X
- M
- Tripwire Interactive
- M
- Tripwire Interactive
- M
- Tripwire Interactive
- M
- Tripwire Interactive
The Ball
Released On: Oct 26, 2010
68
6.2
All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
68
27% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
73% Mixed
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
68
27% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
73% Mixed
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
For $20, The Ball is a perfect way to kill time until Portal 2.
An incredibly well-made puzzler. [Jan 2010, p.67]
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 64 User Ratings
6.2
39% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
36% Mixed
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
25% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 64 User Ratings
6.2
39% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
36% Mixed
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
25% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
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.
Report
PC
The Ball focuses on the symbiosis between the player and the metal ball he controls, offering an original interpretation of the classic FPS approach. The game features eight single player levels in which you have to activate switches, destroy walls and fight against many evil creatures, always dragging that huge ball with you. it's not particularly fun, but for twenty bucks you could give it a try.
The Ball is good effort with some interesting ideas. Unfortunately, the good things are undermined by some questionable combat mechanics, a bothersome, half-obstructed first person point of view and a half-baked story concept.
The Ball feels a little like Portal: a simple concept for a short title. But sadly, a too easy one. One passes through the game without really wondering about anything... but it's still a nice journey that Teotl offers us.
The Ball is a technically proficient game, but plays more like a storyboard than a final product, much like a film made only by crew members and no director. The concept is solid and appealing, while lacking the mysteries, challenges, and rewards that players crave.
The Ball starts off way too slowly to keep players interested for a long time. The puzzles are too easy and repeat themselves, and the combat with a gigantic ball as your only weapon isn't really engaging. Even though the game has an original setting, it's not in the same league as other puzzle darlings like Portal.
Yes the challenge it's not very difficult..
Yes it"s ugly
and YES IT'S FUN ! A good fps puzzle game :)
If you 've loved Portal i think you may love THE BALL
Report
PC
´The ball was a pleasant surprise. The campaign takes a little under 10 hours to complete and is surprisingly good. The combat, platforming and puzzles work quite well and the games visual design gives the game a atmosphere that i really enjoyed. The puzzles could be a little more varied but otherwise is the campaign also quite varied much more than i would expect from such a cheap game. Some complaints that i should mention is that the puzzles could be little harder, the combat could be little more varied and that a few puzzles-designs were a little strange. In the end though its still a good game and if you are interested in the genre "the Ball" could be worth checking out.
Report
PC
This game had an interesting premise, and looked like a fun game, but ends up failing to deliver. The puzzles are all extremely simplistic and you will never get a sense of accomplishment when you finish an area. The graphic style looked interesting at the beginning but repetitive areas make that feeling go away very quickly. The story is non existent unless you go out of your way to find secrets which will reveal some of the history behind what has happened. The ball controls funky, and will often get stuck on nothing when you try to push it and can also end up circling around you when you try to pull it back towards you. The combat is boring as well, the giant hammer you carry around can't damage them - only push them back a few inches. You'll have to rely on the ball for that, and even then it gets very repetitive quickly, and the death animations of enemies is very bad as well. This title would have been better suited as an action/adventure game. There is basically nothing in this game that is fun and you can find plenty of other, cheaper games that are much better than this.
Report
PC
On paper, this game might seem like a cross between Portal, Tomb Raider, and Twin Sector, but it sure doesn't feel that way when you play it. The graphics are nice enough, but nothing to fall on your knees for. The atmosphere might work if there were a decent plot, but it's basically: you fall in a hole, find a gravity gun and a big ball metal, so "obviously", these must be used to help you press the glowing blue and orange buttons. Oh, and to crush innocent monkeys. The whole thing just feels contrived and meaningless, so there's no sense of immersion and you're left shaking your head and asking, "why would someone have built this place?" You're always aware that you're in a game solving some artificial puzzles that are so simple, if sometimes awkward, that you wonder why they didn't just put the exit right by the entrance. And there's something missing: a hero/star/protagonist. You're certainly not it. In this game, you're nothing more than the guy who's taking the ball out for a walk. Your ability to interact with the environment is nil, except for the occasional blue button. The ball isn't it either. It's just a big, stupid ball that's in your way half the time. Damn thing isn't sentient or cuddly like a weighted companion cube. It's not the gun. All that does is tug at the big stupid ball or push at a handful of things, and usually not the things that you want to push. And it's not the environment either. It has about as much personality as the ball. It's not a completely horrible game. It's pretty and except when you get stuck between two pebbles and are forced to restart a level, it doesn't feel too badly crafted, but it's just not much fun or interesting or exciting. Oh, and I was going to give it a charitable 5, but this pet peeve of mine just lost it another point: the strength of a force field, like gravity, is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source. That means that if you're half the distance, it's 4 times stronger. If you're 100 times the distance, it's 10,000 times weaker. The gravity gun in this game has a constant strength regardless of distance, so you can tug at the ball from 300 yards as if it were on your lap, but it's too weak to lift the ball out of a hole if you shoot it point blank. Suspension of disbelief can only go so far.
Report
PC
Another dud! Played for mabye a hour. Unistalled and threw away. Nothing worse then a shooter without a gun. Just some big ball you have to drag around. Just plain boreing. PC gamer gave this the action adventure game of the year over assasins creed and Bioshock 2. It seems they need to get out more. Or mabye play a good game now and then.
Report
PC
Summary The Ball is a first person action-adventure game featuring a full single-player experience built on Epic's Unreal Engine 3 technology. As a swashbuckling archaeologist working on the slopes of a dormant volcano somewhere in Mexico, you get stuck in a cavern. It doesn't take long before you realize this is more than just a cave. You revea...
Rated M
for Mature
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Oct 26, 2010
Developer:
- Teotl Studios
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive
Genres:
