TotemBall
Description
The Ptolmec tribe love to compose amazing music. Unfortunately, they discover gunpowder and the barbecue simultaneously, and send their precious totems rocketing across the landscape. As Pterry the Pturtle (yes, like that), you must roll along the world, and collect the missing totems, as well as any treasures that you can find.
TotemBall is similar in gameplay to Katamari Damacy, in that you control a character that rolls along the ground by "pushing" the ball with your hands. However, unlike Katamari, you actually hold your hands up, moving them up and down to control the speed and direction of the ball's movement. The game uses the Xbox Live Vision camera to register your hand movements.
The main objective of the game is to collect the missing totems - these stack on top of Pterry as you collect them. The more totems you pick up, the more of the song you will hear as you play the game. The game also has plenty of collectables, such as gems and coins, which can be picked up to increase your score. Treasure chests dot the landscape too, and these will add a x2 multiplier to your score. For every treasure chest you collect, another 2 will be added to your multiplier, increasing the points you can earn. Beds are also placed along the ground - if you pick up one of these, you'll be given the opportunity to rest your arms for a brief period.
Groups +
Credits (Xbox 360 version)
66 People (61 developers, 5 thanks) · View all
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| Sound | |
| Music | |
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| Additional Artwork | |
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| Program Management | |
| Microsoft Test Manager | |
| Microsoft Test Lead | |
| Microsoft Test Developers | |
| VMC Test Manager | |
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| [ full credits ] | |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 52% (based on 6 ratings)
Players
Average score: 1.8 out of 5 (based on 4 ratings with 1 reviews)
From the people who brought you 'Catwoman'
The Good
It's a pretty cool concept - collect totems, and as you do, more layers of music play. The fact that it's free is also attractive...but of course, nothing's free, is it?
The Bad
See, the thing is, the gameplay is horribly, horribly flawed due to the rotten controls. Because the game has to exclusively use the Xbox Live Vision camera for game control, your control of the character is extremely limited. There are two waterfalls on the sides of the screen, and the idea is that you lift your arms to raise logs on the waterfalls, and that's how you control your character. Sounds simple enough - but it isn't.
In desperation, you'll begin to wave your arms around in vain so that they simply register movement, but that doesn't work either. So off you go, careening into one of the game's many pools of water, because of course, this all takes place on an island, and the player character (who, I might add, is a TURTLE) cannot swim. And then you begin to see the floating beds peppered around the level. Pick one of these up, and what does it do? It rewards you with brief rest. Call me crazy, but when the game rewards you with the ability to take a break, I think there might be a slight flaw with the control method.
The Bottom Line
Simply put, TotemBall is a rotten game. While the concept sounds cool (and it's FREE!!), the execution is terrible, leaving the player with nothing but a sense of frustration. And that's not what playing a game is all about.
Recommended for masochists, soccer goalies, and robots.
Xbox 360 · by Ben K (23950) · 2006
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Related Sites +
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X360A achievement guide
X360A's achievement guide for TotemBall.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Ben K.
Additional contributors: Starbuck the Third.
Game added November 9, 2006. Last modified March 4, 2024.