Fashion Police Squad is a humor-lined retro-inspired shooter developed by Mopeful Games and published by No More Robots. Originally released on PC in 2022, FPS now makes its way to consoles allowing more players to fight fashion crimes across the in-game city of Trendopolis. While it takes its basic design from its boomer shooter brethren, Fashion Police Squad is much more; at times feeling more like a modern first-person shooter in terms of level design and pacing. It does suffer from a few problems in the latter half of its roughly eight hours of playtime, but the positives outweigh the negatives.
Instead of blowing away enemies in gory pixelated blasts, the gun gameplay in Fashion Police Squad has you using various gun-like gadgets to fix fashion crimes. The first enemy you encounter is a dull, grey-suited businessman and you must use your color-blasting shotgun, the 2DYE4 Elite Carbine, to add color to his wardrobe. Another early enemy type are the businessmen wearing ill-fitting suits that are way too big. Using your machine gun-like sewing machine gadget, the Tailormade, on these enemies will custom fit their baggy suits and have them looking stylish and dapper. Each weapon has a secondary function that can be used with the left trigger. The 2DYE4 features a homing laser that can be used to suck the color out of enemies with outfits that are too loud, such as the obnoxious scooter-bros that zip around certain areas wearing neon colors. There is a variety of other gadgets and an even larger assortment of fashion criminals, all of which will test both your trigger finger and your wits, as you must use the correct gadget to fix each crime. For most of the game, this idea stays fun and fresh thanks to constantly adding new enemies and encounters, but towards the end, the game starts to throw too many different types of enemies at you at once and in more confined spaces making things very difficult.
One of my favorite gadgets are the Sock Gnomes which can be thrown at various enemies, the most common of which are the flashing-camera-toting tourists that are wearing socks with sandals. You have a few additional items that add to the gameplay, such as your belt of justice (my other favorite), which acts as a whip that can stun most enemies and damage certain others. It also doubles as a traversal device, allowing you to swing on certain objects. Having an alternate method of traversal like this adds a great deal to the gameplay, and the developers make the most of it in their level designs.
Having a nice selection of weapons and enemies is great, but the most impressive thing about the design of FPS is the alternative gameplay elements – things that you wouldn’t expect to see in a boomer shooter, and feel more at home in a modern shooter. You get your first taste of this in multiple levels that make use of the swinging belt mechanic, such as the city levels where you are swinging from platform to platform between high-rise buildings, almost like Spiderman. Later you are given a water cannon-style gun that can extinguish fires (set by Guy Fieri look-alikes – flaming Hawaiian shirt and all) and dull the color on too bright outfits. This gadget has a dual purpose of allowing you to spray the ground in front of you letting you travel much quicker and enabling you to jump greater distances; like the expanse between two subway platforms that contains the hazardous third rail.
Two of the more unique gameplay mechanics are the sniper sections which have you perched above a fashion show’s red carpet which the game’s big bad has infiltrated. As the guests arrive, you need to snipe the attendees that are committing fashion crimes, such as bad hair days and ugly outfits. A little later there is a car chase section where you must defend yourself on all sides while manning a turret mounted to the roof of the vehicle. Perhaps the most interesting element of gameplay though is the handful of boss fights. Each one has multiple phases that require you to use all the tools at your disposal. My favorite fight was the one against the hacker-style boss where we entered an alternate dimension and had to platform our way through a treacherous section before facing off against a giant ban hammer.
The game is jam-packed with humor that ranges from well-written to corny as can be. I enjoyed finding the secret areas, each of which contain a full-sized poster of the main character wearing a silly outfit – all of which are based on some sort of pop culture reference from fashion, to video games, and even a few movies.
Some people might be put off by the pixelated graphic style, but I found the vibrant colors and interesting level layouts more than entertaining in this visual format. The game features plenty of nods to its retro forebearers, anyone who grew up in the early 90sm or is familiar with the classics will find plenty to like here.
I will admit that I started to get bored with the city settings for the levels, but just when I had enough they started to change things up, locating a few levels in some more imaginative locations, such as a yacht and its engine room, which really had a DOOM-like feel. I also really enjoyed the skyscraper sections where I had to swing around the city, avoiding falling into the clouds below.
The final thing I need to mention is the sound design. I thought the soundtrack was well written, and I found myself enjoying many of the tracks throughout my adventure. The sound effects are well implemented as well. While there isn’t voice acting, there are a few instances where the enemies might spout a one-liner. I couldn’t help but laugh when the vaping enemy said “Facts” after I solved his fashion crime.
Conclusion
The pop culture references combined with the solid and unique gameplay are just the ticket for those looking for a fun first-person shooter experience. Some people might not like the pixelated art style, but it works extremely well here. All too often, the retro-inspired shooters that I play feel outdated, just like the games they are emulating, but Fashion Police Squad provides a fresh take on the genre by combining plenty of humor, fun mechanics, and level design variety.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
