Funk of Titans (Xbox ONE)

The Xbox Marketplace has become something of a drain on my wallet lately. There always seems to be about one-hundred 75% off offers going on every month at the moment. That, coupled with the fact that there are two free games per month means that the backlog is building quicker than I can clear it and with some sizeable gaming projects coming up (not to mention ones already under way) it looks like it will only get bigger.

Thankfully Funk of Titans, available at 75% off, provided a break from some of the larger projects and allowed me to rack up a quick 100%.

The premise of the game is basically a bizarre take on Greek mythology. You play as Apollo – a black guy with an Afro who is all about the Funk. Sadly other music types have invaded the realms of the Gods and you must make your way to the disco to show the Titans the true music power and that funk isn’t dead. That’s all well and good... but what type of game is Funk of Titans?

You could be forgiven for thinking it’s a music rhythm game and it is anything but. The genre description merely says Platformer which I suppose is true. As Apollo you have you have traverse through several 2D sidescrolling levels. You automatically move in the direction you are facing and have two abilities; jump and hit. As you jump and hit your way through levels you have to collect gold discs, which represent the Godly funk music, and the occasional Pegasus idol that allows you to play a bonus level riding some kind of Pegasus Hoover thing.

Honestly, it is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever played. And I’ve played Deadly Premonition. Apollo is joined by his father Zeus who is the spitting image of the Matrix’s Morpheus; Hercules who is basically Apollo’s biggest fan; and Athena who is a carbon copy of Aretha Franklin.

When you are not running through levels or talking to your entourage, you must fight grunts in the arena which is essentially the half way point or each of the three worlds. These fights consist of a 60 second quick time event which is nearly impossible to lose. At the end of each level, you have a dance off in the disco against the Titans representing Pop, Rap and Rock and once you basically dance off with them and banish the inferior music, the game is over and you have saved the heavenly realm. Oh year... Spoilers.

Achievements – 1,000 Points – 21 Achievements

As stated above it is a really quick game to get through and could probably be done in less than five hours. You have to clear all the worlds completing all levels without dying and collecting all gold discs. You also have to collect the Pegasus idol from each level and this is only possible in some levels if you have purchased certain weapons from the shop. There are three weapons you need to get all the idols but once you have got them, the whole game is plain sailing.

There are two achievements that require a bit of after-game play. As well as completing the levels, Zeus/Morpheus will give you challenges to complete along the way. Chances are you will need to play a few more levels after fully clearing the game to get these and if I’m being really critical, this is a weakness but only because I don’t like having to continue playing when there is nothing new to do.

Also one of the challenges involves having to go quite far riding the Pegasus Hoover and this is really, really annoying because you will ride the Pegasus and beat this distance marker about five times before the challenge comes up and it doesn’t stack. These are my only complaints in what is a really simple game though.

Downloadable Content – N/A

While Funk of Titans is one of the weirdest games I’ve played, it’s certainly not the worst and provided a good few hours of fun. Once you’ve completed it though it doesn’t really offer any kind of replay value and although I didn’t mention this earlier, the music is sinfully infuriating!