- Fragpunk is a hero shooter where you get Shard Cards, a fresh concept that makes every round in the game fresh.
- Along with the cards, we also have Relics and different character abilities to mix and mash the strategy to win games.
- The game feels faster than any other tactical hero shooter, but the progression system might feel slower if you don't pay.
In the last five years, we have witnessed a surge of hero shooters in the video game industry. In their attempts to match the level of Team Fortress 2 and the original Overwatch, most of these games failed to establish their own distinct identities. After playing Marvel Rivals last year, I felt that hero shooters were making a comeback, but that feeling didn’t solidify until I tried FragPunk. Well, after trying out the game as soon as it launched, I decided to sit down and gather my thoughts on it. After sinking a few hours into the game, here are my initial impressions of FragPunk.
Shard Cards Keep the Strategy Spicy
Let me start with Shard Cards in FragPunk, the game’s focal point. Each card comes with different active or passive abilities. Both teams must invest in Shards to get a card. Well, as the card selection goes as per votes, the team’s cooperative play starts at the beginning of a round.
Getting the right card according to the situation can change how you strategize and clutch up the round. And trust me, sometimes the strategies can get bizarre. Don’t trust me? What about making the enemy’s heads bigger? Or, blocking a site for the attackers? Oh, and taking a beauty sleep in the middle of the fight? Yes, you can do all these and more with these cards.
Given the game has launched with 169 unique cards, you have endless possibilities. As someone who has grinded through the rank ladder of Valorant and Overwatch 2, I find it great to have versatility in gameplay no matter how many matches I go through. But the Shard Cards are not the only impressive thing about Fragpunk.
Finally, a Tactical Shooter with Fun Movement
My experience of many hours in Apex Legends has put me in a situation where any other game feels super slow. No matter what the games do, they never feel as fun as the Apex Legends’ slide, wall jump, or zip line usage. In the tactical hero shooter space, it is rare to find a sprint option.
Well, FragPunk cuts down the movement bounds and gives you all the movements you need to feel the adrenaline. Every basic movement, from sliding to jumping to mantling, is already there, which makes the entire experience even more enjoyable. I am sure Valorant or CS players will love these in a tactical shooter. But that’s not where the game stops.
The Shard Cards can upgrade movements as well. Yes, the cards bring in even more options that make things faster and more exciting. Without even knowing that there was a double jump card when my team equipped it, we were jumping on top of unexpected territories and shooting enemies without them realizing what was happening.
There was also a card that made the whole arena an ice skating field for more sliding opportunities. The closest any game gave me the movements fun in recent times was Deadlock.
There are more fun movement additions. This is one of the key things that I miss in tactical shooters. The movement in Fragpunk blends the balance of quickness with stealth in the right proportion. This makes this hero shooter more enjoyable than many other games that feel slower.
Drawing Is Also Fun; I Mean It
Before I go on talking about other strategies, let me remind you that drawing in Fragpunk is actually fun. Remember the endless overtime hours in Valorant? You get rid of that through a simple Duel. Yes, in FragPunk both teams enter a duel once you are tied.
The Duel is inspired by the prison 1v1 from Warzone. Each player goes in a 1v1 until one dies. You can strategize around this as well. Should we send the best player first so that they can clean the house alone? Or, do you want to take matters into your own hands by being the clutch player? Whatever you choose, winning in FragPunk requires a better skill level over mental resilience.
Strategies Don’t Stop at Cards
Of course, the strategic shift of power in each round does not rely on the Shard Cards only. After level 15, you get Relics. These are another way of boosting your gameplay and making a new style of play for your character every game. Relics are bound to Shard Points and the cards. They increase your chances of gaining more points or swapping cards after the rounds.
Along with the Relics, you also have a slot machine in the game that gives away free weapons every round. Pretty goofy for a tactical shooter. And well, the machine did remind of The Finals for some reason.
As usual, every hero comes with a set of abilities. Now, this is not something new for hero shooters. But the fact that your abilities change with different cards in your hand makes them fresh in every round.
Whether you want to sit down and camp a site or snipe enemies from a distance, there’s always an option for all. Combined with the right cards, you can always be the chef who cooks enemies for a five-star meal. But, there is one thing that I think the developers might have overcooked!
Microtransactions Is the Joker of this Deck
I get it, I get it. Free-to-play game, there’s nothing behind a paywall. Wrong! Unfortunately, progressing in FragPunk will feel unforgiving if you do not pay. Each lancer/character costs a hefty amount of Gold, which can be challenging. Winning every game, you will not get enough even to complete 1$ of the gold you need for a hero.
This means, at least one or two days, you have to wait and see players who paid use any hero and destroy you. That too just for unlocking one character. For the ones who pay, there are two different subscription passes to access all Fragpunk characters. And of course, there is a FragPunk Battle Pass too if you want to grind for the Gold and other skins.
But the players who invest in having the upper hand on all the heroes at once might seem an unfair advantage. Especially when the gold-acquiring system feels slow. Although Valorant has a similar approach to the unlock method, a new player always gets a free recruitment card that at least allows us to start beyond the first free characters. This is the only negative card on the deck that Fragpunk developers should get right.
Verdict: Can FragPunk Be ‘THE’ Hero Shooter?
We have had our fair share of failures in 2024. The infamous ones were Concord’s end within a few months of its launch and subsequently XDefiant’s similar end. While I totally agree that creating an original is close to impossible, at least some of the games are still managing to bring something enjoyable. Marvel Rivals is a prime example of inspiration done right.
But the question begs, can Fragpunk get out of the shadows of old hero shooters and be on its own? Well, just for the gameplay part, it is fresh with strategies where you must change your gameplay style every round. This already avoids the slow and repetitive approach of other hero-tac shooters.
This, combined with the movement and quirky art style, makes the experience more addictive. Oh, and FragPunk also has a replay system and custom game mode at launch—something Valorant and Apex Legends took forever to implement in their games. This shows that the developers are invested in the game and the whole genre of hero shooters.
As I said earlier, shooters still have gas left in the tank, and in 2025, they will have their launch only if FragPunk gets the right content update. If the NetEase Games product follows the path of its other game, Marvel Rivals, in terms of content updates, Fragpunk can reach a higher level at the cost of hero shooters.
Overall, FragPunk feels like a fun and fresh experience in terms of shooting or theory-crafting. If you crave excitement in FPS games, forget the slow hot garbage corner-holding, e-dating sim and try out FragPunk right now! And if you have already tried it, share your experience with us in the comments section below.
