While playing through the game there are also hidden areas and artifacts to be had to give you some extra bonuses for being attentive and willing to explore. It partly helps lengthen the game, although somewhat artificially as it has nothing to do with the main story. You could in fact run through the main game and rarely even stumble across any of these extras. But that would be a waste and you wouldn’t get the achievements and we all want achievements, don’t we?

On the graphics side it’s superb. The game was built using the Unreal Engine and it really looks like it. I ramped up the graphics as high as I could without slowing down the game and it’s quite impressive. The massive environments are highly detailed and give one pause from time to time to wonder at their immensity and their decoration. Intricately carved ruins give you large areas to run around in and many of the puzzles are built right into the area you’re in. Of course, after awhile, constantly figuring out how to push buttons with your character and/or the ball does get a little monotonous. Luckily, zombies show up now and again to make it all the more challenging.

The sounds are quite satisfying as well, from the squishing, crunching sound of running over zombies with the Ball to the dripping of water, the crackling of fire and the buzzing of flies and other things. The soundscape is as rich as the excellent visuals require making the game rather engrossing. In fact, I often found myself squirming in my chair while trying to maneuver the Ball into the proper position or run over zombies with it.

Aside from the standard campaign/story mode, there are also survival levels that throw wave after wave of enemies at you. Your task is obviously to survive the onslaught. Far more challenging than I make it sound here. Remember, there are no automatic weapons or grenades. It’s just you and the Ball. Of course, if I could manage to get atop it and stay there the survival levels might be a tad easier. I’ll have to keep working on that.

While The Ball does present some unique game mechanics and interesting levels and puzzles it’s not totally unique. It is unique enough to be far more interesting than many other games that have been released lately and I think it’s certain to find its niche. Hopefully, they’ll be able to expand upon the game, which is quite lengthy already. It’s certainly worth looking into if you liked any of the games I’ve mentioned in the review and it’s just pretty to look at a lot of the time.

The Ball is available via Steam and GamersGate