Funk of Titans is an incredibly addicting platformer which combines some interesting themes into one truly groovy amalgamation. The game mashes together Greek mythology with funk music and is one of the most original concepts ever featured in a video game. Funk of Titans puts you in the role of Perseus as you try to restore funk all over the world. In order to achieve this goal, you must get through a series of levels and battle various music legends. The game is not without its flaws though. While the gameplay is fun and addicting, the level design and dialogues could be better. However, the biggest problem with Funk of Titans is that it feels like a mobile game rather than something which belongs on consoles.
The game has three distinct regions for the player to transverse. The realms of Pop, Rap, and Rock are visually distinct areas which present their own unique set of challenges. Funk of Titans features auto-run so you only need to press two buttons mapped to jump and attack to get through the levels. Timing is key to everything. The player must precisely perform every move in order to avoid death. You are only allowed two hits before you have to restart the level. While this may seem like a draconian policy in a video game, the stages are short and if you remember where you died, you can easily avoid the same fate the next time around. The player’s main task is to collect gold records scattered throughout the levels, as well as pick up stick Pegasus toys, in order to progress through the game world.
Funk of Titans also features a store where you can spend collected gold records to purchase upgrades. Many levels have multiple paths and some of them require specialized items. For example, you may need a flaming sword to destroy a certain door or a traffic sign to open another. You can also unlock various masks for Perseus. Out of all of them, the most memorable are probably the Jason Voorhees, Darth Vader, and Stormtrooper ones. The game has a multitude of hilarious popular culture references imbedded in it. Also, Zeus looks exactly like Samuel L. Jackson.
The game has responsive controls and jumping and attacking is always precise. There are no slowdowns or hiccups that would impact the gameplay whatsoever. It is a relief experiencing a title with responsive controls in this day and age where so many big games cannot manage to do that properly. While the controls are simple, they do the job well. Whenever you die, it is always because you miss a jump or did not attack an enemy. Success is determined by skill rather than anything else. That is the way is should be.
Funk of Titans has a few problems which must be discussed. The game is a pretty short experience that can be completed in a little over three hours. The collectibles, upgrades, and hidden areas will keep players busy for many more hours after that, but the initial experience is rather small. To complete the entire game you need to go back to the levels many times and discover all possible paths leading to the exit. However, considering that the majority of gamers prefer to power through levels, this is a significant issue for prospective buyers.
Even though more traps and obstacles are introduced in later levels, sometimes the three different regions do not feel distinct enough. For example, when the ice levels come up, there is no change to character movement. Instead of featuring the same jumping mechanics, having Perseus slide more when he hit ice would augment gameplay variety and increase the difficulty for experienced platformer players.
The dialogues are also very limited and conversations with other characters appear as text. Having voice actors speak these dialogues in hilarious ways would have added even more personality to the game. Funk of Titans is a very cool and very funny experience which is let down by something as simple as this. Perseus too has a very limited vocabulary and having him say many more phrases would have enhanced the gameplay.
The biggest issue with Funk of Titans is that it feels like a game made for mobile devices. For example, the jumping and attack motions would map perfectly to the left and right sides of a touchscreen. The grunt fight and music battle quick time events seem like they would be ideal for tapping. The auto-run feature also adds to this perception because the player never has compete control over Perseus. This might be an issue for many customers who are accustomed to more advanced gameplay mechanics on their consoles. However, this does not detract from the enjoyment because it remains as addicting as ever.
Overall, Funk of Titans is a simple yet addicting auto-run platformer that will stick out in your mind more for its interesting mix of funk and mythology than gameplay. If the developers gave us more control over the main character and improved the dialogues, it would be an even better experience. If you are looking for a casual game to play on the Xbox One, you should pick this one up. It is a lot of fun and you will laugh and laugh at the various hijinks that happen throughout the game.
Asher M is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 18 articles to ICXM between 2014–2015, focused on game reviews, and Xbox news: one of several bylines used by Asher Madan during his time at ICXM.