With its new FusionFall, Cartoon Network hopes to introduce young players to the addictive joys of massively multiplayer online games in a tightly controlled setting that parents will appreciate. While strictly aimed at the tween set, this vibrant, colorful world saturated with familiar cartoon characters masks a surprisingly robust game that serves as a primer for would-be MMO junkies.
Released Wednesday, FusionFall packs a fun, well-polished experience into an extensive, interactive cartoon episode. The story revolves around the evil Lord Fuse, who travels about the galaxy converting planets into slime-coated wastelands. He eventually reaches Earth, and the plethora of Cartoon Network characters join forces to stop him. Your character is enlisted by Dexter (of Dexter's Laboratory) to aid in the fight, but a lab mishap sends you hurtling far into the apocalyptic future.
I've spent some time traipsing about in the beta, but now that the game is open to the masses I wanted to offer my impressions on all that FusionFall has to offer.
If you're an MMO veteran, or at that special age where any game without an M rating causes you to recoil in terror, you've probably already written this one off. But if you're a fan of the many cartoons that form the game's cast of characters, it's well worth investigating.
When I first checked out the game back in September, I was already fairly impressed with the level of attention that's gone into what is essentially a free browser game for kids. The game runs on the Unity web-player plugin, a small download that works just fine in Internet Explorer or Firefox. It should support every browser, but I had a bit of trouble in Google's Chrome. FusionFall should run fairly well across a wide range of systems — the minimum requirements are 512 MB of RAM and a 1.4-GHz Pentium 4 — and includes joystick support, if you'd rather not deal with a mouse and keyboard.
FusionFall follows the standard MMO quest-and-rewards system, with missions typically consisting of destroying a certain number of enemy slime critters or robots, or fetching objects and returning them to quest-givers. There are no classes, but players will have the option of choosing a Guide, who will reward them with distinct items and equipment.
While there are character levels, there are no experience points, at least in the traditional sense. Destroying enemies and completing quests will earn you Fusion Matter. Once you've collected enough, a quest-giver will inform you that you're ready to retrieve your next Nano by defeating a Fusion — an evil slime-clone of a Cartoon Network character.
Nanos work much like pets in other MMOs. They're collectible mini-avatars of popular Cartoon Network characters, and will assist you in battle. Each Nano has three distinct abilities, which will provide your character or group with bonuses or fight alongside you. Once you've chosen an ability for your Nano, you'll be unable to swap it out for another without visiting a Nano Station and paying a fee in items and Fusion Matter.
You can equip up to three Nanos at a time, but must pay yet another fee in order to swap between them. In addition to their abilities, Nanos (and enemies) come in three different flavors: Adaptium, Blastons and Cosmix. Type-A Nanos will provide damage bonuses to Type-B Enemies, Type B will trump Type C, and Type C trumps Type A. Your character will automatically assume the characteristics of whatever Nano is currently activated, and deactivating your Nano will prevent you from doing less damage if you've brought the wrong types along. Nanos are also limited by stamina — once you activate them, their stamina bar will deplete, until they must be deactivated to rest. The stamina bar depletes faster if you're using active abilities.
There's a surprising amount of depth here, especially if you're a fan of light micromanagement: Do you carry one Nano of each type, or stick with your favorite abilities? Should you equip Nanos with health and speed bonuses that benefit a group, or stick to abilities that will buff your own character? And while you're at it, should you equip your Nanos with active abilities that will drain their stamina bar but stop enemies in their tracks, or passive abilities that will allow them to last longer in combat, but have less tangible benefits? While you'll technically be able to mix and match as often as you'd like, all of that indecisiveness will start to cost quite a bit.
Once you've constructed the ideal Nano squad, it's time to pick your gear. Clothing will increase your defense against enemy attacks, and there'll be plenty of cosmetic equipment — masks, capes and the like — that doesn't do anything beyond altering your appearance. You can equip both ranged and melee weapons, swapping between them during combat. Ranged weapons will usually limit you to attacking one opponent, while melee weapons allow you to hit several targets, for less damage. There are variations, such as shotgun-esque rifles that do less damage, but let you hit multiple enemies.
Combat is simple — click the attack button on your mouse, keyboard or joystick while facing an enemy, and activate the occasional Nano-support powers, if applicable. Some enemies can perform powerful attacks that will require you to run out of the way, but you likely won't run into too much trouble. If your character loses all of its health, it'll get knocked out and be resurrected at a "Resurrect 'Em" station in a nearby town — these are run by the Grim Reaper from Billy and Mandy, naturally.
FusionFall also features extensive platforming elements, with a wide variety of races and puzzles revolving around navigating an increasingly challenging series of moving platforms. While there are a few bugs that can result in awkward animations if you've missed a jump, these segments can be quite a bit of fun — players can compete against one another to collect floating orbs while navigating a particular course, which (for obvious reasons) makes up the full extent of the player-versus-player content.
Parents need not worry about their kids getting into any sort of trouble while they're on FusionFall, as the game is a fortress. Chatting, for those who don't wish to pay a subscription fee, is limited to a slew of preselected phrases, which are all fairly wholesome. Even selecting a character name is protected: Players who choose to use a custom name will have to wait until it's vetted by game masters, and most players seem to be choosing the option to build a unique, randomly generated name by combining preselected options. If you're worried about your child playing a bit too much, you'll be comforted to know that FusionFall decreases the rewards you earn if you're logged in for too long, encouraging kids to go outside and pace nervously until it makes sense to play again.
If your kid convinces you to spend a bit of money on the game, a subscription fee will grant them Unlimited Access. They'll then be able to create up to four characters (instead of just two with free accounts), post messages on the forums, access a proper chat mode and send their friends in-game e-mails — though these will be heavily monitored. You'll also be able to collect 36 Nanos (the free-to-play version limits you to a paltry four), and access the entire FusionFall world (including future expansions), instead of the limited free-to-play zones.
A subscription costs $6 per month. $10 a month gets you a Family Plan, which grants you four unlimited accounts and more parental controls, by way of Master accounts. A master account can block a child's access to the game entirely, and limit his or her ability to chat, e-mail or post forum messages.
If you're a kid (or a kid at heart), you're probably already off giving FusionFall a shot. The game is pretty fun, and while the free-to-play options are a little lacking, folks who choose to pay the subscription fee will find a lot to like. And this is Cartoon Network we're talking about — the company has a veritable army of licenses waiting in the wings, so if you like what you see, you can be sure there's plenty more content on the way.
Images courtesy Cartoon Network
See Also:
