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The Ball
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Reviewed On: PC
Developer: Teotl Studios
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive (Distributed by Iceberg Interactive in Europe, Australia, New Zealand; Akella in Russia; and Wendros in Scandinavia)
ESRB Rating: Mature (Blood and Gore, Violence)
The Ball, developed by a small, independent development studio from Sweden, is a first-person puzzler that is unlike most anything else out there. Initial impressions will find some gamers drawing comparisons between The Ball and another first-person puzzler that has a name rhyming with "Bortal," but there really is no comparison. The Ball is a mysterious story wrapped around an engaging gameplay premise and does a damn fine job of standing on its own two legs, or curved surface, whichever you prefer.
Story:
The Ball is a first-person action-adventure title that places you in the shoes of Harchier Spebbington, famed archaeologist that finds himself in a bit of a sticky situation. Working a dig site deep within Mexico one day, Spebbington accidentally falls down a dig site shaft. Unable to return to his buddies at the surface, Spebbington must venture forth into a series of ruins and thus the adventure begins.
Happening upon giant ruins from a civilization you believe is long gone, all is not exactly as it seems. The first artifact discovered is the only device you will use for the duration of the game. The device is what will be used to attract or repulse the Ball through the game's varied levels and puzzles. The title "character" in the game, The Ball, appears shortly after and thus this buddy puzzler adventure is underway. This gold and metal sphere of devastation will accompany you throughout your journey and is the key to many of the game's puzzles.
The story throughout the title isn't really something that should be given away. There are a ton of mysteries to uncover as you make your way through the game's rather expansive eight levels. Truly, the story is one that should be experienced, not divulged through mere text in a review. Your adventure through the game's puzzles will find you discovering clues as to the mystery behind these ancient ruins, its inhabitants, and of course, The Ball's purpose and meaning itself.
Gameplay:
Teotl keeps things simple for The Ball. That's not to say that the game itself is easy, as it can get to be quite challenging as the game progresses. However, it is understood that each level of the game brings something new to the table. Each area is completed by progressing through a series of puzzles. It's up to you, the player, to figure out how to solve the mysteries of the ancient ruins.
The main focus of the game, as hinted, are puzzles. Discovering puzzles, solving puzzles, and returning later to see if you can beat your old times or see if another course of action would have worked better. Action takes a secondary seat to the puzzle solving aspect. The sections that force you into some good, old-fashioned killing are offered to mix things up every once in a while, which is sometimes a welcome diversion.
Puzzle solving is actually a rather diverse affair in The Ball. Initial puzzles include having either the player hitting a "human only" switch or utilizing the Ball to hit a "Ball only" switch. Sometimes they need to be hit in tandem, other times they are needed to be hit in order or just one or the other.
Later puzzles include environmental and physics based hazards that must be overcome such as mazes, lava, water, fire, air tunnels that force objects in certain directions, magnets, and so on. Various environmental set pieces can either impeded your progress or they can be used to your advantage. Yes, there are enemies that show up every so often as well. It seems that there really isn't any rest for the wicked, as the former inhabitants of the ancient city walk once more, and they are none too happy Spebbington is treading on their territory. Mummies will be your toughest foe encountered throughout most of the game, but other creatures include an undead gorilla and cute, innocent monkeys that go "splat" quite nicely.
Fighting is done entirely with the Ball, as expected. Use the pull and repulse mechanics to squish your foes with ease, or in some cases, use the Ball as mobile cover to evade their attacks. Which ever method you prefer, one thing is for certain, you never want to have your Ball too far out of reach in case trouble strikes. To those curious, yes there are actually a couple of boss fights within the game, but we don't want to give much of anything away about those.
Be it an action sequence or a puzzle that needs solving, it's up to you, the player, to figure out what must be done in order to make progress to the next challenge.
Some may be thinking to themselves right now that gameplay would get old or repetitive after a short while. I can tell you that this really is not the case. Though each area is found within the same underground ruins, the levels are quite diverse and each successive level adds an added layer of challenge that builds upon what you learned in the previous levels.
Though the main story will take an average of about eight hours to complete, the fun doesn't stop there. Tucked away within the ruins are 35 secrets to be discovered that expose more of the story and perhaps raises even a few more questions. On top of that is an entirely separate Survival game mode. This Survival mode pits you against a number of enemies to see how long you can survive or how quickly you can complete the challenge. These are presented in four additional levels.
Many of you reading this might be wondering why Teotl is suddenly charging for what used to be a free UDK release. Simply put, what was released for free in the UDK is nowhere near the scope of what the retail version of The Ball entails. In fact, it's not even a good indication of what a demo for The Ball would be. The Ball is a full-featured retail release with an engaging story, great gameplay mechanics, and gameplay that will draw you in for a repeat play-through or more. Not to mention, if you're an achievement hunter you will find a few repeat play-throughs might be in order to unlock some of the game's 17 Steam achievements.
Graphics:
The Ball runs on Epic's Unreal Engine 3, so it's already off to a great start in the visuals department. Teotl did an impressive job of keeping an overall motif going throughout the game's levels while ensuring that each area was visually unique. Sweeping vistas, such as underground rivers leading to waterfalls do occasionally pop up and offer a bit of a reprieve to collect your thoughts and plan your next step.
Given how the Ball is constantly nearby, there may be some concern that it would obscure your view in critical situations. Teotl is one step ahead of you. When attracting the ball to your character, the Ball will go partially transparent, giving you a rather unhindered field of view. While not locked to your player, the transparency effect can be toggled through the use of a single key press. It's a small thing, but it goes a long way to providing a more enjoyable gameplay experience for everyone.
If there is a sore spot in the game's visuals it would have to be some of the animations used for enemies and NPC characters. In particular, the animations used for the monkeys look rather stiff, unnatural, and slightly robotic.
Audio:
The audio within The Ball is solid. It's simplistic but it doesn't need to be anything but that. Visually the Ball is an impressive size and the sounds as it rolls really enforce just how massive this mysterious object really is.
Enemies and NPC characters include creature appropriate shrieks and death howls. Given how most of the sounds are environmental effects, there really isn't too much to talk about here. What is in the game offers an deep auditory experience and that is really all you can possibly want or hope for in this action-adventure puzzler.
Summary:
Priced at about $20 (USD), The Ball offers a tremendous amount of gameplay for the value. When you look at a few recent titles such as Medal of Honor that go for $60 (USD) and (for many) offered a shorter single-player experience, this comes off as a great "bang for the buck" title.
Additional Resources
Steam Purchase Page - $19.99 (USD)
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Reviewed On: PC
Developer: Teotl Studios
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive (Distributed by Iceberg Interactive in Europe, Australia, New Zealand; Akella in Russia; and Wendros in Scandinavia)
ESRB Rating: Mature (Blood and Gore, Violence)
The Ball, developed by a small, independent development studio from Sweden, is a first-person puzzler that is unlike most anything else out there. Initial impressions will find some gamers drawing comparisons between The Ball and another first-person puzzler that has a name rhyming with "Bortal," but there really is no comparison. The Ball is a mysterious story wrapped around an engaging gameplay premise and does a damn fine job of standing on its own two legs, or curved surface, whichever you prefer.
Story:
The Ball is a first-person action-adventure title that places you in the shoes of Harchier Spebbington, famed archaeologist that finds himself in a bit of a sticky situation. Working a dig site deep within Mexico one day, Spebbington accidentally falls down a dig site shaft. Unable to return to his buddies at the surface, Spebbington must venture forth into a series of ruins and thus the adventure begins.
Happening upon giant ruins from a civilization you believe is long gone, all is not exactly as it seems. The first artifact discovered is the only device you will use for the duration of the game. The device is what will be used to attract or repulse the Ball through the game's varied levels and puzzles. The title "character" in the game, The Ball, appears shortly after and thus this buddy puzzler adventure is underway. This gold and metal sphere of devastation will accompany you throughout your journey and is the key to many of the game's puzzles.
The story throughout the title isn't really something that should be given away. There are a ton of mysteries to uncover as you make your way through the game's rather expansive eight levels. Truly, the story is one that should be experienced, not divulged through mere text in a review. Your adventure through the game's puzzles will find you discovering clues as to the mystery behind these ancient ruins, its inhabitants, and of course, The Ball's purpose and meaning itself.
Gameplay:
Teotl keeps things simple for The Ball. That's not to say that the game itself is easy, as it can get to be quite challenging as the game progresses. However, it is understood that each level of the game brings something new to the table. Each area is completed by progressing through a series of puzzles. It's up to you, the player, to figure out how to solve the mysteries of the ancient ruins.
The main focus of the game, as hinted, are puzzles. Discovering puzzles, solving puzzles, and returning later to see if you can beat your old times or see if another course of action would have worked better. Action takes a secondary seat to the puzzle solving aspect. The sections that force you into some good, old-fashioned killing are offered to mix things up every once in a while, which is sometimes a welcome diversion.
Puzzle solving is actually a rather diverse affair in The Ball. Initial puzzles include having either the player hitting a "human only" switch or utilizing the Ball to hit a "Ball only" switch. Sometimes they need to be hit in tandem, other times they are needed to be hit in order or just one or the other.
Later puzzles include environmental and physics based hazards that must be overcome such as mazes, lava, water, fire, air tunnels that force objects in certain directions, magnets, and so on. Various environmental set pieces can either impeded your progress or they can be used to your advantage. Yes, there are enemies that show up every so often as well. It seems that there really isn't any rest for the wicked, as the former inhabitants of the ancient city walk once more, and they are none too happy Spebbington is treading on their territory. Mummies will be your toughest foe encountered throughout most of the game, but other creatures include an undead gorilla and cute, innocent monkeys that go "splat" quite nicely.
Fighting is done entirely with the Ball, as expected. Use the pull and repulse mechanics to squish your foes with ease, or in some cases, use the Ball as mobile cover to evade their attacks. Which ever method you prefer, one thing is for certain, you never want to have your Ball too far out of reach in case trouble strikes. To those curious, yes there are actually a couple of boss fights within the game, but we don't want to give much of anything away about those.
Be it an action sequence or a puzzle that needs solving, it's up to you, the player, to figure out what must be done in order to make progress to the next challenge.
Some may be thinking to themselves right now that gameplay would get old or repetitive after a short while. I can tell you that this really is not the case. Though each area is found within the same underground ruins, the levels are quite diverse and each successive level adds an added layer of challenge that builds upon what you learned in the previous levels.
Though the main story will take an average of about eight hours to complete, the fun doesn't stop there. Tucked away within the ruins are 35 secrets to be discovered that expose more of the story and perhaps raises even a few more questions. On top of that is an entirely separate Survival game mode. This Survival mode pits you against a number of enemies to see how long you can survive or how quickly you can complete the challenge. These are presented in four additional levels.
Many of you reading this might be wondering why Teotl is suddenly charging for what used to be a free UDK release. Simply put, what was released for free in the UDK is nowhere near the scope of what the retail version of The Ball entails. In fact, it's not even a good indication of what a demo for The Ball would be. The Ball is a full-featured retail release with an engaging story, great gameplay mechanics, and gameplay that will draw you in for a repeat play-through or more. Not to mention, if you're an achievement hunter you will find a few repeat play-throughs might be in order to unlock some of the game's 17 Steam achievements.
Graphics:
The Ball runs on Epic's Unreal Engine 3, so it's already off to a great start in the visuals department. Teotl did an impressive job of keeping an overall motif going throughout the game's levels while ensuring that each area was visually unique. Sweeping vistas, such as underground rivers leading to waterfalls do occasionally pop up and offer a bit of a reprieve to collect your thoughts and plan your next step.
Given how the Ball is constantly nearby, there may be some concern that it would obscure your view in critical situations. Teotl is one step ahead of you. When attracting the ball to your character, the Ball will go partially transparent, giving you a rather unhindered field of view. While not locked to your player, the transparency effect can be toggled through the use of a single key press. It's a small thing, but it goes a long way to providing a more enjoyable gameplay experience for everyone.
If there is a sore spot in the game's visuals it would have to be some of the animations used for enemies and NPC characters. In particular, the animations used for the monkeys look rather stiff, unnatural, and slightly robotic.
Audio:
The audio within The Ball is solid. It's simplistic but it doesn't need to be anything but that. Visually the Ball is an impressive size and the sounds as it rolls really enforce just how massive this mysterious object really is.
Enemies and NPC characters include creature appropriate shrieks and death howls. Given how most of the sounds are environmental effects, there really isn't too much to talk about here. What is in the game offers an deep auditory experience and that is really all you can possibly want or hope for in this action-adventure puzzler.
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Summary:
Priced at about $20 (USD), The Ball offers a tremendous amount of gameplay for the value. When you look at a few recent titles such as Medal of Honor that go for $60 (USD) and (for many) offered a shorter single-player experience, this comes off as a great "bang for the buck" title.
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Audio: 8/10
Total Gaming Network Rating: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Audio: 8/10
Total Gaming Network Rating: 8.5/10
Additional Resources
Key features:
- 8 hours of single-player adventure
- Game mechanics that are very simple to pick up, immersing the user in the physics-based gameplay right from the start
- 8 huge levels to explore
- Includes bonus Survival game mode, with 4 additional levels
- Wide range of enemies to overcome, including mummies, an undead gorilla and boss characters
- Unique vehicles - an underground train and the mysterious "Ball Chariot"
- More than 30 secrets hidden away to be discovered, as well as multiple achievements for the player to earn
- Steamworks features including achievements and leaderboards
- 8 hours of single-player adventure
- Game mechanics that are very simple to pick up, immersing the user in the physics-based gameplay right from the start
- 8 huge levels to explore
- Includes bonus Survival game mode, with 4 additional levels
- Wide range of enemies to overcome, including mummies, an undead gorilla and boss characters
- Unique vehicles - an underground train and the mysterious "Ball Chariot"
- More than 30 secrets hidden away to be discovered, as well as multiple achievements for the player to earn
- Steamworks features including achievements and leaderboards
Steam Purchase Page - $19.99 (USD)
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