main weapon — starting from rapid-fire twin pistols to weapons that spray foam nearly like a flamethrower — and on prime of that, they’ve a pair of particular talents and an final. These can actually flip the tide of battle, whether or not it is easy foam grenades, turrets that shoot opponents inside vary, or a vacuum-style skill that ensnares enemies. The final powers cost up over time, whereas the pair of talents run on cooldowns. Each character performs fairly otherwise from the subsequent, however we discovered the stability to be well-judged — most matches we performed had been very shut no matter workforce composition.
It’s a disgrace the designs of the characters themselves aren’t as properly conceived. They’re fairly inconsistent — there is a purpose Soa, the woman with the baseball cap and the pink and blue hair, is the frontrunner. We additionally fairly like Tonix, however the remainder of the launch roster is pretty forgettable.
Generally, although, the presentation reinforces Foamstars’ refreshingly energetic and lighthearted really feel. An opulent high-rise lounge is your hub, the place you possibly can get together up with buddies, customise your characters and profile, observe all of your foamy strikes, and go to the store. Alongside the music, which is surprisingly good, it is a fairly highly-polished, trendy sport. Matchmaking can generally take a while, however usually it is technically sturdy too, with no discernible dip in body charge and a few strong use of the DualSense’s haptics in addition.
Going again to that store, although — it is laborious to disregard simply how extortionate the in-game purchases are. Granted, they’re all completely elective beauty items, however when it is asking you £8.99/$10.99 for a personality pores and skin, as much as £4.49/$5.49 for an emote, and £36.99/$44.99 for a character-specific bundle pack, it is a bit a lot. Again, it is all stuff you possibly can fortunately stay with out — it is simply asking lots for little or no.
Conclusion
Foamstars is a vibrant, distinctive, and entertaining shooter. The modes and characters on provide at launch are enjoyable twists on style staples, and the central foam mechanic is a playful addition with some potential for technique. It’s lighthearted, fast-paced enjoyable with loads of model. While the steep microtransactions and the so-so co-op missions preserve it from being squeaky clear, there’s lots to love about this bubbly multiplayer title.
