4/5 ★ – TheCriticalPandaBoi's review of Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game.

So, the Killer Klowns from Outer Space game is releasing today and I’ve been playing the week advance version for the preorder so I’m here to let you know what I think of it! Personally, I haven’t got every unlockable item so this isn’t gonna speak on everything that’s here but this is just more of a first impression review considering this is an asymmetrical game that’s gonna be updated constantly so opinions can change. So Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game is based on the original movie with the same name that released back in 1988, I’ve also reviewed the movie over on my Letterboxd about a week ago so follow me there if you are interested! Since there was only one movie and this isn’t based on a whole franchise, they were able to get pretty creative with additions that work for the game’s favour, like the resurrection machine very much wasn’t a thing in the original movie, and mini Klownzilla’s weren’t a thing either but they’re welcome additions to the game! There’s even a lot of references to the movie as well like around the maps, you can play these boomboxes that play the banging Killer Klowns theme by The Dickies, there’s these Klowntalities that have direct nods to the movie like the pie kill and the pizza delivery scene!! If you buy the Digital Deluxe Edition, you can equip special characters and they are Mike and Debbie from the original movie!! I’m personally a Mike main because I love Grant Cramer and I believe he recorded the voice lines? I don’t really know but it definitely sounds like Grant Cramer! There are 2 sides to this game, you play as the humans and you play as the Klowns and normally with these types of games, I’d have a preference of which one I prefer but in this game, I really enjoy both sides equally which is incredibly rare. The humans here have 5 different kinds of quirks that affect their stats and depending on what kind of player you are and what you personally prefer, there’s one that caters to everyone! I personally prefer longer stamina and faster speed so i equipped the Athletic option! It’s also the same with the Klown’s but the difference is with the Klown’s is that there’s a different Klown depending on what you favour while for the humans, it’s purely just pick which character you want and equip the skill you want. The humans have 4 different ways to escape, and to escape it’s very similar to the layout of Friday the 13th: The Game, you get the items, bring them to the escape and hope you don’t get caught by a Killer Klown, and it’s not very easy to escape but it’s not hard either, I think it’s perfectly balanced! You are also able to fight back against the Killer Klown’s which is actually really damn funny to do, the death animations on the Klown’s are also straight out of the movie but I just find it so funny to do! There’s also proximity chat in the game which has created some really damn funny moments between me and random players that I really can’t think of the last time I’ve had laughs in game chat since Rec Room maybe? On the human side, there’s 7 players and on the Killer Klown side, there’s 3 players and I really like the multiple killer approach to games since it feels very reliant on teamwork and it feels less lonely, the reason why I don’t like playing the killer in games like Dead by Daylight or Friday the 13th is because it’s also reliant on me to kill everyone and I’m not a competitive gamer or anything, so I don’t really like to sweat and it annoys me when other people sweat their balls off, so I appreciate having company. The Klown’s here have 2 different options, they have the option to zap the humans and put them into cotton candy cocoons and then hook them on the machines to try and bring the Klownpocalypse early, or you can just kill the humans. You don’t need to just hook the humans since admittedly, depending on the tool you use is kinda tough to trap them in, but there’s other Cotten candy cocoons laying around the place that you can hook onto the machines! To kill the humans, you can either beat the crap out of them while they’re bleeding out or you can use your Klowntality and I really do like the variety that you have in this game!! Sometimes when using the Klowntality, there’s some very bad frame drops that’s momentarily but it fixes itself shortly. In fact, there’s actually a bunch of bugs that I’ve encountered that can actually ruin your game, like it’s mainly on humans where I’ve noticed bugs, like there’s a skill check bug where sometimes it you’ll hit the orange area and it counts as hitting the green area, sometimes when switching to weapons and stuff will get jammed and you can’t use anything at all, and I’m sure there are other bugs that exist that I’m not aware of but those were the most frequent. I also think it’s kinda dumb that you aren’t able to select the preferences if you’d prefer to play Humans or Klowns, I personally don’t mind either one but it’s annoying that you can’t set your preferences for some reason. I’m also really annoyed that there’s no invite system integrated for friends on other platforms, there’s crossplay but you cannot invite your cross platform friends, which is a major red flag for a game in 2024 but it might get added soon hopefully! But those are all just just smaller complaints and doesn’t destroy the overall fun I’ve had with this game, I’m someone who mostly thinks asymmetric licensed games like this are kinda meh due to them being unbalanced a majority of the time but this is genuinely one of the most fun asymmetric games I’ve played in a long time! Overall, Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game is a really fun time! If you’re a fan of the movie and asymmetric games then you’ll instantly love this game but if you’re not really a fan of asymmetric games and your more of an antisocial gamer then maybe keep your money in your wallet.