The Ball won multiple top prizes in Epic’s latest “Make Something Unreal” contest and is now following in the footsteps of Tripwire’s own Red Orchestra in making the leap from mod to full commercial release. Providing an experience far beyond what the mod offered the commercial release of the ball is highly enhanced and expanded featuring a full 6 hours of single-player gameplay.

The Ball is a first person action-adventure game featuring a full single-player experience built on Epic’s Unreal™ Engine 3 technology. As a swashbuckling archaeologist working on the slopes of a dormant volcano somewhere in Mexico, you get stuck in a cavern. It doesn’t take long before you realize this is more than just a cave. You reveal ancient ruins that have been hidden from outsiders for centuries and discover a mysterious artifact, a gold and metal shelled Ball. As you progress towards solving the mystery of this amazing place you must unlock the secrets of The Ball and learn to control this ancient artifact. You will also start to encounter not just puzzles and traps, but also various strange creatures – the guardians of this mystery. These creatures also have to be overcome, using only The Ball to defend you. Venturing deeper into the volcano, you reveal some of mankind’s greatest secrets…

“We are really happy to see The Ball get a full commercial launch. It is the first UDK-based game to get into stores and the previews show just how much a group of talented developers can achieve with the toolset,” said Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic Games. “Like previous success stories from the Make Something Unreal contest, such as Red Orchestra, it is a highly-polished standalone product – and a great fun game, too! This is a great example of why we put the effort into supporting the community with the UDK and the MSU contest.”

Pre-orders on Steam start 18th October 2010 with a special exclusive bonus for Killing Floor owners that get on the ball and pre-order before the 26th – the hero from The Ball as a fully playable character in Killing Floor!

Key features:

• Over 8 hours of single-player puzzle action adventure
• Game mechanics that are very simple to pick up, immersing the user in the physics-based gameplay right from the start
• 8 huge levels to explore
• Includes bonus Survival game mode, with 3 additional levels
• Wide range of enemies to overcome, including mummies, an undead gorilla and boss characters
• Unique vehicles – an underground train and the mysterious “Ball Chariot”
• More than 30 secrets hidden away to be discovered, as well as multiple achievements for the player to earn
• Steamworks features including achievements and leaderboards