Send in the Klowns
Killer Clowns from Outer Space is the latest of the cult 80’s movie properties to be reimagined as an asymmetrical multiplayer game. Joining the likes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ghostbusters, and Friday the 13th, the last two having been developed by Illfonic; who is tasking us with stopping the Klownocalypse. I am a HUGE fan of the teams’ prior games, and in a lot of ways Killer klowns feels like the developer has perfected their hand in crafting these types of games. Up until this point I have used the ill-fated Friday the 13th game as my gold standard in finding a balance of fun gameplay but the clowns may have taken the cake.
Killer klowns from Outer Space brings lots of changes to this ‘tried and true’ genre of games, for one it greatly expands the player count; so instead of a 1 v 4 in Killer klowns it’s a 3 v 7 affair. 3 sadistic space clowns vs 7 teenagers are needed for each match, and if players can’t find enough players the game will use bots, which will be replaced once humans join. The teens’ objective is of course to stop the klowns but they have to escape. KKOS has multiple escape paths for players to utilize, each of which will require tools to actually activate; and to keep things fresh they randomly spawn each game, so players can rely on one strategy. For instance, the boat will need some gas and a sparkplug and will only let 3 people escape. There is a portal that will remain active as long as someone is on the controls that requires two sparkplugs to activate, so communication is key. But for those antisocial types there is a flare gun item in the game that players can use to signal to others that they have found or activated an exit.
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99
As teens move through the maps, they will find many, many items that will aid them in their defense of the city. Areas are littered with boxes that can be searched but some items will just be laying out in the open. Popsicles and energy drinks give a varying boost to stamina, while cheeseburgers and med kits will replenish health. Players will find weapons in the form of throwables like bricks, baseballs and more but even the larger weapons can be thrown as a last-ditch maneuver. Knives, bats, branches, fire pokers and more litter the environment, the teens can pummel the klowns and force them to respawn. Each weapon has a certain amount of uses before they break, for things like guns players just need to find ammo. I was disappointed to find that I couldn’t swing my ammo-less shotgun like a club though.
Once players have pummeled the klowns enough they will go down in a stunned state. Its here that players will have to aim carefully and bop them right on their giant red nose, the klowns only real weakness. Once taken out the klowns have a 30 second respawn time. But of course, the klowns aren’t defenseless and came to earth to harvest and have a ton of tools to use. Just as the teens, each of the klowns had a class that can give them more stamina, or better defense. Armed with weapons like ‘Cotton Candy ray guns’, and popcorn rocket launchers that tags teens for the other klowns to see; all of this helps them to put down the teens and start the klownocalypse. The klowns goal is to power up all of their generators in order to kick start the mayhem. This is done by taking the various cotton candy cocoons and hanging them on the generator, each requiring 4 to be powered up.
Klowns can down the teens by using their weapons to cover them with cotton candy, turning them into a power source and hanging them on a hook, much like what happens in Dead by Daylight. Just as in that game the other teens can come and save the cocooned player. These types of actions like saving someone, or activating a device will prompt the player with a skill check. These simple minigames challenge players to press a button at the right time and if you have played any of the games in this genre then you already should have an idea of what to expect. One of the things that I loved about this game is that even when players are ‘dead’ they are still in the game.
Each match has a resurrection machine that can be used one time to revive all the dead players. But beyond that once a player has been defeated, they can play a series of minigames to earn items that they can then gifted to the player that is being spectated. I love this feature, as a fan of these games its boring having to watch the rest of the match knowing you can’t come back or do anything. Now this makes it worthwhile to hang till the end, because you may even earn one of the escape items that the survivor needs to escape; but it is still going to be on them to know what to do with it.
So, what didn’t I like about this game, well for one there is no freaking tutorial to speak of. I don’t know why this is the new ‘hotness’ but just like in Texas Chainsaw; Killer Klowns only offers a tutorial through some tool tips and screens. Nothing that players can play or practice which is frustrating, sometimes reading what I have to do just isn’t enough so expect the first few matches to feel like ‘the blind leading the blind’. But as I said before if you have played F13 or any of those things will feel familiar relatively quickly. I would also like to see better communication of certain events like when another player is hooked by a klown. The indicator didn’t last long and I was only able to find the player because he was in the game chat (which I 100% recommend if you are going to play, communication is KING). Even if the team had a simple ping system, something, ANYTHING would help because me screaming at my TV is not working.
Even with my somewhat minor complaints, I walked away from Killer Klowns from Outer Space wholly impressed with the gameplay, the faithfulness to the movie and the graphics. For a budget title this is a great looking game, textures on the klowns faces are lifelike and creepy, cotton candy that is literally on everything as the match progress has a light and wispy look as one would expect. With everything that this game is doing, for me; Killer Klowns from Outer Space feels like the best version of these asymmetrical multiplayer games. I love, love that the team at Illfonic found a way to keep players engaged even after they died in game. With a great balance between puzzles, scares and fun; each match was a blast to play, even if I have yet to escape as a teen. Burnt out on DbD, tired of being turned into chili by Leatherface and his fam? Killer Klowns from Outer Space deserves your attention, I just hope it retains its player base.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
