When Foamstars first hit screens earlier this year, the initial reaction was that it was desperate to be Splatoon. Now, having played a few matches, I can confirm that despite a few new things, the comparison to Nintendo’s inky shooter is quite valid.
To be fair, playing four single player matches during Gamescom is nowhere near enough to get a proper feel for the game. This is not enough time to familiarize yourself with the controls. But having recently played Splatoon 3, at the heart of what Foamstars does is the same mechanic of shooting bright goops and moving around the arena quickly. Naturally, there are subtle differences: the foam you shoot gives the match a more three-dimensional effect – so much so that you can build up a wall of bubbles that create a barrier between you and the enemy – but the way it affects movement is identical to Splatoon’s paint. You can move fast and loose around your team’s color, but wading through your opponent’s foam is like wading through molasses. Likewise, you don’t dive into the foam like Splatoon’s Inklings, but surface surf, but the combination of opening fire and then dashing to the target is very familiar.
The mode I played was a four-on-four battle called Smash the Star, and the objective was simple enough: “kill” the opposing team’s players seven times, at which point their best player becomes the “star”; knock them out and it’s game over. Eight characters were offered, divided into four types: some carry rapid-fire blasters that offer a good balance between firepower and speed, while the heavy weapons carry a shotgun that fires bubbles capable of knocking the opposition away. There are precision characters who rely on laser-guided arrows to increase their hit percentage, and finally the Foamstars, who carry huge cannons capable of putting out a ton of foam. Each also has two unique special attacks, such as grenades that send out a burst of foam on impact and a giant shark torpedo that is launched at an enemy.
There’s obviously a nice point in terms of team organization, using support characters to cover as much of the arena as possible in foam so faster players can move more easily, but understanding each character’s meta takes time – something that wasn’t available for this demo . Instead, it was chaotic, even when we tried to work together as a team. Part of it has to do with presentation: there is a lot happens on screen, and it quickly becomes a sea of pastel blues and pinks, with little contrast between your teammates and opponents.
I found it most difficult when you or your teammates are covered in a foam ball, which happens when you take too many hits. In Foamstars, it’s the equivalent of being knocked down and left to slowly roll around in a large ball of bubbles until an opposing player bursts into you, knocking you out completely, costing you one of seven lives and forcing you to restart the edge of the arena game – or one of of your teammates gets to you first, bringing you back into the fray. But downed enemies are covered in foam the same color as the battlefield, so it’s hard to pick them out in a crazy firefight, and it was more difficult to get into an attack rhythm and support your teammates. than it should be.
This is undoubtedly something that will likely get easier over time, and there’s also the possibility that it could be tweaked throughout the rest of development, but it’s definitely a shortcoming of the demo I played. However, Foamstars does have the foundation to be a fun game. The shooting feels tight and the movement fluid, and the idea of drastically changing the battlefield by creating bubble mountains to climb through has huge potential.
Visually, it has a lot of style, combining the style of Persona with the speed of Jet Set Radio, and it ran smoothly without stuttering despite the arenas being covered in foam that constantly changes the shape and surface of the battlefield.
There are other modes that will be revealed, including a single-player game that will hopefully help players get to know the ins and outs of Foamstar’s mechanics. Will this be enough to lure players away from Splatoon? I think it’s unlikely, but if it can live up to its potential in the run-up to release, it could catch the attention of those who don’t have a Switch.
Alex is IGN’s Feature Director and UK Studio Head, and has an unhealthy obsession with LEGO. He had a Twitter account before it was shut down.