FragPunk, a unique card-based tactical hero shooter, comes to Xbox and PC in 2025
NetEase teamed up with Microsoft at this year’s Summer Game Fest to debut FragPunk, a new tactical FPS title, at the Xbox Games Showcase.
A new 5v5 free-to-play FPS from the same publisher as the upcoming Marvel Rivals, it’s a cool and colourful take on the tactical shooter that immediately invokes Valorant vibes.
Press had the chance to go hands-on with the title ahead of its reveal, with one thing standing out – that this “5v5 rule-changing hero shooter” certainly looks to take inspiration from Riot Games‘ own 5v5 tactical hero shooter, tasking players with attacking and defending key points on carefully crafted maps.
Just as Valorant turned the classic tactical teamplay of games like Counter-Strike on its head with individual heroes with wide-ranging magical abilities, FragPunk does the same, while adding a card system on top.
At the start of each round, both teams select three cards that, when activated, change up the rules of the fight ahead.
One key example, as per Digital Trends, is the enemy team opting to imbue their bullets with life-stealing properties; which, unless your assailant manages to miss every shot, could mess with how many bullets you’ll need to land to net that kill. Others include spawning a field of high grass to hide in, or even a callback to the 64-bit era of gaming with the classic Big Head Mode.
The point looks to be to make every round wholly unique. Your choice of heroes, weapons, and mastery of the map always controls the ebb and flow of a tactical shooter like this, eventually creating a meta that can be hard for newcomers to understand. The card system of FragPunk could be a creative way to disrupt it.
New characters and cards are expected to make their way into the game as part of a battle pass system, joining the 70 cards, 10 heroes, 14 weapons, and 4 maps it’s set to launch with in 2025 on Xbox and PC.
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