The Ball

This was a pleasant little surprise. It's as if classic PC game Heretic and classic arcade game Marble Madness had a child. Mostly puzzles, but with a bit of combat thrown in as well. I'm definitely going to check out the other games by this studio (Unmechanical, The Solus Project). This game is proof that dozens of abilities aren't required to make a good game, as well as a callback to the days when level design was king. The keybind screen is only one page long, without even any scrolling, and that's enough. -- THE GOOD -- - Uncomplicated mechanics - Clever, interesting level design - Sound effects - Good, logical problems with rules that are consistent (for the most part) -- THE BAD -- - POV is oddly close to the ground, making it seem as though the crouch command is constantly being pressed - Not sure if this is to do with widescreen, but the display has a somewhat fisheye effect at times - A couple instances where I had to resort to a walkthrough because I didn't know the mechanics of this game supported certain actions. For example, the fact that the hammer device does nothing to pots or crates lying around the map heavily implies that it works only on the Ball or the blocks with glowing runes, but using it on a different type of target is required as the game proceeds. -- THE UGLY -- - No manual saves - autosave/checkpoint only - There's a lot of 'learn by dying' in the later levels

I took a gamble on The Ball, as I do not have the reflexes or hand-eye coordination for most fast paced shooting/dodging games. But there was something about its appearance and story which intrigued me, and because some reviews described it as not hard (for them a criticism, for me a ray of hope), I decided to take a chance. And, of course, I struggled, but with overall enjoyment and satisfaction as I slowly overcame the mixture of puzzles, combat and exploration in the Campaign part of the game. The Ball is an old game (2010), but there are some very helpful guides to updating its range of screen resolutions and refresh rates, which greatly improve the experience. There are a range of different achievements for game progress, destroying enemies, collecting story lore, and performing quirky actions (such as balancing & moving on the ball). Of course, in the end my gameplay weaknesses were ruthlessly exposed by even the most gentle of the Survival levels and I gave up on these without regret. But, given I paid an 80% discounted price of UK £1.39 and had over 30 hours of play time, I have no concerns about value - and entertainment - for money.