Bang-on Balls Chronicle Review
3D platformers used to rule the roost in gaming but they’re now relegated to a supporting role – aside from a certain Mario Mario that is. Most new titles in this style are unapologetically aiming for a nostalgia fix with aesthetics and level design to match. While this leads to excellent games like A Hat in Time it can have more mixed results such as the much-maligned Yooka-Laylee (which I enjoyed, to be honest). Bang-on Balls Chronicle does play like an old-school 3D platformer but is less slavishly nostalgic in its presentation – instead going balls deep into a puerile and crude feel that will probably turn away as many players as it attracts.
If the title alone wasn’t enough to get a feel for the bodily-inspired humour that dominates here then the fact that there is a dedicated fart button (although where exactly the balls’ butts are located is unclear anatomically). If this weren’t apparent enough then add in that every single trophy/achievement in the game is unlocked by farting in specific locations/situations and you have an idea of the level of humour involved. I’m no prude – and bodily jokes have a proud legacy going back to the very earliest recorded comedy – but the not-quite scatological focus here becomes wearying very quickly. It doesn’t commit quite as much as the gross-out Hell Pie from last year and therefore feels incredibly one-note (even if that note is a brown one). This is particularly unfortunate as the actual gameplay is solid and there are some good level design elements going on here.
The overarching narrative behind all this farting and ball action is slight at best. You have to follow a tyrannical actor through a series of vaguely blockbuster film inspired locations to prove your worth or
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