In 1988, the Chiodo Brothers released the cult horror film Killer Klowns from Outer Space. The film tells the bizarre tale of alien clowns who trap people in cotton candy cocoons, miniaturize them with demonic shadow puppets, and shoot them to death with a popcorn bazooka. Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a popular B-movie, but it didn’t become a franchise as quickly as other horror movies of the ’80s. No sequels have been released in the decades since, but fans can at least now play a video game based on the film.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game in which a team of three clowns attempt to hunt and capture seven unlucky humans. Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space: The Game is basically Dead by Daylight with alien clowns, developed by Teravision Games and IllFonic, the developers of similar games like Friday the 13th: The Game, Predator: Hunting Grounds, and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Making an entire game out of an 88-minute B-movie is no mean feat, and unfortunately, Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space: The Game is unlikely to replace Dead by Daylight as the best asymmetrical multiplayer horror game on the market.

Anyone who knows Dead by Daylight and the other games mentioned above knows exactly how the Killer Klowns from Outer Space game works. The clowns have to hunt down all the humans, but the humans have to work together to escape. As always, the clowns are better than the humans. The idea is that the human survivors work together as a coordinated team to protect each other, outwit the clowns, and ultimately escape with their lives. Without proper communication, humans have no real chance against clowns, but it’s still a lot more fun to play as a human.

Running around Killer Klowns from Space’s various maps as a human, hiding from clowns and working with friends to escape alive can lead to exciting moments. Encountering a grotesque, shambling clown can be terrifying, and running away from a clown can lead to memorable chase scenes. Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space is great for tense moments where players will do anything to escape the creatures, including hiding in trash cans or fighting them directly with knives.

People can loot coolers and other objects scattered around the map to find useful items that can give them an advantage against the clowns. For example, if you get trapped in a cotton candy cocoon, you can use a knife to free yourself and get another chance to win the game. Stocking up on items and using them wisely is the key to succeeding as a human in Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space, and it can be a lot of fun when you do it well.

It’s not fun for a player to die as a survivor early in a match, since the game will probably last another 10 minutes. While dead, the player can complete mini-games to give fellow survivors various bonuses and useful items, but these mini-games quickly become more boring than just sitting and waiting for the match to end. There are games like Whack-a-Mole, Simon Says, and a few others, which are fun at first, but get very boring over time.

The Klown Experience vs. The Human Experience

Still, the survival experience in Killer Clowns from Space is much better than playing as a boring clown. The job of a clown is to kill people by force or harvest them using cotton candy cocoons. Playing as a clown in Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space often means roaming the vast map and trying your luck with players. Finding unfortunate humans, clowns can shoot them with cotton candy guns, hit them with hammers, or lure them with their psychic powers, depending on their class and equipment. Hanging cotton candy pods or harvesting people means carrying the objects and transporting them to machines scattered across the map, which is not as exciting as the human survival experience.

As the game progresses, clowns unlock new abilities, such as the ability to “jump” to any location on the map. Clowns can also perform fatality-like finishing moves on defeated opponents. These are fun at first, but not as exciting as Mortal Kombat fatalities. With the right group of friends, you can have fun as a Clown, but most of the time it’s a big disappointment when the random team selection picks a Clown instead of a human.

There is an option to run custom matches, and the game supports bots, but in our experience, bots are completely useless. The space bots, Killer Klowns, tend to wander aimlessly around the map and slow down a lot when trying to go through doors. Hopefully the game has a high enough player count that players don’t have to worry about bots, but this is something to keep in mind.

The bots aren’t the only thing that’s unconvincing about Killer Klowns in Outer Space: The Game. The game also has some technical issues that need fixing, including: the scoreboard doesn’t accurately display the number of kills a Klown has made, and cocoons fly out of the field, leaving survivors with no hope of rescue. Players will also be disappointed that most of the objects on the map offer no means of interaction, which can make the map seem lifeless despite being lovingly recreated from the film.

Killler Klowns from Outer Space Nails the Movie’s Aesthetic

As always with asymmetrical multiplayer games, Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space is a mixed experience. It can be a lot of fun, but it can also be very boring. How much you enjoy the game will depend a lot on what you think of the 1988 film. If you’re a big fan of the film, you’ll love how Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space: The Game captures the style of the film. Visiting memorable locations from the film is a lot of fun, the dialogue in the game is hilarious, and seeing the wardrobe of characters like Mike Tobacco recreated in video game form never gets old. The iconic title song is also used to great effect.

In addition to the overall aesthetic, Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game also does a great job with progression. Players must complete challenges to unlock new customization options, and leveling up means gaining access to new classes and abilities. The core experience still won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but for those who enjoy the game, it’s at least a good enough reason to keep playing.

Killer Klowns from Outdoor Space: The Game won’t appeal to those who aren’t fans of these types of games. Frankly, there are better, more polished versions of these out there already. Die-hard fans of the Killer Klowns film would benefit most from the game, but it would be very hard to recommend it to anyone else. The game has its fun moments, but it probably won’t keep most players entertained for very long.