Bell Ringer

About

Bell Ringer is a single player and multiplayer action game. It was developed by Night Node Software and was released on March 17, 2016. It received negative reviews from players.

Bell Ringer is a fast paced arena PvP brawler with local and online multiplayer. Gather your friends and brace yourselves for some intense brawling! Choose between five unique characters with different weapons, special moves and styles.

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20%

Audience ScoreBased on 204 reviews

graphics5 positive mentions

gameplay10 negative mentions

The game features a unique concept of being a church bell ringer, which adds depth to the gameplay as players must consider various factors like weather and the mood of the congregation.
The pixel art graphics create a charming medieval atmosphere, and the sound design, particularly the realistic bell sounds, enhances the immersive experience.
The game can be surprisingly engaging once players delve into its mechanics, offering hours of entertainment for those who enjoy time management and simulation games.

The controls are clunky and unresponsive, making gameplay frustrating and difficult to enjoy.
The game suffers from a lack of content, with limited levels and characters, leading to a repetitive experience.
Multiplayer is essentially non-existent, and the single-player mode is poorly designed, resulting in a lack of motivation to continue playing.

gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
54%
33%
The gameplay of "Bell Ringer" has been widely criticized for being bland, unbalanced, and plagued by poor controls and mechanics. Players report frustrating experiences due to buggy performance, lack of engaging content, and a confusing combat system, leading to an overall unsatisfying gameplay loop. Despite the potential for an exciting concept, the execution falls short, making it difficult for the game to gain traction or recognition.
- “Lacking players but awesome gameplay.”
- “They make a game that could otherwise be pointless to be developed – even if the concept is sound and the gameplay exciting – playable until such a point as your game has an active community or you make a group of like-minded friends who are able to party with you.”
- “Yes, gameplay video is very important, but I believe firmly that you’re not doing justice to your game or advertising it very well with that trailer.”
- “What is perplexing is just how terrible the gameplay is in comparison to the visuals.”
- “Poorly optimized, extremely shallow gameplay, broken menus, crap controls, and somehow bad graphics for such an awesome engine like UE4!”
- “The gameplay is just plain broken.”
graphics
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
66%
13%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the medieval aesthetics and level design, while others criticize the character uniqueness and overall visual quality as mediocre or poor. Issues such as a cluttered graphics menu and performance problems on various systems further detract from the experience, leading to a consensus that while the art style has potential, the execution falls short. Overall, the visuals are seen as a weak point in comparison to the gameplay.
- “Level design and visuals fared Bell Ringer well, as the levels themselves are done nicely and the visuals are actually quite pleasant, even down to the character models and attack special effects.”
- “This game has a nice art style to it and has a certain creepy almost Tim Burton look to it.”
- “Graphically, the game looked oddly fuzzy, and although I was getting around 100+ fps, other people have been having a lot of fps problems.”
- “Graphics menu is all messed up, one text on top of another, overlapping, hard to read and change something to your liking.”
- “Poorly optimized, extremely shallow gameplay, broken menus, crap controls, and somehow bad graphics for such an awesome engine like UE4!”
- “Visuals are traumatizingly ugly.”
story
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
37%
45%
The game lacks a meaningful story, with many reviewers noting its absence of plot, lore, or character backstories, rendering it a simplistic fighter experience. Players express a desire for narrative elements, such as character-driven stories or a basic plot, to enhance engagement and depth. Overall, the consensus is that the game's minimalistic approach to storytelling detracts from its appeal.
- “If you have an animator, then give each character a comic book style story so that we have a reason to know and care about each fighter.”
- “A relatively basic story trailer would add more depth not only to the trailer but to your game.”
- “The game's concept is the utmost basic forms of fighter games with little (if any) to nothing going on for its story.”
- “Bell Ringer comes with a handful of levels, five characters with a pre-defined loadout, no item management, no exploration, no procedurally generated anything, and zero crafting abilities; it doesn’t even come with a story outside of what is written on the Greenlight page, but that’s just the start of it.”
- “As mentioned above, there’s no story or plot to the game, making it pointless outside of achievement hunters looking to complete it.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
43%
43%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including frequent frame drops, incomplete textures, and poor graphics despite using a capable engine like Unreal Engine 4. Many players report that it runs poorly even on capable hardware, with some suggesting that it only performs well on low-end systems due to disabled graphics effects. Overall, the lack of optimization has led to a frustrating experience for users.
- “Other reviewers said it runs at 60fps on old PCs, most likely because it only uses Intel graphics cards, which disables most graphics effects and allows it to run smoothly.”
- “The game is poorly optimized, with frequent frame drops and levels rendering incomplete textures and models.”
- “Poorly optimized, extremely shallow gameplay, broken menus, crap controls, and somehow bad graphics for such an awesome engine like UE4!”
- “Optimization does not exist; my GPU fan should not be working this hard for a game this simple.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some users find it fitting and enjoyable, others describe it as out of place or annoying. Sound effects are generally praised, but there is a call for a more cohesive soundtrack to enhance the overall atmosphere and excitement of the gameplay. Overall, the music shows potential but needs improvement to better align with the game's experience.
- “The sound effects are good and the music is very fitting to the game's atmosphere.”
- “The music on the menu systems is great and I'd like to advise that you incorporate some sort of soundtrack into the game to help hide the generic fighting sounds.”
- “The art and music assets show some potential but barely approach mediocre at present.”
- “Add some music or something to it to make it sound and look more exciting.”
- “God, so poorly made, music so stupid, menu broken... my god...”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, poor controls, and significant performance issues such as lag spikes and frequent crashes. Many feel that the game was released in an unfinished state, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. Despite some acknowledging its fun elements, the overall consensus highlights severe stability problems that detract from the enjoyment.
- “Buggy as hell, poor animations and very confusing gameplay, don't waste your money.”
- “Game freezes.”
- “I am not sure the game should have been released in its current state; the lag spikes are massive and the FPS issues are beyond count, as well as countless glitches and lack of distinction between characters, terrible controls, and constant game crashes.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its well-executed gothic elements, complemented by effective sound effects and fitting music that enhance the overall experience.
- “The gothic atmosphere felt nicely done.”
- “The sound effects are good and the music is very fitting to the game's atmosphere.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted as particularly enjoyable when playing with friends or in a full lobby, creating a lively atmosphere. Additionally, users find the game's "more like this" category amusingly mismatched, adding to the overall comedic experience.
- “I'm not sure who adds games to the 'more like this' category, but that's actually kind of hilarious: Dota, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Starbound... this game has nothing to do with any of them.”
- “This game is really funny when you have a full lobby (or some friends to play with) to play online.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews suggest that while gameplay videos are crucial for showcasing a game, the effectiveness of the trailer in advertising and representing the game is also essential for successful monetization.