I’m no mind reader, but I’m almost sure that the first thought that crosses people’s minds when they read about The Ball, Teotl Studios’ debut effort, is, “Oh, so it’s like Portal then?” I’m guilty of that very notion myself, which is why I wanted to play the first person action-puzzler for myself and find out if my hopes were indeed true.
Five to seven hours later, I can say that yes, it is indeed like Portal, if you sucked all the personality out of it and replaced it with a moody atmosphere that’s more awkward than appealing.
In this weeks Fantastic Neighborhood, Fred covers the Beta release of Electronic Super Joy, New Levels in Rayman jungle run, and expanded Ouya coverage including reviews of Deep Dungeons of Doom, You Don't know Jack, and One Tap Hero.
Fred then hosts a new Let's Play segment, but he may be full of hot air.
Gameclub this week is The Ball.
Epic Games have teamed with seven developers to give gamers the first ever “Unreal Indie Bundle,” which offers seven Unreal Engine 3-powered games for $19.99 (USD), £14.99 (GBP) and €17.99 (EUR) on Steam.
Read on to see the titles available and more.
Mike from D Pad D Bags Says:
The Ball from Teotl Studios here is a first person puzzle game that takes inspiration from Portal. The player is an archaeologist exploring what is assumed to be Mexico who falls into a giant ditch. It just so happens that your colleagues can’t rescue you anytime soon, so they suggest you do some exploring.
I thought this we going to be much better from what i originally heard about the title.
Sounds like a missed opportunity to make something awesome and instead it missed the ball a little (no pun intended)
There's another indie game coming out next year called The Spire that looks like a mix between The Ball and Portal.
I hope it doesn't suck.
Nice visuals from what I've seen, too bad the game play doesn't live up to that.
Prime example as to how good looking games aren't always the greatest. This is something that's been somewhat of a re-occurrence this generation where some folk are completely mislead by visual ecstasy and not core mechanics/story. Sucks that the game was only "okay." Was looking to getting it. Rental it is.