Review: World of Goo

Developer: 2D Boy

Publisher: Nintendo

First up I just have to say I’m a bit of a download cynic. After I’d put in all my points to Club Cintendo and decided not to get a Mario Kite or Zelda Beach Towel my thoughts turned to games.

The back catalogue of retro games is getting nicely swollen. There are a few duffers out there but hey, that’s life. Anyway, with my first 1000 points (which translates at roughly £7) I decided to try out World of Goo.

What is it? Well it’s what I like to term a save ‘em up. Heard of Lemmings? It was a game where you had to direct small rodents safely home; World of Goo is very similar which is no bad thing. Anyway, in the World of Goo (I would shorten that, but I think W.O.G isn’t very PC…..ahem, back on topic), your goal is to get your goo balls to the safety of the pipe and on to the next level. In your travels you will encounter different goo balls with different abilities. Black goo can link with two other goo balls, red goo is explosive when lit, yellow goo sticks to surfaces, green goo is re-usable…..and there are quite a few other types. I’ll leave it to you to find them.

So how do you play? Well the goo is sticky, and you can link different goo balls up and form structures which the remaining unattached goo then travel along to reach new platforms, though you do have to watch out for gravity: a badly built construction will inevitably fall. Dangers to avoid on your travels include bottomless pits, turbines, fans, cogs and machines, amongst a lot of others.

The difficulty curve is excellent, starting off with a few easy tutorial levels. You do have five level skips at your disposal, should you get stuck and not be able to work out what the heck to do. This comes in handy and lessens the frustration somewhat. The “one more go” factor is indeed strong in this game, a mark of quality in my opinion.

Graphically it isn’t astounding but if you were expecting multi-light sourcing and particle effects you wouldn’t be playing this game now would you? Some people complain of slowdown whilst they play the game but personally I have never experienced it.

Musically this game is awesome. Even the wife has remarked she loves the soundtrack. Believe me she knows her audio! The tracks have a sweeping epic feeling about them and always suit the level you are playing.

Overall: I can heartily recommend this game. It’s a little on the short side for experienced puzzlers like myself, although if you go for the O.C.D. award on every level by trying to save every goo it will last longer. Plus it means you can compete with players around the world to build the largest tower of goo. At £7 and of this quality can you afford to say no?