World of Goo
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World of Goo
Gooey Gooey Good
At Game Focus we love our Indie games and have a firm belief that Indie developers can and will sustain the game industry through the worst of times such as bad economic times and those times when developers and publishers stick to creating the next big clone of last years big successful game. We saw several important Indie titles last year and one that came out right at the end of 2008 is by far one of my favorite casual games of all time, ranking up there with Tetris and Spider Solitaire is World of Goo by 2D BOY.
One of the most innovative, fun and interesting titles in a long time is the best way to describe this amazing title which is already on my list for Indie Game of the Year and Game of the Year for 2009. Is World of Goo the game for you? If you enjoy puzzle games the answer is, Hell Yes!
Gameplay
I love it when I play a PC game built by a team of developers who realize that they do not need to over do the controls by attempting to use all the keys on a keyboard and in the time of casual game overload we are seeing more games using almost the entire keyboard for some crazy and unfathomable reason. In the case of World of Goo by 2D BOY, they kept much of the game simple allowing the user to just move the mouse to complete the various puzzles offered in the game.
World of Goo is a physics based construction game where you create pathways, bridges and many more structures by dragging living blobs of Goo from point A to point B. It might sound easy but the devious developers at 2D BOY have conceived many different obstacles which can and often will ruin your “structure of gooey-ness” faster then you will believe. Everything from rotating gears which rip things apart to fire will be your enemy and in the end sometimes its a matter of skill or pure luck which will allow you to beat each level.
Not relying on just a single type of Goo-ball in World of Goo there are several different types of Goo-balls, each with different types of abilities which you must learn to take advantage of in order to beat each level. But just building with the Goo-balls will not get you very far as you must learn what works and what does not or you can and will end up restarting the level dozens of times. It might sound like a very frustrating experience and while sometimes it is, the game is rewarding when you finally beat that one level which was your nemesis for so long. Possibly the most fun level is the World of Goo which is a open tower building level where you try and build the highest tower you can using Goo-balls which you have collected as you play the game and this is not as easy as it sounds. You can easily waste hours just trying to beat your last height it is that fun and addicting.
But things are not all perfect in the land of Goo, you can not zoom in and out which is a major mistake by the development team as it is very easy to mess up your level due to an over sensitive mouse. Also for some reason the game is only 800x600 and while the game is still fantastic looking when you are using a high resolution LCD monitor you expect to be able to use the settings you paid for. There is also no multiplayer or co-op support of any kind and while this is not a big deal in my opinion, some people would love to have a multiplayer game even though a game like World of Goo does not need on.
Graphics and Audio
Graphically World of Goo shocked me at how crisp and clean the graphics are mixed with this fun art style which adds to the overall experience in a good way. The games level design, creatures and user interface all mix together to become this incredible looking and rich game which will shock even the most jaded PC gamers. The colorful cartoony graphics are memorable and remind me of Patapon on the PSP (Which is a good thing). Audio wise the game keeps it simple, not overdoing the audio but just providing an aural experience adding to the games overall enjoyable experience with out ruining it like so many games who try too hard. Non-Indie developers could learn much from how 2D BOY designed their level music which is simply put amazing.
Value
While the game is only single player you can replay levels over and over again always looking to improve your actual score. The value in World of Goo is very high for casual gamers.
Bottom Line
Very few games achieve instant classic status, and are as fun and rewarding like World of Goo and in the end those three things make Goo a must buy for those fans who love gaming.Pros
+ Fun and very addicting
+ Nice graphics and sound effects
+ Easy and rewarding gameplay most of the time
+ Nice price at 20$
+ Perfect casual time sink game
Cons
- sometimes the levels can become aggravating
- the simple controls could use some slight tweaking to make them better
- 800x600... really?
- no zoom in/out
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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