De Blob
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De Blob
Colour Me Impressed
I have to admit it, my initial impressions of de Blob when it first appeared were entirely wrong. That said, I’m willing to bet that most people have made the same mistake, and simply blown this off as another kid-friendly cash-in. Allow me to say that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Blue Tongue have developed a cute little platform/puzzle game that brings something refreshing to the party, which is rare for a third party Wii game these days. This is one of the most enjoyable platformers I’ve had the privilege to play for Nintendo’s console, hands down. Curious to know more? Well read on, my friends.
Gameplay
The game kicks off with style, telling the story of Chroma City, and the evil INKT Corporation which has stolen all the colours from the city and made it a monochromatic, hum-drum kind of place. INKT have even taken the vibrant and colourful citizens of Chroma, the Raydians, and turned them into the lifeless grey drones now dubbed Graydians. Thankfully a handful of Raydians were able to escape from the monochrome nightmare, and with de Blob in their corner, they start the Colour Underground: an alliance that is determined to return all colour to the city and stop the evil INKT Corp., once and for all.
As de Blob, you start off each level as a colourless orb, so your first task will be to track down paintbots, target them with the Z button and slam the Wii-mote down to squash them and absorb their colour. After that, you’re free to simply paint the town red...or blue, or whatever colour you deem suitable. Doing this increases your "colour level energy". After obtaining a certain C.L.E., you will gain access to new areas. There are ten levels to explore in the game, and each one is pretty big so reaching the C.L.E. isn’t always so easy if you’re just spending your time painting the town.
That’s where the missions come in. Throughout the game you’ll be given dozens of missions from your friends in the Colour Underground. These missions can range from taking out all the guards, to painting a particular block of buildings a certain colour. The missions themselves may not sound like much, but this platformer has a few tricks up its sleeve. While the game may start off simple enough, (paint this block of buildings red, free the Raydians etc.), the difficulty gradually ramps up with more complex missions and essentially creates some very interesting puzzles for Blob to solve. This is where de Blob shines, really. The difficulty ramps up so gradually that it can honestly be enjoyed by any gamer...casual or not. While the hardcore gamer may be able to breeze through the games first few levels in less than an hour, the last half of the game requires patience and a whole lot of logical thinking to get through.
There are four different mission types to embark upon during the story-mode; racing, combat, landmark restoration and the standard paint the city block this colour mission. Racing is fairly basic, although there are obstacles such as ink pools which drain your health, or water which will wash the colour from your body meaning you’ll need to find some more paintbots before time runs out. Combat consists of taking out hordes of INKT soldiers, which is handled in the same way as squashing the paintbots. Landmark restoration is among the most interesting, as you need to find the weak spot of a particular building, jump inside it, and colour it. This sounds easier than it actually is, however, as you’ll have to get by INKT soldiers, as well avoid spiked areas and other hazards. The painting missions themselves are pretty straightforward, but these are far more difficult to do later on in the game, and at times it can be a little tedious.
de Blob controls are pretty tight all around. You move him with the analog stick on the nunchuk, perform jumps with a downward swing on the Wii-mote and hold Z and swing the Wii-mote to attack INKT soldiers. Being that Blob is pretty light, it could have been easy to overshoot your target, but thankfully, you don’t have to endure that frustration as you can stop de Blob on a dime with a quick press of the B button. Like I said, the controls are tight. My one problem with the controls in general is that using motion-controls to make de Blob jump is hard to get used to at first. It just seems more logical to map it to a button function in general. That said, the controls still work wonderfully...it’s just an odd design choice, is all.
There are some other cool features in addition to the story mode that really help the game overall. During load screens, you have the option to draw on the background with your Wii-mote, or you can read a little of the story, provided through comicbook-like panels. This is just plain neat, and I can’t tell you how much I wish other developers would make interactive load screens like this. There are also a few multiplayer modes if you get bored during the main story. For the most part, these are pretty similar to the main game, but they’re nice additions nonetheless. One thing I do have to say is that the more people you play with, the better. The game allows 4 players during these sessions and they’re clearly best suited for that number. It’s disappointing that there isn’t any online multiplayer, as co-op and competitive matches (especially Blob On the Run), seem like a perfect fit for this title and could have added a ton of replay value to the game in general. That said, getting four friends together and playing a few matches is still a pretty enjoyable experience.
Sound & Graphics
Wow. Seriously, this game has got all kinds of style. This is quite possibly the best looking Wii game I’ve seen in a long while. Painting the city is incredibly satisfying because of the contrast between that which you paint and the rest of the world. de Blob and friends are colourful, vibrant characters that will make you sit up and take notice. The cut-scenes are slick, and match the in-game visuals to a tee.
The music is also amazingly well-done. Throughout the levels, as you paint the town, you will literally be adding to the music with each area you paint. As you bounce of buildings, you’ll hear a jazzy little guitar line here, or a funky DJ scratch there. There’s a good number of musical styles available, and all of them are a treat to listen to. There’s not much voice-work to speak of. Characters do talk, but it’s more like a Chipmunk version of Sim-lish. That’s not a bad thing, though, as it really suits the style of the game overall. Truly one of the best sounding games on the Wii.
Value
With ten huge levels and a dozen or so unlockable secret levels, de Blob has a fair amount to do throughout your time with it. While some may blow through the single player game in a little under 8 hours, others will want to just chill out and take in the games awesome visuals and soothing jazzy music. It’s the kind of game that you can really let yourself get lost in for a couple of hours. I still think the game could have used an online feature, but maybe next time around. What’s here is great, and you’d be remiss not to pick it up.
Conclusion
de Blob has style, it’s got simple but great gameplay, and it offers enough challenge to keep even hardcore platforming enthusiasts happy, while not alienating the casual gaming market. As far as third party games go, this is the cream of the crop for the Wii, and hopefully, other developers will sit up and take notice.
Pros
+ Amazingly slick visuals in both cut-scenes and in-game.
+ Outstanding soundtrack
+ Controls are well-implemented
+ Blob On The Run is an awesome 4 player game.
Cons
- Using a motion to jump feels weird. It’s not bad, just weird.
- No online.
- Some puzzles are pretty difficult later on.
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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