World of Goo shows us that you don’t need an overly complicated story or special powers or any other staple of current-gen gaming to have an extremely enjoyable experience. 2D Boy has taken a visually pleasing, simple 2-d look and technically simple game play and created a game that should be held up as an example to all of the struggling game developers out there. What is the message?
A game doesn’t have to break the bank or be a sequel to be fun.
Read on after the jump…
Finding a tip on http://cheapassgamer.com, I loaded up Steam on Saturday and purchased World of Goo for $5. I’m pretty much a sucker for $5 games, I have to admit. If its crap I don’t feel much cheated, but when I noticed the Metacritic score (I know, its not the best measurement but it is a good one) of 91, I knew my money would not go to waste completely. A short download later, I’m looking at the first level on the first world – no tutorial to speak of and I easily beat the first world. Gameplay that’s intuitive and semi-realistic? I’ve surely stepped upon a landmine of greatness here! I quickly move through the first world in a Super Mario World-esque over-map, playing levels to get to the “boss.” The game is loosely sheathed in a story that is slightly interesting, but more quirky than anything else. The gameplay revolves around you using “goo balls” to build structures to get to a pipe in most levels, and accomplish other tasks in later levels such as drop a bomb on a robot, or be the harsh judge in a beauty contest where the loser gets cut up into smaller pieces.
Okay that was a little overdramatic and a bit of a twist on what actually happens but now you’re really curious what I’m talking about, right? Anyways, your goal is to save as many of the goo balls as possible. Sometimes the goal is to build straight up, and others it is to cross huge chasms. Careful planning helps you achieve the OCD (Obsessive Completion Directive) status, which means you’ve maxed out the level point-wise. Its still likely you could save more goo balls or do it faster. I truly enjoyed the puzzle solving nature of the game. I was able to breeze through the main campaign in about 5 hours, but that was with a minimum of achievement.
Graphically, it was well done. The 2D graphics really helped the game run smooth and the bright colors really made the game very visually attractive in its simplicity. The sounds were meant to convey a lot of goo and were appropriately represented. I definitely felt like I was playing with goo and all the great over-the-top sounds were present to make me chuckle.
Replay value is extremely high – there is a sort of meta game that you can play at any point throughout the World of Goo experience. You can visit the World of Goo Corporation grounds and attempt to build the world’s tallest Goo Tower. Playing this, you can see others and their heights around you represented by clouds with their name and nationality as well as their height. Personally I could only get about 40 meters high. I saw some get as high as 300,000 on the world’s tallest recorder. I only had 215 goo balls so I’m sure you can beat me there. I’m planning on playing back through and maximizing my goo ball collecting and trying to bust 100.
Regular price, World of Goo is $20, and only available on direct-download services such as Steam. I would say World of Goo is a great buy at almost any price. Paying $5 for it I feel as though I practically stole it. However, I’m not sure I’d pay $20 for it. If it were to drop to $15 it would be a no-brainer. I hate to bring price in at this rate but the way the economy is, a 5 hour game experience plus however many hours extra you spend building your goo tower seems to be coming at a premium. If you don’t mind eating in for a couple nights, and love puzzle solvers, you should definitely pick this up. Keep your eye out for sales – check http://cheapassgamer.com for the deals on this and other games.
Overall Score: A-
Popularity: 4% [?]
