An adaptation that aims to be faithful to the original film
Before we launch ourselves body and soul into our first part, it is important to remember what will be Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game. It will be an asymmetric third-person multiplayer title pitting seven humans against three bloodthirsty killer clowns. All in maps that will be extremely faithful to the iconic locations of the 1988 film. What's more, the goal of the clowns will be to destroy all the humans on the maps, while the latter will have to find a way to escape. A principle that logically reminds us of the studio's games, in particular Friday The 13th: The Game which adopted a similar principle.
In the good things to note elsewhere, Illfonic even approached the original creators of the film for the development of the software which took a little over two years. The goal of having consulted them is quite simply to be as faithful as possible to the 1988 film production, which will be a very good thing for fans of this B-series nonsense. And it must be said, its absurd side risks sure to please.
Advertisement
Concerning its content when it is released on June 4, this still remains unclear. Besides the five classes that there will be on the human side as well as the clown, we still don't know more about the number of maps that there will be at launch. The developers did not want to tell us more about this, and whether there will be at least an offline mode against bots. That said, we were reassured that the game will offer post-launch content, as was the case for Friday The 13th: The Game. All that will remain to be seen is whether, in the long term, Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game will manage to be regular in its content so as not to lose players. We will be able to judge this better during the test.
Clowning is so great?
On the two parts played, we started by playing these ugly clowns. Via two classes that we tested out of the five available, know that the latter will have different weapons and skills. They seemed quite diverse, including one allowing you to teleport around the map by landing on your human opponents if you aim well.
What's more, our killers have fun hand-to-hand weapons at their disposal (boxing glove, mallet, etc.), as well as a bogeyman that can transform humans into cotton candy cocoons, or even a popcorn bazooka that is rather fun to use. The arsenal seems quite substantial on each class of clown, but we will have to see in the final version what will happen to the progression system, which we have not seen but which should probably unlock new weapons or skills downstream .
Advertisement
This will be confirmed, but it must be emphasized that despite good ideas in the gameplay which remains fun as a whole, everything remains too rigid and imprecise. Particularly in melee, which lacks precision in the assessment of distances, in addition to being a bit archaic. However, the clowns' goal of triggering the clownpocalypse is rather original. This event can occur more or less quickly by gathering cotton candy cocoons in lackey machines, used to summon mini killer clowns who can trouble humans.
Concretely, apart from just killing humans, this part of the gameplay seemed at least pleasant to us. We will also note the presence of executions that can be carried out on humans once on land. These should be varied, while reinforcing the exhilaration of controlling these bloodthirsty clowns. Finally, as for balancing, we will have to see during the test whether the parties are not too abused on one side or the other.
Humans are popular
As for the human part, the process is classic and not very original for the moment. You will have a lot of possibilities to escape, and as always you will have to search the smallest corners of the map, in order to find the elements necessary to operate a boat, or escape in another way.
On the other hand, humans can also defend themselves with objects found here and there such as a shotgun or adjustable wrench. The buggers will also be able to hide from the eyes of the clowns via a few containers present all over the map. As mentioned above, the gameplay of the human camp unfortunately remains quite rigid. In addition, it will be necessary to see if each class will be complementary, which was difficult to see in these two small parts carried out.
The human part also allowed us to see a subtlety of gameplay which will be very interesting in the turnaround during the games. If your character dies at the hands of a clown, know that it will be possible while waiting to reappear if your teammates activate a reappearance capsule, to play some relaxing mini-games.
They are nice, well thought out, and then give you the opportunity to choose from three cards. One of them will reveal an object to you (weapons, can of redbull to recharge stamina, hamburger for health, etc.), and you can choose to keep it until your next and final reappearance, or give it away. to one of your associates so that he can heal or defend himself.
This mechanic is interesting because it allows you to help your teammates indirectly, and potentially turn the situation around if the game is off to a bad start. However, there will only be 5 different mini-games at release, but others will be added later. Please note that obviously, it will be possible via leveling up to boost the statistics of each protagonist. We will have to see what this looks like on our final test, even if it is certain that the system will be modeled on Friday the 13th: The Game.
To quickly finish on the graphic aspect, Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game certainly won't be ridiculous. The game ran well in our short gaming session, and the Illfonic title offered a really neat graphics engine with graphic effects that remain within the standards. Once again, it's difficult to form an opinion after 40 minutes, but it must be said that Illfonic's work is of good quality, as is the unfailing fidelity to the film's settings.
It's difficult to know what to think of Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game after 40 minutes of play. What we are sure of is that Illfonic's production here seems to offer an atypical multiplayer title that could work well. If there are still pitfalls in the gameplay and we are in the unknown regarding its balancing and content at its launch, the software could at least stand out with its neat and absurd atmosphere. What's more, the few game mechanics proposed, both clown and human, could bring an ounce of fun and turnaround in the games. The impression is therefore good for the moment, with some questions and distrust. See you on June 4 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series for the final verdict.