Video game review: Funk of Titans - musical adventure hits all the wrong notes
If you're basing an entire game around the world of funk, the least you could do is infuse it with some music. But that's the least of Funk of Titans' problems, because while it may look like a fun and frivolous download-only game for the Xbox One, it's such an incredible disappointment we wouldn't even bother with it on a smartphone.
A Crowd of Monsters
The plot is bare bones, an overeager attempt to blend Greek mythology with the super sounds of the 1970s. Zeus, the god of Olympus, is a massive fan of funk (obviously), but the three worlds of pop, rock and rap are beginning to overtake. He sends down his son Perseus, reimagined here as an afro-wearing Shaft-like superhero, to fight off the titans of his hated genres.
It's a simple and fun premise, but things start to smell funky once the obvious isn't delivered. You'd expect the three rival worlds to be designed with their genres in mind - maybe with a bit of appropriate music playing in the background. And you'd be wrong.
Here, bizarrely, pop is a clichéd version of ancient Greece. Rap is a bland frozen land filled with lots of ice. And rock? A slightly suitable grimy underworld. But still, all of them are inexplicably lacking in their music until you reach each final level.