With all of the trailers, showcases, and dev diaries that usually lead as much as a sport’s launch these days, it’s more durable than ever for one to be an actual shock – and that’s very true of a multiplayer first-person shooter when, like me, you’re a Certified Old Gamer™ who’s been taking part in them because the style started. Yet FragPunk has accomplished simply that. What I fearful would possibly find yourself being a Valorant clone with a card gimmick and an enormous record of different buzzword options has as an alternative impressed me with how recent all of it feels. It’s nonetheless early, and I’m removed from able to say if this can be a particular winner, however thus far, I’m having a tough time placing FragPunk down.
In some ways, FragPunk jogs my memory of a reverse Ship of Theseus. If each element of a sport got here from someplace else, does it will definitely develop into one thing unique? It’s onerous to say, however the result’s a minimum of numerous enjoyable. Like Overwatch, it has very distinct characters with huge personalities and distinctive instruments to match them. Like Valorant or Counter-Strike, the first sport mode, known as Shard Clash, revolves round groups of 5 competing to plant or defuse a Converter (aka bomb) or get rid of each other throughout a number of rounds. And like Fortnite, it has a deep bag of beauty gadgets like costumes, weapon skins, stickers, and emotes to entice you to spend some cash on this in any other case free-to-play shooter.
FragPunk’s playable characters are known as Lancers, and thus far this can be a enjoyable group to select from. Some are comparatively typical archetypes, like a sniper named Hollowpoint along with her skills that assist reveal enemies. Others are manner on the market, just like the punk rocker Axon, who shoots lightning from his guitar. Unlike Valorant, the place skills may give you an edge however are hardly ever what win a struggle outright, Fragpunk locations a a lot larger emphasis on utilizing them to dominate the map, which I like. When skills like Broker’s rocket launcher can immediately erase enemies, it feels good to make use of it your self or devise a counter on the fly as you see it coming, like throwing down a wall of Fungi as Pathojen to supply cowl after which returning fireplace from a distant managed fight drone.
Naturally, Fragpunk isn’t all lightning guitars and rockets. Your customary assortment of shotguns, SMGs, assault rifles, and extra types the spine of fight. I don’t thoughts that the weapons actually aren’t the star of the present right here, however I do want there was extra selection to select from. There are two choices in every class you possibly can choose as your major weapon, and so they all shoot just about precisely the way you’d count on. Most of the maps appear to favor medium-range engagements, so I’ve been gravitating towards the SMGs. The gunplay is clean and responsive, and the quick time-to-kill does job of emphasizing the significance of positioning over uncooked gun ability.
The different side of capturing that stands out is how little motion impacts your goal. Unlike Valorant, the place stopping and popping is usually important if you wish to be correct, Fragpunk absolutely embraces working and gunning. I discovered myself repeatedly lagging behind my squad in kill depend till a teammate identified that I’m higher off treating gunfights like Call of Duty with powers, recommendation that put me proper on the high of the subsequent match’s leaderboard. That type of capturing isn’t essentially higher than the extra deliberate motion of different video games, but it surely does stick out as atypical for an objective-based tactical shooter in a manner that looks like an ideal match with the final FragPunk vibe.
The star of the present, nonetheless, is the Shard Card system. Before each spherical, every staff has three random playing cards pulled that gamers can then put Shard Points into, successfully voting on which of them will probably be energetic. The prices of results range, and also you earn extra Shard Points by both getting kills or choosing them up off the bottom mid-round. Some Shard Cards are easy, like one which will increase your motion pace, whereas others are extraordinarily highly effective, like one other that forces the subsequent spherical to play out as a melee battle – or one known as Big Heads, which (as marketed) offers all the enemy staff overgrown, easy-to-hit craniums. A number of are even downright bizarre, like Egg King, which causes you to put an egg after crouching for ten seconds, which you’ll then eat to regain well being. It’s hilarious, completely weird, and in contrast to something I’ve ever seen in a shooter earlier than.
I’m shocked by how a lot I benefit from the card-collecting side of FragPunk. You begin with lower than a 3rd of the 169 complete Shard Cards in your stock and might earn extra after finishing matches. Getting extra issues, because the playing cards which can be randomly chosen earlier than every spherical are based mostly on what every staff member has unlocked. It’s fairly thrilling getting a brand new card and studying what weirdness it’s going to introduce. I additionally respect you could simply see your assortment, learn the impact, and, in some circumstances, watch a fast video exhibiting you precisely what it does.
Rounds of Shard Clash go by quick – probably too quick. In concept, one staff is attempting to plant the Converter on one in every of two goal factors, which the opposite staff would then must defuse… however in apply, the overwhelming majority of rounds finish when one staff wipes out the opposite, typically in only a few minutes. That signifies that matches hardly ever have the identical kind of strategic backwards and forwards that makes hard-fought video games of Valorant so partaking. It additionally signifies that Lancers with skills which have extra of a nuanced, tactical focus have appeared much less viable total thus far. I’d like to hunker down with Nito’s turrets and drone to carry some extent, however that’s only a recipe to have all of the motion occur elsewhere. Hopefully some stability tweaks will arrive to make the aims a extra related a part of the motion.
Matches finish when one staff wins 4 complete rounds, but when each groups attain three wins earlier than that occurs, it prompts one in every of my favourite twists: Duels. This has every staff face off in a collection of 1v1 fights in a small area, and whoever survives sticks round to face the opposite staff’s subsequent champion till each member of 1 has been eradicated. Health and talents don’t regenerate spherical to spherical, which makes it robust for one nice participant to run the desk. The motion is as thrilling as it’s tense, and spectating whilst you root in your teammate and wait on your personal flip is thrilling, particularly once you get the win that clinches the Duel and, by extension, all the match on your staff.
So far, I’m actually having fun with FragPunk, although there are nonetheless some unanswered questions earlier than I can render a ultimate verdict. I’m nonetheless just a few ranges wanting with the ability to compete in ranked competitors, which is a vital mode for this kind of sport. Likewise, as a lot as I’m having fun with each the motion and the hilariously mad Shard Cards, I ponder if that novelty might put on off sooner moderately than later. There are nonetheless extra matches to be fought, Lancers to unlock, playing cards to gather, and fairly just a few in-game currencies to determine. For now, I can say that FragPunk could be very enjoyable, and whereas it’s pulling lots from video games that got here earlier than, it goes towards the grain and mixes in twists in a manner that feels unique, which has me wanting ahead to taking part in extra.
