Review: World Of Goo
It's easy to love World of Goo because there is so much to love about it. The art style, the music, the gameplay, all of it is outstanding. And all of it came from the head of one Kyle Gabler. Together friend Ron Carmel, Gabler has come up with a unique and innovative game that truly proves that independent game development is something to be taken seriously. The two created the game entirely on their own with virtually no help from the outside and now their baby, World of Goo, is available on WiiWare and Steam. They also decided to distribute their PC version of the game DRM free. Why? Because they trust you! Read on to find out why World of Goo is worth every Wii point (1500) or dollar you have to spend to make it yours.
World of Goo's gameplay is simple: take little balls of goo and build them into towers, bridges or what have you to reach the pipe at the end which will suck your little goos to freedom. While it may sound simple, it is actually much more complicated than it seems. There are things like gravity and goo physics to think about. There are also various breeds of goo balls: Flaming goos, removeable goos, goos that need to be lifted via baloons. It often requires some thinking to figure out how to use each effectively. All in the name of getting your goos to relative safety. The other trick is, you have to meet the required number of goos that go into the pipe at the end of each level and you only have a limited amount of goos to build with. Whatever goos left after the building process will be the ones that make the big pipe ride to the score board.
A large part of what makes World of Goo so charming is Gabler's child-like yet sophisticated art style. It is reminiscent of early Tim Burton with it's often muted color pallette and cute but ominous character design. The music, also composed by Gabler, it similarly fitting and extremely catchy. Again it evokes the scores of some of Burton's earlier works that were composed by Danny Elfman. The dreamy and surreal quality of the game gives one a feeling of ease even when trying to solve the most difficult of the games many puzzling levels.
World of Goo is by far the slickest and well thought out games available on WiiWare. As a matter of fact I would even go so far as to say it outshines many of the titles available on disc for the system. The single player experience is terrific with four distinct worlds with about ten levels each. You can also play through the game co-operatively with a friend for more replayability. The controls are simple and effective and don't end up mired in the gimmicky controls we often see in Wii games. Your goo balls are controlled by the A button and remote movement and the camera can be moved around the stage just by pointing the remote in the direction you want to go.
World of Goo is, simply put, a perfect game. Innovative, visually interesting and aurally pleasing, simple controls, challenging levels. Gabler and Carmel deserve every bit of praise (and every dollar) that is sure to be heaped on them for the creation of this masterpiece of independent game development. They have set the bar high for WiiWare games and I actually look forward to seeing what future creators will come up with to match it. If you haven't done so already, go download this game now whether it be on Wii, Steam or Direct to Drive. It may seem steep at 1500 Wii points when compared to other WiiWare games, but trust me when I say it's worth every penny and then some.
10 out of 10
Fruit Brute
Posted to Hot Stuff, Reviews, Video Games on 15 October 2008
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: 2d boy, independent games, kyle gabler, ron carmel, steam, wii, wiiware, world of goo
I'm about halfway through this game and I adore it. The windmill level is particularly impressive. The combination of the music and art design in are so evocative.
I've just bought it. You'd better not be lying about how awesomely fantabulous this game is!
I could not agree more that it is worth every penny. It is a rather fantastic little game, and replay factor is very high (striving to save as many goos as possible is just irristable to me)
Additionally, bits of hilarious are tucked in, the introduction to removable goo made me laugh like a maniac with the help sign halfway up. I cant remember the falling down and climbing up values, but the "are they still fabuluos?" made me happy.
OK, you're lucky this time.
Your review was spot on.
Ok so I was naughty and downloaded for free. I've wanted this game for the Wii, but horrified its not coming to the UK via Wii Ware but via full retail game possibly and that looks like ages away. So until it's released I refuse to pay for it. So there!!!
p.s. video game piracy is wrong no matter what the excuse
p.p.s. Awesome game guys, *whips out card to buy PC version*
Can't wait to get it for the Wii when it comes out in the UK [with extras].
Actually getting wii points is tedious so I for one I'm glad for the box and disc!
I also thought this game was great. Some of the levels were very challenging but overall the art/music/everything was amazing.
Link to 12 level demo: http://media.beanstalkgames.com.s3.amazonaws.com/demos/wog/WorldOfGooDemo_Setup5.exe