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Within the crowded aggressive shooter market, Fragpunk is a breath of recent air. This can be a extra informal first-person shooter (FPS) than the likes of Counter-Strike 2 or Valorant, geared in the direction of producing fast bursts of adrenaline-fueled enjoyable relatively than forcing you to cope with any notably complicated technique.
Assessment information
Platform reviewed: PC
Obtainable on: PC (Xbox Collection X, Xbox Collection S, PS5 TBC)
Launch date: March 6, 2025
This can be a blessing and a curse, because it results in snappy matches which are a blast in its flagship informal mode however typically leaves issues feeling frustratingly random in a correct aggressive format. This would not essentially be a deal-breaker for these gamers preferring to maintain issues relaxed, however there are different points that drag the expertise down.
Card counter strike
When you’ve ever performed a match of Counter-Strike, then you definately’ll know roughly what to anticipate right here as Fragpunk follows the identical form of format. Two groups of 5 gamers face off in a number of rounds, with the attacking facet in search of to put a converter (learn: bomb) at a chosen web site on the map. For the defenders, the purpose is to stop it from going off in any respect prices – often by killing your complete enemy group earlier than it’s positioned or defusing it on the final second.
Sides swap at half time, with the primary group to win 4 rounds topped the victor. Thus far nothing particular, however developer Unhealthy Guitar Studio mixes issues up via its marquee addition: Shard Playing cards. These are highly effective buffs that may essentially change how every recreation performs out.
In the usual Shard Conflict mode, each groups are provided a choice of three random playing cards between rounds. To activate a card, the group must spend a sure variety of Shard Factors that are awarded to every participant relying on their efficiency within the match. As probably the most highly effective playing cards typically require 5 or so factors to activate, a number of gamers might want to choose them with the intention to reap the advantages – a intelligent option to reward extra intently coordinated groups.
The consequences of every shard card fluctuate massively, opening the door to a great deal of thrilling gameplay prospects. A few of my private favorites embrace one which hilariously teleports broken foes again to their spawn level and one other that covers your complete map in snow and ice – inflicting each groups to slip round chaotically.
After all, I am unable to assist but additionally point out a card that enables your group to put eggs, sure eggs, by crouching for a number of seconds after which devour them for a fast well being enhance. Is that this the form of randomness that you’d wish to resolve a decent aggressive match? Completely not, nevertheless it’s a blast in the event you’re not taking issues severely.
Who wants stability, anyway?
If the Shard Playing cards weren’t sufficient, Fragpunk additionally options 13 hero-like Lancers with their very own particular talents. Every character has three they usually vary all the best way from borderline ineffective (I’m Corona’s underwhelming sprint and Jaguar’s puny electrical traps right here) to fully overpowered. There are even a number of characters that may flip practically invisible, letting you get behind the enemy group in seconds.
I favored the traditional undead mummy Serket for this function, as she will scout out close by enemies as a hard-to-see beacon earlier than teleporting to it in a flash. In her cloaked state enemies are displayed as these obscure tornadoes, presumably to hide which method they’re dealing with so it’s somewhat tougher to seem proper subsequent to them undetected, although I’m nonetheless routinely in a position to wipe out three or 4 gamers from the rear with out a lot opposition.
Finest bit
The Shard Playing cards are positively the most effective a part of Fragpunk. On prime of those who I’ve talked about elsewhere, I really like the one which makes enemy heads gigantic for simple headshots and one other that provides your group a double leap.
The character Dealer then boasts a one-hit rocket launcher, whereas Hollowpoint has a brilliant highly effective sniper rifle that may be summoned with the clicking of a button. Each Lancer has an eye catching design, which shines because of the cartoony cel-shaded art-style, and given the sheer breadth of themes they embody there’s going to be at the least one which mechanically or aesthetically appeals to you.
Sadly, the Lancers do carry the sport’s dire monetization to the fore. Exterior of the small handful that you simply begin with, they value about $5 / £4 price of Fragpunk Cash – probably the most useful of the three in-game currencies – every. You should purchase them with the extra widespread Gold too, however they’re extremely costly and would take weeks, if not months, of grinding to acquire. A number of the strongest characters are locked behind this paywall, which leaves a little bit of a bitter style.
Worse nonetheless, nearly each a part of the primary menu looks like it is making an attempt to promote you one thing and is clogged with countless tabs speaking about occasions, challenges, bonuses, limited-time retailer presents, and extra. That is on prime of a pushy subscription service (which supplies you month-to-month bonuses and entry to each Lancer so long as you’re subscribed) and two varieties of battle go, although I can’t actually complain in regards to the latter because it’s moderately priced and has a good variety of rewards.
Not right here for the lengthy haul
The choice of maps right here is strong, however none notably stand out by way of format or theme, and the weapons are broadly tremendous in design phrases. There’s positively some extra balancing work to be achieved between the 9 weapon classes, although, as the 2 submachine weapons and assault rifles appear disproportionately highly effective.
There’s virtually no cause to not use them, as they excel at seemingly any vary. In distinction, the marksman weapons (a center level between assault rifles and sniper rifles) are pathetically weak and, in consequence, nearly by no means seen in matches. Nonetheless, this may very well be simply remedied with a number of patches.
Much less easy to repair are the arcade modes, that are typically poor. The likes of Free for All and Sniper Deathmatch are fully uninspired and the weird Outbreak mode (the sport’s tackle Halo’s thrilling An infection) is comically badly designed. Each match that I performed devolved into the human group tenting in the identical handful of impenetrable corners, leaving the zombie facet unable to do way more than watch for the match timer to tick all the way down to zero. It’s not remotely enjoyable for both group and I’m already noticing queue instances rising, presumably as different gamers start to understand this.
This all results in an internet recreation that may be a delight at time however fails to ship a well-rounded expertise. Because it’s a free-to-play recreation I’d nonetheless suggest testing Fragpunk in the event you’re a fan of the style and wish a number of hours of leisure, particularly you probably have a number of buddies keen to squad up, however I doubt that it’s going to grow to be an FPS staple within the years forward.
Ought to I play Fragpunk?
Play it if…
Don’t play it if…
Accessibility
There are few accessibility options in Fragpunk and no devoted accessibility menu. The sport might be performed with both keyboard and mouse or a controller. It additionally presents a devoted colorblind mode and the power to tweak the looks of essential colours within the settings menu.
How I reviewed Fragpunk
I performed Fragpunk for over 15 hours on PC, utilizing my desktop pc with an Nvidia RTX 3060, 32GB of RAM, and an Intel Core I5-11400F. I relied on an Asus ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition mouse, plus an Endgame Gear KB65HE keyboard. For show output, I used a Sony Inzone M9 II monitor.
All through my time with the sport I straight in contrast my expertise to my hundreds of hours of playtime in different aggressive shooters, particularly Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant. I additionally thought-about the likes of Overwatch, Overwatch 2, and Workforce Fortress 2 given the conceptual similarity between Fragpunk‘s Lancers and the heroes of these video games.
First reviewed March 2025