As horror has expanded into the multiplayer scene with asymmetrical titles like Friday the 13th the Game, Dead by Daylight, Predator: Hunting Grounds, Evil Dead the Game, and most recently The Texas Chain Saw Massacre the Game, players have come to revel in the chaos these IP’s which bear grafting popularity for the unique niche. Killer Klowns from Outer Space the Game aims to provide a refined experience with another cult classic IP from an era where horror reigns king. IllFonic has embraced the satirical, whimsical, and freaky 1988 film for this most recent entry in the asymmetrical genre.
Learning from their history with Friday the 13th, Predator: Hunting grounds, and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed; Killer Klowns from Outer space shows that IllFonic knows exactly what they’re doing. With a model that is reminiscent of Friday the 13th, players will slaughter or survive in a new 3v7 model with five large maps ripped from the film.
Popcorn and Alien Invasions
With immersion in mind, the goofy nature of the film sits front and center in every aspect of gameplay, ranging from the Klowns themselves down to the actions and mechanics of gameplay. At the start of every game, three random players will be selected to play as the Klowns with their goal to initiate Klownpocalyspe upon the citizens of Crescent Cove.
This model brings something refreshing to the genre that hasn’t been seen since Friday the 13th, and that is the randomness of role selection. This eliminates much of the us vs them discussion present in other asymmetrical titles that allows the player to pick their role. This further establishes that Killer Klowns from Outer Space aims to create a casual experience that gives players the opportunity to enact the events of the goofy cult classic film.
The seven other players are tasked with escaping from Crescent Cove before Klownpocalypse wipes out the rest of the population. Spawning in a random place, humans have to scavenge their way to victory. Within each map there are five consistent ways to escape, each requiring their own prerequisite: the boat, Klown-tech portal, Klownpocolyspe bunker, bridge, and the final desperate escape brought by the Terenzi brothers in the last seconds of a match. All of these, except the Terenzi brothers escape, require items like gas cans, spark plugs, keycards, keys, and give three humans maximum an escape. Players will also find they have to remove the cotton candy from objectives with a mini game not drastically different from skill checks in Dead by Daylight.
Only Good Klown is a Dead Klown
While formulating an escape, players will find multiple ways to defend themselves in melee and ranged weapons with combat being a risky option when encountering a Killer Klown. Humans can stun and even kill Klowns. The only way to kill them, of course, relies on the same way they are destroyed in the film: destroying their nose. This can only be done with a sharp weapon, such as a knife, fire poker, axe, or with a firearm like a revolver or shotgun. Doing so sends a Klown to the big balloon animal in the sky. Be warned though…they always come back.
Just because a human can fight back doesn’t mean they should. Humans will need to be observant to their surroundings and pick their battles as a melee with a Klown can turn deadly very quickly. Health kits and energy drinks are available to help you live to fight another day, but if a Klown wins and turns you into cotton candy or utilizes one of their fancy Klownalities, this will send you to a spectator screen.
Normally, this would be a huge bummer if this occurs early in the match or even in the tail end of finding that last item you need to make your escape. Yet, IllFonic thought of this and found a way to encourage team play and watching a match to conclusion from beyond the grave. Dead players can spectate their teammates and play mini games reminiscent of the 80’s that will reward them with cards that give them items. This can even mean giving someone a knife if they have been cotton candied, giving them a second chance to be free. That’s not all, either; there is a machine on every map capable of resurrecting everyone that is dead, with the only caveat being that it can only be used once. Be careful when you use it: if used too early in a match or on just one person, you might just effectively ruin the human’s opportunity to secure victory.
Cotton Candy Club but Gooey-er….
Playing as a Klown, your objective is simpe: exterminate the humans and start Klownpocolyspe! Utilizing the awkward trot of your krusty and disturbing klown, you must power four Klowntech generators that provide little minions to assist you as you hunt and also lower your cooldowns on abilities. If you successfully power all four, you ensure Klownpocolyspe happens sooner than anticipated by lowering the match timer. The way a match gets a determined winner depends on how many humans make it out alive. Majority always rules, so killing more than half of humans provides a Klown win and vice-versa for the humans.
Each Klown is equipped with a cotton candy ray gun and alternative weapon to hunt down pesky humans. Each one has a different function as you hunt for more cotton candy pods to power generators and find your next prey. The cotton candy ray has its own meter when shooting a human, and, once that meter is filled, the human will crystalize into a cotton candy pod that can be placed on a generator. Be careful, though: some humans might have a knife to carve their way out, in which case you can use your alternative weapon. There are five different weapon types that are unlocked in progression but most of these weapons are melee in nature and require you to beat the life out of your prey. Then you can activate your gloriously goofy Klownalities that will depict your Klown enacting ridiculous violence upon your prey. These are tied to progression, too, but offer funny cinematics where you can watch your Klown impale your prey with a balloon sword or throw pies at them until they are a gooey statue with a cherry on top.
Playing as a Klown, I found you often had to be tactical in your approach, and, if you had VOIP on, it was almost always pertinent to communicate or at the minimum check the UI which offers a glimpse into what your teammates are doing. Since Klowns can be killed, it often meant picking your battles if you had more than one human with a melee weapon ready to give you a whoopin’.
Devious Death and Destruction
Klowns also have access to three abilities, with one being interchangeable with other unlocks. One is a super jump that acts more like a teleport, giving you a birds-eye view of the places you have traveled and allows you to go there instantly. The other ability, called “LOL,” gives you a big health, speed, and damage buff for few seconds. The third can range from driving an invisible car to following a leashed balloon dog to the next closest human or even placing nasty little traps.
There are five classes of Klown tied to progression, and each class has different stats that can affect how you play. You can use the Ranger or Tracker if you want be an average Klown with decent health and movement, or you can be a Tank who moves very slowly but has a massive HP pool. There are a few options, each one offering access to new weapons, tools, and abilities, too. Humans also have distinct archetypes that affect different stats, but your experience shouldn’t differ all that much when you switch.
With each match’s completion, a player is awarded with experience to increase their player level, and instead of feeling more grind-ey, Klowns feels pretty rewarding if you contributed during a match. In under 15 hours of gameplay, I was able to use all of the Klowns’ classes, abilities, and weapons while unlocking plenty of cosmetics to make my Klown and human how I wanted. There is also a challenge system that gives players incentive to keep playing to unlock specific cosmetics, with objectives like “cocoon a human 10 times with the standard ray gun.” This progression system has me worried in the sense of longevity but provided me with plenty of options to explore in terms of both Klown and human gameplay.
Klown Recreation on a Global Scale
In either role, each map is laden in vibrant details that give players the chance to immerse themselves in the 1988 film’s ridiculousness. Klowns also boasts a near seamless experience with only a few bugs and crashes impacting my experience. Another addition IllFonic made is utilizing a bot system for lobbies that weren’t always filled. This is often a feature lacking from other titles in the genre but provides a nice cushion that can fill the void as the game gets older. What is also great for a title like this on release is crossplay; I am happy to say IllFonic has implemented this, and it works!
A spectacular recreation of the film’s original theme and a killer soundtrack embrace your ears during every match. With a fantastic audio design, you immediately feel like you are playing through the film. From the weird sounds that Klowns make to the voice lines humans have, everything just compliments how well IllFonic understands the formula that goes into turning a classic horror film into an interactive experience.
Klownzilla the Almighty
With this genre always comes some criticism, and although Killer Klowns offers a new venture into a classic horror IP, I can’t help but wonder what more it can do with only one mode of gameplay for players to engage in. Another point of criticism lies in its tutorial. Asymmetrical titles often have large learning curves, and, like many similar titles on the market, Klows has a simple tutorial that has to be read, not played. This means that players will have to learn from experience and observation, which isn’t always bad but could benefit from having a short playable tutorial.
Although content for asymmetrical games is typically sparse on release, Killer Klowns from Outer Space has its corresponding film tightly knit into its DNA, creating a new way for players to interact with the cult classic. IllFonic spared no stone unturned when grafting the cotton candy-covered flesh of every detail, down to the ridiculous klownalities and awesome soundtrack with this new venture.
As a longstanding fan of all things horror, Killer Klowns from Outer Space brings a refreshing new take for fans of the genre, offering an experience littered in immersion and interactive gameplay. Players are sure to enjoy their time in Crescent Cove, whether they are bonking Klown noses or Klowning around.
A huge thank you to IllFonic for providing a copy of the game. You can find Seasoned Gaming’s review policy here.