1. tech-noir

   9

   As soon as you start the game, you will notice that the mood, setting, and atmosphere are superb. The storyline is mysterious and well thought out, with interesting to watch cutscenes. The lighting effects further enhance the overall flavor of the game, and adds an eery feeling as you explore each level. The game mechanics are well implemented, but they do take a bit of getting used to, as initially, the controls may seem clunky. The game rewards you with an achievement for killing innocent bystander monkeys and even keeps track of how many you have killed, which is rather pointless and mean. Regardless of the monkeys, there are plenty of monsters to kill that will come at you relentlessly. With that said, there is not much variety in who your enemies are, but this does not feel too repetitive or boring, since you will be doing all you can to control the ball and attack them with it, and there is a great amount of excitement and fun in the process. This mechanic really isn't as simple as it sounds, and it does take getting used to and learning the techniques. Killing the monsters makes them splat with some gore and loose body parts. These moments are incredibly tense, exhilarating, and action packed. The Ball manages to put together various aspects from a few genres and implements them quite well. It feels like a first person shooter, adventure, puzzle game, slightly reminiscent of the Portal series. The level design is outstanding, and truly sets out to make an experience that is memorable, tense, edgy, creepy and extremely satisfying. The buildings and other structures are masterfully crafted and placed in the game world for much enjoyment. Simply looking around each level is an absolute delight by itself. In The Ball, there is an overall feeling of loneliness, as you must progress through the dire situation of being lost all by yourself, without anyone helping. It also manages, through its mood, setting, and atmosphere to positively produce emotions of fear, despair, worry, and awe. Being inside the various tombs, caverns, and other structures presenting a theme of ancient Mexican civilizations is truly amazing. Everything has near perfect timing, expert design, wonderful execution and flawless placement. There aren't that many bosses in The Ball, but the few you will encounter are skilfully crafted, and a joy to watch and fight against. The puzzles are all quite intuitive and requires the perfect amount of thought in conjunction with action dexterity. They are all well developed and enacted, providing much satisfaction as you complete each one. If some of the puzzles may seem a bit complicated, the designers have included a hints system that allows you to get on the right path of puzzle solving without sacrificing the gaming experience and other plot elements. Adding to an already extremely positive overall experience, the ending was thoroughly satisfying. Once you're done with the campaign, you are also given the option to go through small, new levels not found in the campaign, in the so-called Survival game mode. It is an interesting change from the campaign, but it does not compare, as it is taken from an entirely different context, and has a whole different approach. This has been the best overall experience in a first person game since Half-Life 1. The Ball is that amazing. The environments are beautiful, the game play is rich and interesting, and it never gets boring. It is also perhaps the most fun you will have as a virtual, in-game archeologist. The Ball is a truly magnificent experience. It took me about 8 hours to complete.… Expand

   • Helpful? 6 of 8 users said Yes.
2. rasta_man2357

   8

   The Ball is a clearly underrated game with its stunning graphics, deeply moving music and perfect balance of combat, exploration and puzzle solving, well in my opinion, its great.
   I did pick up my own collectors edition copy for fifty pence but that is besides the point. I would pay (almost) the full price for this game after I have seen how entertaining it is. I would like to bring gamers to their senses: give the ball a go and I am sure that the majority shall be highly entertained.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
3. JonesR

   5

   You are given a nerfed gravity gun that only affects a large ball and you either stand on switches, position the ball on switches, or do both to solve puzzles. The puzzles have a Tomb Raider feel to them, but for the most part are rather simple. You get to use the ball as a weapon bowling over irregular hordes of monkey men, but the campaign is nothing spectacular and often times boring. Survival mode is much more fun and action packed. Too bad it isn't co-op otherwise it might be a game to recommend.… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 8 users said Yes.
4. SuperTakashii

   4

   This game looked so fun. The Ball whizzing around ancient ruins with some epic 3D graphics and puzzle elements thrown in. Yet when I played the game I found something very different to the generic Super Monkey Ball gameplay that I'm very fond of. A commonly overused and irritating gameplay element is the idea of pushing a ball around, trying to make sure it doesn't skid off the edge of the map. This is a horrible, gruelling form of gameplay that seemed to be made to be frustrating and stupid. Why anyone would base an entire game off it is beyond me. The Ball is huge, so you can't see what on earth you're firing it at. The graphics are poor and inefficient, constantly lagging. Even the screen resolution options are limited as if it was created in 2000, when about 4 screen resolutions were used. The game as a whole is frustrating and excruciating. The only place where this kind of game works is when you're in direct control of the ball.
   
   Generally, this game is a complete and miserable failure in most aspects. It had a lot of potential, but the developers almost seemed like they wanted to create a game around awful core gameplay.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 7 users said Yes.

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