Fragpunk Review: When Hero Shooters Get Wild, Weird, and Wonderfully Unfair

The first time I played Fragpunk, someone's head exploded into a time bomb and wiped out my whole squad. I blinked, laughed, and immediately wanted more. It's not just some flashy 5v5 shooter with neon colors. It flips the rules, shuffles the deck, and sets the table on fire. One minute you're bouncing bullets off steel. The next, gravity's gone and everyone's drifting like haunted party balloons. If your idea of a tactical shooter includes chaos, unpredictability, and a pinch of nonsense, this one's got you covered.

Welcome to Fragpunk: No Rules, Just Mayhem

Fragpunk skips the warm-up. It throws you in, hands you a hero, tosses a weird card your way, and shrugs. These Shard Cards aren't baby buffs either. One turns bullets into rubber balls. Another makes enemies blow up like pixelated piñatas. Or maybe someone yanks gravity away entirely. Yep, it gets wild fast.

I had no clue what I was doing. Picked a drone healer with a sci-fi popgun. My card? Fall damage immunity. Sounded boring. Then gravity went out the window and we all started floating like overinflated parade balloons. Yeah... suddenly very relevant.

Cards, Chaos, and "Wait, What Just Happened?"

It all feels normal at first. Round-based shooter. Team vs. team. Prep. Push. Done. Every Lancer (read: hero) comes with an ability or two, a signature gun, and a look pulled from some comic book fever dream.

But that rhythm? It falls apart quick. After each round, both teams get a Shard Card. And these things don't just tweak the match. They toss it in a washing machine full of glitter and explosives.

Pretty soon you're theorycrafting like a mad scientist. Ricochet Rounds plus Bigger Headshots? Dangerous. Enemy picks Double Health with a healer? Nightmare. Toss a teleport grenade toward spawn and just hope? Bold move. Respect.

It's not about mastering a meta. It's about smashing toys together and seeing what breaks.

Meet the Lancers: Attitude Included

The Lancer squad feels like someone built it out of spare action figures and Red Bull. You've got a teleporting sniper who talks trash. A tank who flops onto enemies like a wrecking ball. A hacker who zips around leaving traps and sass wherever they land.

They're loud. They're ridiculous. And they know they're cool. Voice lines fire constantly. Poses, animations, taunts, it's all style turned up to 11. No gritty backstories here. Just vibes.

Each Lancer plays their own weird little way. Some blitz forward. Others hold down zones. Some just exist to troll. And when you layer in a Shard Card? Stuff gets weird. A healer who drops sticky bombs is cute. One who slows enemies and controls space? Yikes. Now we're talking.

The Moment It All Snapped Into Place

Match four. I picked a midrange Lancer with a shotgun and speed boost. My Shard Card gave me a teleport. The enemy? "Everyone's Head is Huge." No joke.

I blinked behind them. Fired once. Boom, confetti. Another giant head came charging in, sticker-covered and terrifying. I panicked. Fired again. Somehow landed both.

Round ended in under 30 seconds. Chat went feral. Was it skill? Probably not. Did I care? Not even a little.

Maps That Want You to Misbehave

The maps are vertical chaos boxes. Bounce pads. Ladders. Ziplines. Breakable walls. It's like someone made a jungle gym and forgot to add rules.

One time I bailed off a zipline mid-air to dodge a sniper, landed in a crate, and tossed a teleport grenade behind the objective. No idea what I was doing. But it worked. Wild.

You'll pick them up fast. Each has its own flavor: clean, industrial, grungy, glowy. Doesn't matter. They're all built for one thing: getting weird with movement.

Gunfights That Actually Feel Good

Fragpunk's a circus, but the gunplay? Sharp. No joke.

Each weapon has its own thing. Shotguns are brutal. Pistols are twitchy. SMGs? Shred machines up close, foam darts at range. They all snap and pop in different ways.

Shard Cards mess with that in fun ways. One round, you're charging. Next, you're camping corners like a gremlin. It flips fast.

You don't need god-tier aim, but if you stay alert and adapt, you'll land kills. If not? Don't worry. Rounds are short. You'll get your redemption arc in like 90 seconds.

Shard Cards: From Genius to "Please Nerf"

Let's talk cards. "Exploding Corpses" is comedy gold. "No Gravity" turns the map into low-orbit dodgeball. "Ricochet Rounds"? Basically turns the walls into enemies.

But not every card slaps. Some are so subtle they may as well be vibes. Others are busted if the stars align.

Still, that's the fun, right? You never know what's coming. And that chaos keeps things spicy even when you're losing.

So... What's the Catch?

Okay, here's the part that feels like getting smacked with a menu.

Fragpunk has a lot of stuff. Coins. Shards. Tokens. Stickers. Bundles. Daily quests. Battle passes. Weeklies. It's like someone dropped an MMO economy into a shooter and yelled "Surprise!"

None of it's required. But man, it's loud. Pop-ups fly at you like you're swatting flies. And before you even click "Play," you've accidentally opened five shops.

The cosmetics look rad though. Great skins. Guns with swagger. Emotes that slap. It just... takes a bit of clicking to get to the fun part.

Modes That Keep the Madness Going

The core mode? Tight. Round-based. Objective-focused. Shard Cards in the middle to stir the pot. It's like Search and Destroy but dipped in glitter and bad ideas.

Other modes exist: sniper duels, infection, party chaos. Fun distractions. Like grabbing an extra slice of cake when you're already full. Tasty, but not the main event.

Still, the main loop hits. Pick a Lancer. Pick a card. Try something dumb. Laugh when it works. Cry when it doesn't. Queue again anyway.

Runs Smooth. Looks Sharp. Bugs Optional.

Fragpunk runs cleaner than expected for something this messy. Loads fast. Matches queue quick. Visuals are crisp but not blinding. Gun sounds? Punchy. Footsteps? Eh. Bit sketchy.

Sure, there are bugs. Cards fizzle. Powers misfire near walls. A few weird hiccups.

But the devs seem on it. Updates are rolling in. Players are getting heard. If they keep this pace, we might be looking at a long-haul classic.

Final Verdict: A Beautiful, Broken Playground

Fragpunk isn't some polished esport or sweaty leaderboard simulator. It's chaos in a can. A hero shooter that picked up a deck of cursed cards and said, "Let's go."

Sometimes it's pure nonsense. Sometimes you feel like a genius. Most of the time it's a little of both. And that's kind of the point.

If you're over games that take themselves too seriously, boot this one up. Pick a weird card. Try something dumb. Blow yourself up. Laugh anyway.

Then do it again.