As a lover of both asymmetrical multiplayer games and horror in general, the idea of Killer Klowns from Outer Space really caught my imagination. Co-developers IllFonic are no strangers to this style of game, having previously tapped into other 80s film franchises and adapted them to asymmetrical multiplayer with Friday the 13th: The Game, Predator: Hunting Grounds, and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed.
Each game shares a lot of common ground – the goal is still for the Klowns to track down the humans, prevent them from escaping and kill them – but Killer Klowns puts its own spin on things. It of course bears a similar game style to Friday the 13th, but on a grander scale, with a team of three Klowns hunting seven humans.
My first match had me head into the carnival at night as a human, but I quickly felt at home with the controls and game’s fundamentals. I ran around and scavenged what I could – a baseball, a brick and even a handgun – and that helped me feel like I could fight back. That’s something that other asymmetrical horror games have let you do, but Killer Klowns feels like it gets the balance right. In a 1v1, you should probably run unless you’re feeling pretty adept and well equipped, but if there’s a group of you? Then it’s hunting season on the Klowns.
I found this out quickly after finding a shotgun, and banding together with a few fellow humans. We were comfortably able to send the Klowns packing… for a while. Once a Klown is stunned, it’s a race between them button-mashing to get back up, and anyone with a weapon trying to pop their nose and send them to the afterlife. Death is just a mild setback for the Klowns though, as they will soon respawn and come back to terrorise you again.
While a couple Klowns down, this gave us a chance to focus on our main goal: to escape. While rummaging around, I managed to find a key to a gate which was one of the exits. There are a few different ways to escape – by boat, by opening the gate and crossing the bridge, or even through a special bunker.
Approaching the gate and opening it presents its own special minigame which sees you removing or breaking wooden planks before you can actually use the key to unlock the gate. Of course, doing these timing-based minigames alerts the Klowns to your location, so you need to be quick before they come for you. The Klowns can slow you down by spreading their special brand of cotton candy all over the escape route. It can be removed, but it’s time consuming and time is never on your side.
Failing to escape before the fifteen minute timer runs out means you’ll be present for the impending Klownpocalypse which I’m pretty sure no one wants to experience. In my situation, I was able to get the gate open and escape across the bridge, but not being careful as I ran meant the boards on the bridge broke, making it very difficult for those behind to escape alongside me.
What was cool, however, was that even though I escaped, I was still able to contribute for the rest of my team. If you escape early or are unlucky enough to get killed, you can take part in a series of minigames, granting the living humans extra items in order to aid them in their escape. This feature in particular is fantastic as it means getting tunnelled out the game too early doesn’t leave you twiddling your thumbs waiting for your mates to finish. If you’ve died, rather than escaped, the items earned can also be kept for yourself, meaning you’ll get a fighting chance when coming back from the dead. You only get to revive once however, so use that life wisely.
Of course, being the sadist I am, I was very excited in my second game playing as a Klown.
The Klowns are all armed with a raygun which they can use to turn pesky humans into cocoons made of cotton candy. This is an alternative to killing them outright, as they can then be taken and hung on one of several Lackey Generators. These spawns little minions which walk around the map and attempt to hunt down the humans. There are also some giant cotton candy cocoons just laying around the map, and the more candy on a generator, the faster minions are spawned.
The main trick comes when you manage to hook up sixteen cocoons to machines. Doing this triggers an early Klownpocalypse, making all the humans meet a sticky end.
Of course, this is just one way to win. During our game, I went on a bit of a killing spree. Smashing humans with your mallet enough times downs them and enables you to perform a Klowntality, a brutal yet hilarious finishing move to send the humans to their graves.
That’s not all, as the Klowns have an abundance of skills at their disposal. The Klown I was using had access to the Klown jump, which let me look at the map and jump to a spot of my choosing. I used this skill to my advantage and managed to head off a running survivor, catching up with them and taking them out for the win. The full game will allow for customisable loadouts, unlockable weapons, tricks and cosmetics with plenty of future support planned.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space brought plenty of goofy silliness to 80s horror cinema, and that’s honestly a perfect fit for asymmetrical multiplayer. That’s especially true because you’ve always got some other players alongside you, whether you’re humans or Klowns, to share in the close escapes, the hopeless chases, and the usual online shenanigans.
With the game out in just under a month on 4th June, I for one can’t wait to see what comes next in the Klownpocalypse!
