The most fun you will ever have involving balls, heads, and explosions!
Madballs in Babo: Invasion features Oculus Orbus and Horn Head from the recently relaunched toy series and a band of characters they come across in space, as well as guns, explosions and avatar heads. A game that sounds gimmicky turns out to be a contender for Xbox Live Arcade game of the year thus far this year.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE:
Ball Control
My first thoughts upon seeing the trailer for this game was that it was going to be complete hell to control, like most other “marble” based games on the Xbox Live Arcade. But upon starting the first level you instantly realize that the controls are perfect and you will be gliding around blowing loads of balls away in no time. The button layout feels very natural, letting you easily use grenades, napalm and switch between your weapons’ modes of fire. Aiming is spot on, not too fast, not too slow and works great when your head is surrounded by a group of ruthless balls.
Smooth, Beautiful Balls
Madballs has some of the all around best graphics thus far in an Xbox Live Arcade game. The balls are very detailed to the point where you can see small bumps, scars and veins on them. The levels are rich in color and detail, apart from one short level that is on the interior of a ship which looks absolutely horrid. But aside from that one black sheep of the family, the levels are really great, featuring lush jungles, icy tundras and fiery canyons.
Ball Destruction, Not Ball Busting
The gameplay may have you controlling a ball, but that is the only similarity it has with other “similar” games on Xbox Live Arcade. Unlike the other available “ball” games on XBLA, Madballs has you firing weapons at other balls to clear a path to the end of the level and no silly puzzles or level designs that require you to have the delicate touch of a baby angel to advance, just full tilt guns blazing action packed ball destruction!
Playing With Your Friends’ Balls
The multiplayer feels very familiar, almost Halo like, yet also very fresh at the same time. Of course you can blast through the campaign mode with three of your closest balls…er…friends and then there is your basic deathmatch modes, with all the unique skills, balls and weapons that are available in campaign mode. There is also a capture the flag mode and an invasion mode, which plays much like a mix of territories and gametypes that have you destroy the other team’s base. The Invasion mode consists of protecting your base and maintaining turrets. The turrets can be repaired if damaged, or if destroyed, the other team can take them. Once all of your turrets are gone, the base’s shield drops and the opposing balls can blast your base to bits, unless you can get another turret up. And last but not least is the Avatar Attack mode, which takes your avatar, puts them into an iron maiden looking device, decapitates them and fills their head full of confetti. In Avatar Attack mode, all head accessories (hats, glasses, makeup) are viewable, including the new gear only available on the preview dashboard update at the moment. Other than that, Avatar Attack mode is just your basic ball destroying deathmatch. Madballs has a very exciting multiplayer to say the least.
WHAT YOU WON’T LIKE:
Balls of Duty
Weapons and characters can be unlocked by playing either campaign or multiplayer and most require you to deal a certain amount of damage with a certain character, faction or weapon to unlock the next unlockable. While it is exciting when you finally unlock something new, it kind of spoils multiplayer if you haven’t unlocked everything, as you will be getting blown away by awesome flying monster balls with mini-guns, for example. The game also features a ranking system that allows you to give up your unlockables and start from scratch, like the Call of Duty series, but is only required if you are an achievement lover like myself.
RECOMMENDATION:
Madballs easily blasts to the front of my XBLA game of the year contenders list, having great visuals, audio, controls, multiplayer and creative avatar support. It is worth the $10 admission, if only just to show off your sexy new avatar hats once the new dashboard launches. Madballs will keep you coming back again and again for some great ball busting action and is easily recommendable as a must buy!
Madballs in Babo: Invasion
Systems: Xbox Live Arcade
Developer: Playbrains
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Find: Goozex - Xbox Live Marketplace
All reviews are based on final retail code unless otherwise noted.
Want to know more about the game? Just ask! We love to hear ourselves type, and might even say something vaguely resembling an answer to your question(s)…
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:38 am
It took me all the way until the main menu to figure out this game was based on awesome childhood toys of mine. Now if only there were a Battle Beast game, I’d be done.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:25 am
Haha, the name of this game made me laugh…
I like anything with avatar support, especially if it lets you wobble the heads round and stuff. Can you do that?
The stream of XBLA games recently have been really good, I’ve been very impressed with 90% of the games I’ve played over the past couple of months. Hugs all round.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:42 am
Sweet review! I got the game last week and can’t stop playing the Avatar mode. I tore through the single player campaign…well almost all of it to unlock some weapons and bring them into the online matches. Its a lot of fun!
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 am
If they make anything based on old toys, may I suggest a WiiWare version of Creepy Crawlers!