{"id":43397,"date":"2024-02-09T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T00:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/foamstars-review-in-progress\/"},"modified":"2024-02-09T00:00:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T00:00:30","slug":"foamstars-review-in-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/foamstars-review-in-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Foamstars Review in Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n

Foamstars has the energy of a Sega Dreamcast game that was made specifically to look good on a quarterly earnings report. This third-person PvP shooter has a strong foundation with some creative twists on the winning formula coined by Splatoon<\/a>, but its commitment to that bubbly theme feels like it has a false earnestness to it, soured in part by the inclusion of just about every multiplayer trend from the last 10 years. For every clever map design or killer song, there\u2019s a bad voice performance or a cosmetic pack that literally costs more than the price of Foamstars itself. But while I still need to play a lot more before I put a final score on it, if you can wade past the red flags that surround Foamstars and march and deep into the sea of foam itself, there is a fun competitive shooter here I\u2019m at least looking forward to diving back into. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n
<\/section>\n

As is upsettingly laid out in its brief single-player campaign, you play as a Foamstar: a person who uses their odd ability to excrete a foam-like bodily fluid to compete in the Foamsmash Tournament; a series of competitive events set in the Las Vegas-inspired city of Bath Vegas. This extremely gross fact is never really explained beyond that, but it does let you cover the ground with bubbly bullets that morph each arena\u2019s topography, allowing you to do things like build mounds of foam to get the jump on your opponents or wall them off from an objective. Think Splatoon\u2019s ink, just with the ability to stack it up. Also like Splatoon, your character can move more quickly in the foam by surfing on it, which adds a welcome sense of speed that lets you collaborate with teammates in creative ways.<\/p>\n

A foamed-up opponent becomes a chokepoint to strategize around.<\/section>\n

Foamstars takes things a step further by weaponizing surfing; once you deal enough damage to chill <\/em>(not kill) your opponent, they become covered in foam, rendering them nearly immobile before you surf into them to finish the job. On the other hand, if your teammate is foamed up and needs help, you can surf into them to revive them from the brink of death \u2014 or, from being put on ice<\/em>, that is. This small mechanic makes a world of difference by both encouraging and rewarding aggressive play. Suddenly a foamed-up opponent or teammate becomes a chokepoint to strategize around, especially in the Star Player mode, which crowns one person on each team as a Star Player and requires you to take them out while protecting your own.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The roster at launch has a disappointingly slim eight unique characters to choose from, but each of them at least has distinct strengths and weaknesses that add diversity to the lineup and cater to different playstyles. Soa, Foamstars\u2019 pop idol mascot, has some strong mobility thanks to an ability that lets her perform a jump that doubles as a dodge, allowing her to safely make aggressive plays. Tonix, on the other hand, isn\u2019t as mobile but she can put down a lot of foam to help her teammates by creating better vantage points and even set turrets to back them up. My favorite so far is \u0394GITO (yes, his name has a triangle in it), who is a shark-obsessed \u201cPro-Gamer\u201d with a shotgun-like bubble blaster and a movement-friendly special ability that rewards you for going for chills.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to reconcile its fun fights with the bad practices around them.<\/section>\n

No matter who you pick, surfing around Foamstars\u2019 energetic fights can admittedly be a blast, and its foam mechanics add a fascinating level of variability to each map. It\u2019s just hard to reconcile the good parts of that frantic, bubble-flinging fun with nearly everything happening outside of it. With its use of generative AI<\/u><\/a> to make in-game album covers (the generic quality of which doesn\u2019t live up to the awesome songs they hold), laughable \u201cmicro\u201d transactions that can cost more than $40 for a single character skin pack, and small launch roster, its hard to just sit back and enjoy the fights.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

To make matters worse, Foamstars has placed all its bets on a horse with bad odds. It\u2019s no secret that it\u2019s taken a few direct cues from Splatoon, but one of those is its multiplayer structure. Following in the footsteps of Nintendo\u2019s famously confusing, unreliable online multiplayer is an eyebrow-raising decision for any game that\u2019s trying to stay afloat in this highly competitive landscape. A majority of Foamstars\u2019 modes are only available at certain times, obnoxiously rotating on a fixed schedule or tied to specific days of the week. If it had launched with more maps and\/or modes to cycle through, this wouldn\u2019t be an issue, but right now you can only play a handful of matches in a given mode before it pointlessly disappears into the Foamstars vault for a few hours. This could easily be fixed by adding specific queuing options \u2013 but instead, Foamstars has chosen to surf in the choppy wake of an almost 10-year-old game without hitting the same highs.<\/p>\n

Because of these multiplayer restrictions, I need a lot more time with Foamstars before I can fully weigh in with a score. I\u2019m excited to check out the rest of its modes, especially based on the three I\u2019ve played so far. Frustrating monetization and structure aside, I\u2019ve had a pretty good time with Foamstars whenever I\u2019m in an actual match, so here\u2019s hoping those issues don\u2019t start to drag the whole thing down below the bubbles.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

Go to Source (IGN.com)<\/a><\/p>\n

All content and images belong to their respected owners. This article is aggregated for informational purposes only with full credit to the source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foamstars has the energy of a Sega Dreamcast game that was made specifically to look good on a quarterly earnings report. This third-person PvP shooter has a strong foundation with some creative twists on the winning formula coined by Splatoon, but its commitment to that bubbly theme feels like it has a false earnestness to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43398,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,9],"tags":[12693,5403,8173,43,63,398,532,5999,3179,5778],"class_list":["post-43397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ps4","category-reviews","tag-dreamcast","tag-energy","tag-foamstars","tag-game","tag-good","tag-look","tag-made","tag-quarterly","tag-sega","tag-specifically"],"yoast_head":"\nFoamstars Review in Progress | Xtreme Servers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"View Foamstars Review in Progress for free, here on XtremeServers. Discover more great articles on our site. 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