Bang-On Balls: Chronicles takes fair liberty with, in their words, “slightly innaccurate” tellings of historical ideas, such as the Space Race or the time of the Vikings. While we’re not likely to learn much history here, what we do get is a fun, hectic, and often over the top action game.
Each of the areas is presented as if we’re making a movie based on the setting. As we enter each one, we’re presented with a vast world and a simple objective. Actually getting to and completing this objective is another matter though, as in the wya are loads of enemies and platforming sections to overcome.
Our little Ball (named Bob) rolls around the place and can hop up with a double jump to get over the terrain. Pulling the right trigger sends them flying into a dash which is used to hit enemies as well as smash down walls and break crates. Destruction is a big element of Bang-On Balls, with a large amount of the scenery and world able to be destroyed. This cand just be to collect more currency or health, or to open up new pathways or unlock trapped NPC’s for a reward. No matter what reason though, the carnage left on display can be quite something to behold.
Around each area are various cosmetic items that can be equipped to not only make Bob look different, but some imbue them with powers. A Thor-like lightning hammer, or a winged helmet which can give us to option to fly for a short spell, among many others. Not all items will offer a perk, but those that do certainly come in handy.
Especailly when it comes to the boss fights. After completing each area’s objectives (themselves taking some doing at times) we’re faced with a giant Boss Ball who’s taken on the area-specific appearance and comes laden with heavy attacks and a lot of health. These are tricky challenges, though Exit Plan don’t punish us too harshly when we die. We simply lose half of our collected currency and are plonked right back at the boss without having to start over. The lost currency can be collected if we get back to our tombstone before dying again too.
There are a plethora of side activities and areas to find in each map, offering extra clothing and the like as reward for beating their challenge. Sometimes though we’re just bombarded with enemies on our way to the goal, and with them coming in all shapes and sizes (from tiny balls all the way up to behemoth beasts) it can often be challenge enough to just get through the area.
All of this carnage is fun enough in single player, albeit it slightly tireing towards to end of longer stretches. Things are – naturally – much more enjoyable in co-op mind you, and myself and my eight year old daughter had a blast playing through the Kraken level. It did get a bit overwhelming for her (and me, if I’m honest) at times thanks to the split screen obscuring our view as well as the sheer amount of stuff going on, but once we got into the game proper she didn’t want to stop. There is an online option available, but I was unable to check this out prior to release.
It’s not without flaw though, and part of it is due to the sheer carnage. The camera is fond of getting stuck behind objects, or simply not being able to keep up with what’s going on. There were a few too many times (especially in split screen) where we literally couldn’t see what was happening for seconds at a time, with my daughter being launched across the map in one instance as she couldn’t see the enemy winding up to hit her.
We also found issue with our control settings and costumes interfering with each other; setting the camera to inverted for me would invert hers when she respawned after dying, while loading into a new area would change her costume settings to match mine. They’re not game breaking issues, but annoyances that got in the way of the fun a bit too often.
When things were working though, we were having a lot of fun. It’s bright and breezy enough to sucker younger players in, but there’s enough challenge to test even more seasoned players. Levels are packed with things to do, and while they might go on a bit a times, are for the majority enjoyable to play through.
Conclusion
Bang-On Balls: Chronicles is a fun, hectic, and chaotic action title that is fun enough solo, but far more so when paired up in co-op. A few technical issues aside, this would be an easy recommend as something for a couple of nights of fun.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
