Overview:

I’m just gonna say this to go ahead and get it out of the way. World of Goo is by far the greatest game on Nintendo’s WiiWare service, and one of the best on the console itself. This gem is one of those games that show just how good a game can be when the people making are doing it because creating games is what they love, not to earn a paycheck. It easily proves that gaming can be considered not only truly sophisticated entertainment, but also one of the most creative forms of art. Can you tell I love this game?

World of Goo was developed by a team called 2D Boy which consists of only three members, only two of which did the majority of the work on Goo before expanding to 3. The game released a couple of weeks ago for download on WiiWare for 1500 Wii Points, or $15.

Beautiful AND creative

Review:

Graphics:
World of Goo is composed of absolutely gorgeous hand-drawn graphics in a charming, vibrant world which just seems to come to life. The team obviously poured their soul into making this project, and the results are nothing less than stellar. I have rarely seen a better looking game than this on any platform. You can argue that true beauty lies in HD graphics and high-res textures, but I say it’s right here in the World of Goo.

Everything from the beautifully colorful backgrounds to the simple innocence of the goo balls is so visually pleasing. It’s all just done right. That’s the only word I can think of when describing Goo’s visual presentation. Right. The obstacles you’ll encounter are also gorgeous and creative. Giant frogs, hands holding cigarettes, things I never even knew existed, and fire. Everybody loves fire.

Goo’s music is just as flawless and charming as it’s impressively creative visual style. It features tracks ranging from apocalyptic industrial madness to sweet innocent frolic music that just makes you feel all warm.

The sound effects aren’t super stellar, but about the sound of balls of goo leaping with glee at the site of a fresh structure to grab a hold of is about as effective as it could possibly be. They’re so cute! Also, I love the firecracker sound of the red goos getting burnt to a crisp. It’s a guilty pleasure, I admit.

Gameplay and Story:
World of Goo is essentially a physics-based puzzle game based around building structures out of interconnecting balls of goo. There are several different types of goo, including your standard black, reusable green, booger-like white, flammable red, and skulls to name a few. Your goal is always to get a goo tower to reach to a pipe placed somewhere in the level.

You’re not sure why you have to lead the goo into these pipes, but all is explained by the Mysterious Sign Painter. The Sign Painter is a character hidden in the shadows who leaves helpful information and tips on signs strung about the levels. Believe it or not you’ll build a strong bond with the sign painter as you progress through the experience. Which is weird since all you’re doing is reading signs.

The gameplay found in World of Goo is where the game really shines. It provides you with a simple task of building structures out of goo balls. This is deceptively easy and ridiculously addictive. Even when you reach the point of frustration you’ve never experienced before you have the urge to try again. And again and again. Until you finally beat that one level that was giving you hell for the past half hour. Now it’s time for a quick nicotine break before moving on!

Value and Lasting Appeal:
World of Goo will prolly clock in at around 6 to 7 hours for most people, which isn’t bad for a downloadable title that costs 15 bucks. Keep in mind that the game also offers Coop modes, the ultra addictive World of Goo Corporation mode which supports WiiConnect24, and the developers have plans to utilize dlc. Awesome.

Final Words:

The thing that keeps World of Goo fresh the entire way through is that every new stage brings a new challenge. A new innovation and improvement on the original concept. A new evolution in gameplay.

Pros

• Gorgeous hand-drawn visuals
• Beautiful music
• Addictive, brilliant gameplay
• 6-7 hours

Cons

• Sound effects aren’t as astonishing as they could be
• Lacks level editor included in the PC version. But the PC version is 5 bucks more

Score:

Overall: 9.25/10 (Astonishing)
Graphics: 9.5/10 (Gorgeous hand-drawn visuals)
Sound: 9.0/10 (Beautiful score, sound effects under utilized)
Gameplay: 9.5/10 (Simple concept, brilliant execution)
Lasting Appeal: 9.0/10 (WiiConnect24, coop, semi lengthy campaign, no level editor)

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