Masquerade: the Baubles of Doom Preview

A new breath of fresh air from Big Ant Studios. This is an interesting one. Not many plots for games make you question the sanity of the developers but this is certainly one of them. We are given initially a cutscene outlining the backstory. We are thrown into a world with two magical balls of power- being the baubles of doom – under contention between numerous factions. All have failed to wield their power. Get that so far? So of course now we have an army of evil clowns coming to claim the baubles to take over the realm.

So who do we play as?

We play as a blue jester called Jaxx of course.

Shaking off all the absurdities in the longish cutscene, we finally get to the game. Which instantly cast my mind back to Playstation one games of old. The vibrant colourful landscape and playful 2-dimensional textures for the roads transported me back to my younger years. Which is no insult to the game, this is not a graphics showcase. This game is all about the fun. On my time playing the preview it was not locally available in 1080p but I can imagine this may be changed on launch on the 20^th April. It reminded me of playing Spyro back on my 10” TV combo unit, with the mild peril and platforming that could keep any kid on the edge of their seat. Coincidently or not coincidently, the same developer who made a number of hand held Spyro titles.

The main aim of the game is to fight your way or platform your way through the map to get deeper into the perverse story, which is all the more appealing the wackier it got. The combat system, strange saying that for such a unique title, is loosely based on the well-practiced Arkham games. Prompting the player to hit X- if you have a gamepad, which is recommended by the game in the loading screen- to bash the evil clowns beginning your combos. Pressing Y will allow you to counter any attacks and keep your combo meter going. Sound familiar? Having this system makes sense. It works. It has worked for the Arkham games and exploded into several different iterations because of its success.

We are offered a checkpoint after each interaction with a new set of villainous clowns or platforming section, which says to me this is very much aimed at a younger audience. One not saturated with the high octane battle for a killstreak or how to manage a civilisation. Jumping to another wooden platform is enough for today. Saying that it seems to be aimed at a younger demographic doesn’t mean the majority of players won’t enjoy it. If the plot doesn’t capture your curiosity then the easy nature of the gameplay will indulge.

Through the mild peril of the plot, the cheesy dialogue and the easy gameplay, this is certainly a breath of fresh air in the game market. Fun for anyone who can use a controller, easy to jump in and have a go with a number of difficulty settings. I would highly recommend keeping an eye on this game when it arrives, if it goes for a reasonable price on launch of course, a full £40-£50 wouldn’t justify it for me.

A charming, chilled, mental relaxing and crazy experience for all ages.