Foamstars Reviews
Foamstars isn’t terrible, but its uninspired gameplay, deficit of content, and obscene monetization make it a forgettable experience.
There is so much good to say about Foamstars, with its quirky characters and cheerfully energizing feel. While at launch the matches do not feel entirely balanced, that will even out with time, yet the microtransactions look as though they could only get worse. Currently, Foamstars is free on PS Plus for anyone to try it out, but after March 5th anyone who does not already have the game downloaded will have to purchase it for $29.99. That price, combined with the costs of Premium Seasonal Passes and in-game store purchases can quickly add up and is overwhelming. Cosmetic items don't have to be purchased, of course, but to be faced with that many instances of trying to get players to spend money simply feels much dirtier than a soap-filled game ever should.
Foamstars tries to bring something new to the table but has almost immediately been drowned out thanks to its repetitiveness.
Foamstars is a serviceable paintballer in the vein of Splatoon, lathered with some wild lore and underwhelming hero shooter elements.
Foamstars is a colourful, unique, and entertaining shooter. The modes and characters on offer at launch are fun twists on genre staples, and the central foam mechanic is a playful addition with some potential for strategy. It's lighthearted, fast-paced fun with plenty of style. While the steep microtransactions and the so-so co-op missions keep it from being squeaky clean, there's a lot to like about this bubbly multiplayer title.
It is difficult to promote Foamstars: what was pitched as an innovative "party shooter" turned out to be a game as a service that has little new to offer. The online modes currently available are few and not always accessible, while the gameplay is so chaotic and cumbersome that two games are enough to instill the desire to put down the controller.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Foamstars is a fun party shooter with chill vibes and vibrant expression that just needs a few additions to be truly great. The foundation is there, Square Enix just needs to tweak the formula a bit before it is worth recommending without hesitation.
Foamstars has a few distinctive elements on its side and also knows how to provide a few hours of fun.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Foamstars is a vibrantly inventive take on the hero shooter and Splatoon, though the bubble will quickly burst for those who can't gel with its floaty, fluid-based gunplay.
Foamstars' core gameplay offers plenty of strategic fun, but you'll have to grit your teeth through some of its worst instincts to enjoy them.
FOAMSTARS from Square Enix is an interesting competitive game that borrows its surface-level gameplay concept from Splatoon while offering deeper and more intriguing gameplay underneath led by solid upgrade and buff systems. Unfortunately, the lack of meaningful solo missions does hurt the game, as it feels like half a game made it to launch.
Foamstars is a lot of unrealized potential. It's like getting excited about a bubble bath only for the bubbles to quickly dissipate and leave behind only some filthy bath water.
Foamstars is fun, but the bland aesthetics and aggressive monetization are huge turn-offs that prevent this from fully reaching its potential.
While Foamstars has a strong foundation in terms of core gameplay, I found myself quickly growing weary of the small annoyances that kept rearing their heads. Awkward navigation, ho-hum singleplayer offerings and egregious monetisation and design choices bring down an experience that is really fun if you can ignore those things, which is something that shouldn't have to be done. I hope updates are able to address some of these issues in the coming months, but for now this party has left me feeling exceptionally mixed overall.
Foamstars is a unique and fun shooter that has some really cool ideas, but it’ll need to see regular content updates if it hopes to survive in the busy world of multiplayer shooters. Having it release on PlayStation Plus Essential instantly gives it a pretty strong player base, but whether or not it’ll sustain that will come down to how often we see new game modes, characters, and arenas. And sure, what’s on offer can be a ton of fun (especially when playing with a good team), but it needs a more extensive offering of content if the game hopes to stick around for the long-term.
FOAMSTARS has some fun elements and offers some frenetic, chaotic and exciting matches, but it also lacks creativity, identity and shame with one of the most abusive microtransactions we've seen.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Foamstars can be a blast under the right conditions. It's colorful, fast, fluid, and has a great party atmosphere. It's also disgustingly over monetized, has terrible voice acting, and a boring single player mode. When you're in a match with players of a similar skill level playing as your main, it's a ton of fun. But with only three main modes the fun can run out fairly quickly. Who knows how long Foamstars will last, but even with the negatives it's still worth giving it a shot.
As promising a foundation there may be here, Foamstars sadly finds itself buried beneath a malaise of lackluster content and an underdeveloped world alike. Occasionally enjoyable and suggestive of greater potential the foam-centric mechanics can be, as both an offensive and defensive tool alike, it's everything going on in and around the core gameplay, that ultimately makes the experience feel hollow and at worst, jarring to deal with. From its all-too-cheery presentation, to its laughably one-dimensional attempt at instilling personality into its world and characters. Right down to the horrid monetization practices at the very start of its life-cycle. A commitment to further updates and new content may stave off a small amount of concern, but it's hard to see where Foamstars' longevity will land. By no means the worst attempt at a multiplayer-centric experience by way of its handful of hopeful, admirable elements here and there, but still one that could've been far better given the promise.
Foamstars' combat mechanics are unexpectedly engaging, but confounding time-gated modes and aggressive monetization make them harder to enjoy.
There’s a lot to like about Foamstars, but there’s unfortunately a lot to dislike, too. I appreciate that it goes all-in on the candy-coloured visuals and embraces its silliness, and there’s something to be said for the adrenaline rush it provides in standard 4v4 matches. But with a poor story mode offering, wildly expensive microtransactions, and visibility issues that really hamper gameplay, I can't see Foamstars making waves in the sea of multiplayer shooters that already exist.