Frantics PS4 Game Review

Reviewed by Max C. on Mar 08, 2018

Rating:

Frantics brings the party gaming genre over to PS4 with PlayLink. Read on at Kidzworld to see what we thought of this new mini-game mashup.

By: Max Cannon

If you're looking for something to fill in that Mario Party shaped hole in your PlayStation 4 library than Frantics may be the perfect game for you. This mini-game collection pits players against one another through a competition based on sabotaging your opponents. Though the game isn't without its problems, it's one of the easiest titles to pick up and play while getting a group of players excited.

Mobile Controlled Mini-Games

Gameplay in Frantics starts out by having each player download the Frantics app onto their smart devices. After setting up the game, connecting your phone to the same wifi as your PS4, and taking your profile picture for the game, you'll be ready to play. Once you've set up your game, you're pretty much immediately ready to roll and jump into playing. There's not much story in the world of Frantics but the charming, yet shady, Fox that hosts your game makes for an interesting MC.

PlayLink - Frantics Launch Trailer | PS4

There are over a dozen mini-games available in Frantics and they're all pretty fun to play, clearly inspired by some of the best offerings from similar games like Mario Party or Fusion Frenzy. Driving cars, skydiving, or trying to be the last man standing on a collapsing glacier all offer opportunities to be collaborative as well as competitive. For example, piggybacking on the shoulders of each character will also count as a win rather than simply being the only player alive.

This shuffleboard type game is some of the better use of the mobile controls.Courtesy of Frantics

The layout for each match of Frantics is based on collecting crowns. Each time a player wins a mini-game they're awarded a crown, having the most crowns at the end of a match gives you more lives to win the final confrontation and take home the gold. As you play through all the different games you'll also collect coins which you can wager on specific items, or even crowns, to help you claim a victory.

Your charming host, the Fox.Courtesy of Frantics

A New Way to Play

Controlling the games on your phone presents some pros as well as cons. Actually using your smart device is convenient if you don't have enough PS4 controllers and it's easier to get a group together to play a game with their phone if they're not traditional gamers. However, as we started getting into the later rounds of this game, the question that crossed my mind was "why can't we just use some regular controllers?" The phone sometimes feels a little on the inaccurate side as some of the games focus on motion controls or inaccurate swiping.

Icicle Pickle is a standout for collaborative gameplay.Courtesy of Frantics

Of course, it's not all bad with the phone. At some points during the game, the Fox will make a call to a specific player which offers up special missions to the called up player. Some of these new objectives are things like "help this player win and you'll win too." That's a smart use of the phone, however, it doesn't always justify those iffy controls.

Final Thoughts

Frantics is a fun party game that makes some smart use of the PlayStation 4's PlayLink feature. While the actual controls sometimes feel a little off, which could be remedied by allowing the use of a DualShock 4, the gameplay is fun enough that there's no problem just putting up with the phone.