''THE CIRCUS IS BACK IN TOWN''
Developed: Illfonic
Published: Illfonic
Genre: Asymmetrical Multii-Player
Release Date: May 28th,2024
Platforms: PC/PS5/Xbox Family
Review copy provided to me by Illfonic
Killer Klowns From Outer space The Game is the latest asymmetrical game to hit the gaming market and it is developed and published by Illfonic. With their asymmetrical title of Ghostbusters Spirit Unleashed being a success in fans eyes with staying true to what people loved about the IP, Illfonic now decides to tackle another cult classic with Killer Klowns. But is this the right property to make into an asymmetrical game? or should they have stopped while they were ahead? Only one way to find out, so lets go to the circus!
''THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN''
GAMEPLAY:
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, to the zaniest, wackiest, and most absurd gaming experience of the year, “Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game” is here, and it’s as ridiculous and delightful as the 1988 cult classic that inspired it. Even down to having a Terenzi Brother's cameos at the end of rounds who show up in their big ol ice cream truck. Although this time, they aren't looking for some hot clown babes like in the movie. Speaking of the movie by the way, in which this game is.. you know.. based off of, if you havent actually seen it, then do yourself a favor, stop what you're doing and go watch it right now so you understand every single reference that this title throws at you. References from evil popcorn, turning people into cocoons and sucking their blood out with a funny straw, melt people away with acidic ice cream or knock someone's block off like you're Shorty with his itty bitty boxing gloves. Hey shorty? what are you going to do? KNOCK MY BLOCK OFF? no wait a minute, shorty, shorty.. NO. Scary little Shorty aside, Killer Klowns From Outer Space is a masterpiece in film making when it comes to a B level of cinema and while it might not win an oscar for the content provides, it still has remained a complete cult classic for millions of people world wide, including myself. I mean come on, extraterrestrial clowns that invade Earth and harvest humans in human sized cotton candy cocoons, what's not to love? Who can resist an awesome shadow hand puppet show by Slim? Not me!.
The premise of the game, being an asymmetrical game is pretty simple and doesn't take a lot of thought, you play as either the Killer Klowns themselves, which is pretty dang awesome, especially since you can create your own custom clown for you to use in multiplayer matches, which in my case I created a female clown. But even as a clown, I still really didn't feel safe because around every corner, I was sure a Terenzi was lurking. You can never be TOO careful, just saying. On the flip side of being able to play as the Klowns and creating a custom one yourself, you're also to take on the roles of townsfolk who are either trying to put a stop of the Killer Klowns antics or escape the town with their lives before the Klownpocalypse happens that wipes everyone out... just like me after a night of Taco Bell. Just like the Klown customization, you can create your own human as well, however I just chose to play as Debbie from the movie itself as I want to keep the experience as authentic as possible with being a huge fan of this franchise. Plus my girl went THROUGH it in the movie, can't even take a shower without killer popcorn monsters trying to bite her head off.. I mean jeez its like telling a Pokemon fan that you liked the recent Pokemon games, they just aren't having it. Gameplay wise though, the game not only manages to stay true to the movie with ridiculous weaponry from the movie like popcorn bazookas, balloon traps, cotton candy ray guns, and gigantic over the top hammers - but it also stays authentic and true to the source material of the movie as well from aesthetic of the layouts of each map, down to the music itself, which includes the iconic Killer Klowns From Outer Space theme song. Hmm. I should be off trying to survive from these pesky clowns... but you know what? no.. I don't think I will. I'm going to stay and just jam out to this banger of a song. But say you DO want to survive, unlike me, what do YOU as a weakling human have to use to defend yourself? well as a human, you'll be able to stealth and run your way around the map to find items like throwable baseballs, baseball bats, whacking sticks, pistol, shotguns, etc. But due to how strong and freaky the Klowns are, its probably best to avoid them and try to make your way to one of the escape routes, should you survive long enough.
''MMMM HUMAN HAMBURGER''
The gameplay overall for this title is as chaotic and slapstick fueled as the movie itself with you playing as the Klowns as we mentioned before with the objective being, do not let the humans escape, by any means necessary. This means you can chase them down with your cotton candy ray gun to turn them into giant cotton candy cocoons so you can hang them from a hook for extra EXP until they die, use your hammer to bash them over the head until you're able to enter a mode called ''Klowntality'', which is a death animation that is taken from the movies itself that involve you either uppercutting the human to their death or showing up at their door step and zapping them, turning them into a pool of mush that kind of looks like Pizza The Hut from Space Balls. Klowns early on also get upgrades and new abilities as they level up, with you as a human and a klown being able to hit a max level of 50. While you're looking and weak and pathetic humans, you're able to use abilities such as Klown Jump which allows you to get an overhead view of the map then jump to that specific location, which at the moment doesn't seem very useful due to reasons I will discuss in a second. Klowns also have an Energize ability that allows you to momentarily get a boost of speed, as well as health regeneration.. which I used a lot to piss people off with. There was quite a few times where I would be getting ganged up on by like 3 or 4 humans I'd be swinging away at everyone one of them like ''COME ON YOU HUMAN SCUM, DAH NUH NUH, DUH NUH NUH NUH NUH NUH! BAM!'' and I'd actually take them down to get them in for a Klownality, however, I'd also take massive damage, making me vulnerable to attacks for my nose to be shattered and die too.. but they do not know about my ULTIMATE SKILL... RETRO GAMER FINGERS. Yeah that sounds weird saying it aloud , making Mr Slave from South Park proclaim ''OH MYYYY'', but mind out of the gutter, what I'm referring to is when you're stunned, you have a chance to mass your X button, if you're on Playstation and you'll immediately revive with full health to continue the fight. Because I grew up on button mashers, my button mashing skills is actually the thing that legends speak of and within a second before they can even kill me, I was up terrorizing and killing them again. I guess you can say... I wasnt... clowning around... right?. No? ok I'm sorry. Needless to say, I'm pretty dang good as the Klowns, but humans? ehhh I can't say I'm very good, but it might be for good reason, which I will now explain.
Playing as humans while basic in itself is also a bit more complex due to amount you have to do to not only escape but also to survive, which can feel a bit confusing at times. While walking or sneaking around the map, which is ideal because if you run around at full speed too much, your sound marker will be activated and the Klowns will be able to see your location, so, just like Link, you'll need to learn to do the Duck walk. During your walk and investigating houses, police stations, coolers and boxes around the town, you'll find items like a popsicle, soda or hamburgers that will refill your health and give you a speed boost, as well as find throwable items like bricks and baseballs, which if aimed properly, can be thrown with precision and hit a Klowns nose to defeat them. But... my aim throwing stuff is just as bad as my driving an flying skills in other video games, so yeah, good luck me ever completing that one. Besides food and throwable objects, you also have sticks, wrenches to melee with, including getting your Shining on and giving Klowns the ol ''HERES JOHNNY!'' routine and try to chop their heads off. However the REAL weapons you want to get are the guns, GET. THE. GUNS. With the guns, as long as your aim isnt total crap, you will be able to take down the clowns with ease with no real issue, which almost makes you NOT scared of the clowns at times. Well, that is until you get cocky like me and straight up RUN towards a Klown with a shot gun, thinking I'm a bad ass and literally missing EVERY SINGLE SHOT and then proceeding to die. Oops. But thats only the EASY part to playing as human, you're a just a mush shield who has to run if you get seen and hope for the best. So.. what was the annoying part I was telling you about earlier when playing as humans? the escaping. In recent asymmetrical games, such as Dragon Ball Breakers, you get a notification of when an escape route is activated and a beacon and map indicator showing you WHERE it is and this leaves fate in your hands. You're either going to make it there alive or die trying, just like I did many times. However here in Killer Klowns, you're told to get gas tanks and a spark plug to start up a boat, spark plugs to start generators to activate a portal out of there, wait till the last 30 seconds for the Terenzi Bros to save you or find a key to unlock a gate as you tear down boards to make your escape to the freeway. Ok? so what? you say, not so bad right? wrong, because while you're gathering that, there is absolutely NO icon indicating where to go, how to get there and its a case of memorizing the maps or you will NOT escape at all, EVER. Me personally, Ive managed to only escape one time in my entire playtime with the game because I can't find where to leave and when I do, its too far away from where I find a usable object to begin with. Yikes,
''THE BEACONS OF GONDOR ARE LIT''
OVERALL:
At the end of the day, Killer Klowns From Outer Space The Game lives up to the franchises silly standards of craziness. Obviously its not perfect with escape routes being hard to find without a proper map marker system, gameplay as humans feeling a tad bit repetitive at times due to the spawn rate of too many health items and not enough ways to defend yourself, however with the games graphics being delightfully cartoony that captures the heart and soul of the movie, humor staying intact which doesn't take itself too seriously and makes you think fondly of the cheesiness from the movie, a leveling up system that actually makes you want to work towards it due to new klown updates, cosmetics and skills, a mini game card system to complete to send friends survival items as you specate to ensure their safety, and intense and chaotic gameplay of the Klowns themselves giving hours of fun to look forward to, it just makes this title a blast to play in pick up and play moments for a few hours at a time. The love for this franchise shines through in every facet of this title and honestly, what more can I expect from the same group of people who did an amazing job with the Ghostbusters IP with their last asymmetrical game? Illfonic cares and respects the Killer Klowns and it shows. But do you? hard to say, if you're a fan of this franchise, then I highly suggest you pick this up whenever you get the chance and have a game night with your buddies. If you arent a fan or curious, go find the movie, give it a watch, have a few laughs then come join us in this crazy circus that is The Killer Klowns From Outer Space. So with all this having been said, my verdict is clear, GameChick says BUY NOW.
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