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My own review on The Ball.

T-6000

Member
Oct 8, 2010
10
3
I just finished "The Ball" Earlier today and I really enjoyed it.

PROS:

1. Great Level Design-The Level design in the game is of top notch quality, very imaginative, quite creative, and more carried than I thought. In fact I think the level design in this game is one of the best I've seen in any game in quite awhile. Even better than many of the bigger budget games in the market.

2. Fun and very creative puzzles-The Puzzles in this game are widely varied and quite fun, without being frustrating (though some did make me stop and think for awhile).

3. Great controls-The controls in this game are very smooth and responsive. Controlling the ball is also quite easy and the ball is very responsive to the Ball manipulation tool you use.

4. Surprisingly long game-When I pre-ordered this game I had thought this would be a 2-3 hour game, maybe 4 at most. But even before trying out survival it took me nearly 6 hours to complete the game. And with the excellent level design and varied puzzles the game didn't feel like it was dragging on meaninglessly.

CONS:

1. Iffy Combat-This is probably my one real complaint with this otherwise great game. Combat in this game could have used some polish and at times it felt more difficult and monotonous than needed to kill some of the enemies in this game. One example, I line up my shot to kill a large group of enemies and shoot the ball at them, only to see most of them dodge the ball. Then when I suck it back towards me to kill them most of them again dodge the ball. I have to repeat this several times for many of my kills. Another example is when I have some enemies in front that I can kill with a simple "punt" from the ball, only to have it spin around like a top and not kill the enemies. The Boss fight with a boss in the middle of the game (an undead gorilla) was probably one of the most unfun boss fights I had taken part in. Crushing enemies with a big iron ball can be quite satisfying and leaves a grin on my face almost every time, but it can be more frustrating than needed to crush them with the ball. And as you can probably guess by now, I'm not exactly thrilled with Survival mode.

2. Somewhat thin story-Since this is a puzzle game this isn't all that much of a problem and having a deep 'story' in a puzzle game is a bit redundant. After all, as good as Portal was (another FPP title, First Person Puzzler) it was a bit weak on the story department. But the presentation of the game and level structure is so well done I would have liked to learn more on the history of the underground areas, the mysterious Ball artifact that you're using to get out of the caverns, and the various monsters in the game. You do learn a bit more on the background story through various secrets in the game, but only small bits and pieces of info.

Conclusion:

A great First Person Puzzler and indie title, well worth the asking price. Despite the iffy combat the game itself is great and the puzzle mechanics are quite unique. I'm hoping to see some more of this game in the future, in either DLC or sequel. Anyone who is in FPP games I'd recommend giving this one a try.
 
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