Fashion Police Squad is a Fabulous, Funny, Retro-Romp

Fashion Police Squad could easily have been a one-joke wonder, but this wilfully silly PC shooter is a real joy to play.

Developed by Mopeful Games and published by No More Robots, Fashion Police Squad charges you with roaming through a retro-styled city, fixing fashion crimes as you encounter them. Got a horde of men wearing – shocker – grey suits? Use your dye gun to splatter them with a little colour. And those day-glo-clad scooter punks? Use the same gun to drain the colour from them until they’re more presentable.

Other enemies require different approaches. If you see someone wearing a baggy suit you’ll have to whip out your sewing gun and give them a blast. Grab your belt and you can stun enemies, smash crates or swing across flagpoles to reach the next area.

It’s all about finding the right tool for the job. At least, that’s how Fashion Police Squad’s core gameplay goes and, if you applied the same rock-paper-scissors to, say, a Heretic-style FPS, it’d make for a fun little game. But Fashion Police Squad isn’t just fun, it’s absolutely fantastic.

Turning an enemy to a bloody mess might be fun, but here, if you outshoot your foes you’re greeted with a cry of “Sexy!”, “Fabulous!” or some other compliment. While I never thought I’d say this, it’s far more satisfying than yanking their spleen out, especially when you’re watching the end-of-level fashion show.

And there’s the gags which flow thick and fast, thanks to your Fashion Cop to Fashion Cop video link. Admittedly, some are a little cheesy, but that doesn’t matter because the game sweeps you up in its ridiculousness. There are so many wonderfully daft features; the way your cop becomes more dishevelled as he takes damage, the way your former enemies thank you for fixing their fashion faux-pas and many, many more.

The game’s silliness is more than a veneer, it’s woven into its very fabric. Playing Fashion Police Squadthere was barely a moment when we weren’t smiling; even when we were just hopping over walls, we were thinking about the next ridiculous encounter. Speaking of which, daft as it is, Fashion Police Squad is by no means a cakewalk. You’ll have to master switching weapons on the fly while the dodging the attentions of the foes your current weapon can’t damage.

Fun, funny and fabulous with enough depth to complement its daftness, Fashion Police Squad has us hooked and we’re definitely going to see things through to the catwalk-sashaying, mocktail-sipping end.

Fashion Police Squad is available on PC.