SGF 2023: Foamstars Is A Surprise Hit From Square Enix That I Can't Wait To Play More Of
It's obvious that Square Enix was inspired by Nintendo's family-friendly Cephalopod starring shooter, Splatoon, when it designed its upcoming game Foamstars. But after going hands-on with the title during this past weekend's Summer Game Fest, I came away surprised and excited for more thanks to just how different it is in practice.
With Foamstars, Square Enix is building a 4x4 shooter for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 that is fast paced, fun, and while accessible still has a surprising amount of depth to the gameplay. Much like in Splatoon, the shooter is as much about territory control as it is taking out your opponents, as covering the arena with foam helps you and your teammates while it slows enemies down.
As a result, the arena we played in (called Bath Vegas — a callout to my home city!), was almost immediately covered in the teal and pink foam from the start. Players can lay down the foam and then «surf» to move through it quickly. Surfing serves a dual purpose as well, as it's what you'll use to either take out an enemy that is laden down with too much foam, or save an ally who is need as well.
In our demo, we played a mode that saw teams needing to reach seven eliminations. Once that happened, the team that was behind would see their best player take the role of Star Player, which gives that player a bit of a buff to make them stronger and harder to take out. Take out the star player, though, and your side wins.
While much of the Splatoon comparison is still apt — your foam helps your mobility while enemy foam slows you down, you cover your opponent in foam to effectively «deal damage» to them (like paint works in Splatoon), the biggest difference is the foam itself.
Unlike Splatoon where it's simply a layer of
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