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FOAMSTARS, Square Enix’s upcoming party shooter is certainly bursting with colorful characters and style, incorporating bubbly foam as its core gameplay and setting up a stage for itself.
We were fortunate to be invited by Square Enix for an hour-long hands-on experience with the game’s multiplayer chaos ahead of its launch in early February, and here are our thoughts on the game so far.
For the uninitiated, in FOAMSTARS, you dive straight into the eccentric city of Bath Vegas to shower opponents with foam in the various multiplayer game modes. In general, FOAMSTARS matches are relatively short, lasting about 5-8 minutes as you surfs around colorful stages and blast up more foam.
Foam Power
One of the biggest surprises of FOAMSTARS is how despite it being a party game, the mechanics come together and offer some intense competitive gameplay. Yes, despite its colorful and quirky nature, the game does have a noticeable learning curve for players to get going. Unlike any other shooter, the projectile speed in FOAMSTARS is slow, so precise timing, strategic positioning, and teamwork become an important part of the gameplay.
There are 8 available characters, each comes equipped with a different type of weapon and their own unique set of abilities. Of course, aligning with the game’s theme, each gun type shoots out foams in different patterns and projectile speeds. This makes every character play very different from one another and some may not be as easy to utilize as others.
Pushing more into the team-based gameplay, the foams play a crucial role not only for you to score a win but also to assist allies in doing so. Splitting into two different colors, the foam from your team speeds up the movement of you and your allies while reducing the enemies’, thus spraying them around changes the environment in ways that greatly affect everyone. This means it is important to coat the stage with as much foam as possible to give your team an edge.
Another interesting characteristic of the foam is that you can actually stack them up to form solid objects, giving you a higher ground for breathing room before unleashing an onslaught upon your opponents, especially useful since there are not a lot of tools for you to evade incoming attacks.
Game Modes
At launch, the game will have 3 PvP multiplayer modes, each offering different experiences with different objectives, from escort missions to team deathmatches.
One such game mode is known as Smash the Star, which pits teams against each other in a deathmatch-style foams-to-the-wall brawl. However, what sets the mode apart from any other typical deathmatch in other titles, is that upon a certain elimination, a “Star Player” will be appointed in each team. These crowned players are buffed up, making them a boss of sorts to be taken down, and whichever team’s Star Player survives wins the game. Certainly, a fresh take on a tried-and-true game mode, allowing room for a comeback even if you ever feel like you’re on the losing side.
Another fascinating mode is the newly unveiled Rubber Duck Party mode, which has you contest with the opposing team to push a wildly oversized rubber duckie DJ in a tug-of-war style match. No, I am not tripping, there is a giant-size rubber duckie as a DJ and you contest with the opponent to score the longer escorted record to win. As mentioned, foams affect movement speed and this also extends to the humongous glorious rubber duckie DJ, so you would need to cover its pathway with as much of your team’s color foams as possible.
Bubbly Fun
All in all, FOAMSTARS is a whole lot of fun, while at the same time, offering enough space for the more competitive players to grow and improve. The way the foam alters the environment is certainly fresh and greatly changes the game state at every given moment.
As a PlayStation exclusive, FOAMSTARS also takes great advantage of the DualSense controller, giving you more buttons to work with and making each press feel impactful. The foam and the colorful environment create a chaotic yet exciting space especially when during moments such as you sliding in to deliver a killing blow or saving an ally with a clutch.
FOAMSTARS is here to offer a colorful thrilling experience that everyone can enjoy even if you are not great at shooting games, allowing you to spray around foam casually while still having a fun time against players who are more skilled.
FOAMSTARS is slated to launch globally on February 6, 2024, for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
