For gamers, the madness has begun. We have entered the late fall release period, when every week brings the release of two or more AAA titles from major studios and publishers. Just looking at this week's release slate makes me so, so happy that I do not review games for a living: I would probably go mad just trying to cover a tenth of this mess. We have the big sequels — this week sees Fallout 3, Fable II and Far Cry 2 are already out, Gears of War 2 and others are coming. We also have some truly unique and original ideas out and on the way, with parkour adventure Mirror's Edge and the cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead. In all of this noise, you might miss a game like the physics puzzler World of Goo, from independent developers 2D Boy. Well, don't get snowed by the big boys — World of Goo will put a smile on your face even as you violently curse the law of gravity for its obstinacy.
The World of Goo is inhabited by numerous little goo balls that can be stuck together to create structures. In each level you have a few goos and a gap you must cross somehow to reach a pipe that forms the level's egress — the goo balls only really move across structures made from other gooballs. Most frequently you must build a bridge, but towers, arches, pendulums, and other more exotic designs are also needed. The key to each level is making optimal use of the structural properties of the goos, as well as their special abilities. The goo balls can produce relatively strong structures, but you rarely have the numbers or the space to build anything more than a rather wobbly one. Figuring out how to turn your limited goo balls into an escape route can be quite a challenge, and success produces some great "Aha!" moments.
On their own, the puzzles would be entertaining enough, and the game doesn't really need anything more. What made the game for me, though, was the art direction. The environments are whimsical, cute, and a little creepy. The music also contributes wonderfully to the atmosphere of each level. Although at its core it this a game about cute little balls of goo that stick together, the levels manage an impressive range of moods. World of Goo has a light little story, mostly carried on by unobtrusive signs and a few cutscenes, about corporate greed, skin-deep culture, and advertising. Understanding that the goo balls are delicious, however, is not essential to enjoying the game.
World of Goo isn't perfect. It can be difficult to select a specific goo that you want, especially if your structures are a bit crowded. Some goo balls that can create either nodes or struts have a tendency to add in as the wrong thing, and when your structures get to wobbling it becomes very easy to make a mistake or drop a goo ball by accident. These problems are essentially minor and probably won't get in the way of your enjoying the game. The only real sin in the game is one of the last levels, which I felt depended too much on luck. It's one thing for me to flub a level, quite another for the level to be flubbed for me by the design.
That one level aside, however, World of Goo has plenty of fun and personality to offer. Although the game is short enough to finish in one or two sittings, getting the obsessive completion distinction on each level, and gaining more extra goo balls for an associated meta-game, will provide several additional hours of play. It's the season for hi-res, hi-polygon titles from big publishers, but you could do much worse than setting those titles aside and getting elbow-deep in some 2D goo.
World of Goo is presently available through WiiWare, and it can be purchased for the PC directly from the developers or via several download services such as Steam. If you don't have a PC, don't despair: Mac and Linux (!!) versions are currently in beta and should be available soon. For this review the game was played to completion on the Wii.
The World of Goo is inhabited by numerous little goo balls that can be stuck together to create structures. In each level you have a few goos and a gap you must cross somehow to reach a pipe that forms the level's egress — the goo balls only really move across structures made from other gooballs. Most frequently you must build a bridge, but towers, arches, pendulums, and other more exotic designs are also needed. The key to each level is making optimal use of the structural properties of the goos, as well as their special abilities. The goo balls can produce relatively strong structures, but you rarely have the numbers or the space to build anything more than a rather wobbly one. Figuring out how to turn your limited goo balls into an escape route can be quite a challenge, and success produces some great "Aha!" moments.
On their own, the puzzles would be entertaining enough, and the game doesn't really need anything more. What made the game for me, though, was the art direction. The environments are whimsical, cute, and a little creepy. The music also contributes wonderfully to the atmosphere of each level. Although at its core it this a game about cute little balls of goo that stick together, the levels manage an impressive range of moods. World of Goo has a light little story, mostly carried on by unobtrusive signs and a few cutscenes, about corporate greed, skin-deep culture, and advertising. Understanding that the goo balls are delicious, however, is not essential to enjoying the game.
World of Goo isn't perfect. It can be difficult to select a specific goo that you want, especially if your structures are a bit crowded. Some goo balls that can create either nodes or struts have a tendency to add in as the wrong thing, and when your structures get to wobbling it becomes very easy to make a mistake or drop a goo ball by accident. These problems are essentially minor and probably won't get in the way of your enjoying the game. The only real sin in the game is one of the last levels, which I felt depended too much on luck. It's one thing for me to flub a level, quite another for the level to be flubbed for me by the design.
That one level aside, however, World of Goo has plenty of fun and personality to offer. Although the game is short enough to finish in one or two sittings, getting the obsessive completion distinction on each level, and gaining more extra goo balls for an associated meta-game, will provide several additional hours of play. It's the season for hi-res, hi-polygon titles from big publishers, but you could do much worse than setting those titles aside and getting elbow-deep in some 2D goo.
World of Goo is presently available through WiiWare, and it can be purchased for the PC directly from the developers or via several download services such as Steam. If you don't have a PC, don't despair: Mac and Linux (!!) versions are currently in beta and should be available soon. For this review the game was played to completion on the Wii.
3 comments:
Crap...I'm probably going to have to get this for my PC. I have a love/hate relationship with games like this. I would spend ridiculous amounts of time playing Lemmings, which sounds somewhat similar. The hate part is only because I'm not particularly good at them, so what took you a sitting may take me a month. We shall see...
OK, I got the game and lost a great deal of sleep because of it. Thanks, MWC...I think.
You evil, evil people.. You had to bring this up on Thursday. I had a well-planned weekend of productivity all mapped out. Now I'm having difficulty typing, thanks to a terrifying paranoia that a typo might bring the whole paragraph tumbling down.
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