During PAX East this year, I was able to swing by the Killer Klowns From Outer Space booth and get hands on time with the game. There are two modes of the game, playing as the humans trying to escape from the evil klowns and then the side of the klowns who are trying to kill/capture the humans. Before I get to my coverage, I’d like to give a shout out to the booth staff as well as event staff for the Boston Convention center. There was a young lady who was having a health issue and the booth staff/convention staff was very helpful and handled things in a proper manner. I used to be in security so I know how tough sudden issues like that can be.
Anyway, Killer Klowns from Outer Space pits the killer klowns against the humans. The humans are trying prevent Crescent Cove from an alien invasion and the klowns are trying to invade. The game is an asymmetrical multiplayer game that is similar to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th Game that had the same basic idea of escape or die. That being said, I’m not the biggest online multiplayer guy but that doesn’t take away from the game being interesting and fun to play.
Let me start with my time playing as a human. I didn’t care for being a human in this game. As a human, you’re trying to prevent the killer klowns from invading Crescent Cove. You’ll team up with other humans trying their best to perform tasks to help out their fellow humans. That could range from unlocking certain areas or setting up items. You will want to help out others because it’s a team setup where if one human succeeds, the whole team does. Find all kinds of tools to use as weapons to defend yourself against the alien klown race.
It’s good to know that one way to prevent an alien invasion is to find a wrench and go to town on the alien chasing you. You’ll also want to be on guard and look for areas that have cotton candy or other alien substances that you can clear away to help the cause. You only get one life on the human side but that doesn’t signal the end for you. There are a ton of mini games that you can play while spectating the other human players. They range from popping balloons at the right time to playing basketball. Win the mini game and you can acquire items that can help the living human players. Depending on when you die in the game, you could get your hands on a ton of items to give to the other players.
Now, lets talk about my time as a killer klown. Playing as a klown was way more fun and enjoyable than the human side. I also felt that playing as a klown would be much easier to jump into if you haven’t played the game before. The killer klowns are trying to invade Crescent Cove and they have all kinds of “toys” and “games” to do that. Use the klown laser to attack humans and trap them in cotton candy to power the invasion. You can also team up with other klowns to attack faster. One of my favorite weapons for the klowns was the boxing gloves. Pulling them out of your pocket and punching the humans with them was pretty fun.
I mentioned that I felt the klowns were an easier game mode to jump into if you’ve never played the game before. It felt like there was more leeway as a klown because you could make a mistake and not have your game end because of it. I didn’t play my best match as a human and died quickly. Klowns can get knocked out quite a few times and sit out for a minute or so. After that cool down period, you’re right back into the match, trying to kill humans.
The camera felt really off to me when I was a klown. I was playing on a PC with a PlayStation 5 controller and the camera was controlled with the right stick. It felt really loose and I had a tough time aiming weapons at humans. A lock on mechanism would really help this game. During my klown session, we won and invaded Crescent Cove so it’s all good.
It will be interesting to see what this genre goes next in terms of properties but Killer Klowns from Outer Space is shaping up to be an interesting next step!