Other than a few scattered memes, I had never heard of Country Balls before I caught wind of Bang-On Balls: Chronicles. My draw to the game which has been in Early Access for more than two years was the premise of an open-world platforming collect-a-thon: a genre that’ll never get old to me. As a newcomer to the world of… world balls, I was skeptical of the source material but nonetheless thrilled to dive into a title that’s had plenty of time to work out the kinks ahead of its October 1.0 release. How did Exit Plan Games do in the end?

The biggest thing to note in Bang-On Balls: Chronicles is that there’s no dialogue. The balls communicate in whimsical, playful grunts, annoyance, and cheers in gibberish. It’s one of those show-don’t-tell presentations that works well thanks to enthusiastic delivery, akin to Simlish in The Sims.

Tack on an unreal amount of cosmetics that are easy to acquire, and it’s clear that the best thing going for this game is its undeniable charm. Geared towards a younger audience yet completely enjoyable by an older one, there’s a lot of appeal in Bang-On Balls: Chronicles even with its niche target demographic.

I found a lot of similarities between Bang-On Balls: Chronicles‘ gameplay and Supraland. Each title presents the player with a wide-open sandbox and the freedom to progress however they please. There are tons of NPCs and side-content to navigate at their desired pace.

Combat is straightforward: you can dash into enemies as you home into them, and string combos with your double jump that refreshes after every successful hit. It becomes a nice challenge when the quantity of enemy balls gets overwhelming. Boss battles are even more exciting in that regard. I’d wager it’s even more fun with its online co-op, but it still holds up great playing solo.

Bang-On Balls: Chronicles isn’t without a few sore spots. At times, it feels like the developers threw every particle, effect, and graphical quirk that the engine could muster at the screen, which clashes with the Country Balls art style and stresses even mid-range machines. I also found the unparalleled freedom to be a detriment as I got lost more than once and had to consult a guide to progress early on due to the vague mission objectives and a lack of markers. This wasn’t the end of the world as there was still plenty to do in the level before I needed to figure that out.

Even with a strange subject matter and a wacky presentation, Bang-On Balls: Chronicles can be a blast for those uninitiated. More than just a Poland-ball game, this serves as a feature-complete, fairly polished title that is accessible to a wider audience than expected. Anyone craving a 3D platformer will be pleased as long as they understand the caveats and can deal with looking at a guide when they get stuck. There could still be some performance tweaks in the future that make this an even better experience, as well.

A PC Review Copy of Bang-On Balls: Chronicles was provided by Untold Tales for this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Bang-On Balls: Chronicles

24.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Charming, Entertaining Gameplay
• Lots of Content
• Hysterical Voices

Cons

• No Direction
• Overabundance of Graphics Effects
• Needs Better Objective Markers