Raison d’être

Review excerpts taken from eurogamer.net:

World of Goo is simple. Levels begin with a small structure, and this is where you begin. Crawling along the struts of this structure, or sleeping around the level, are balls of goo. Pull off a goo and place it nearby and it’ll eagerly attach itself to the main building. You simply repeat this process until you reach the level’s goal – usually a pipe that hoovers up any balls of goo that come near it. That’s it. Use goo balls to build to the pipe. Easy.

Look at those pictures. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Everything. From the beautiful levels, which go way beyond the basic graphical expectations of “looking nice”, to the charming-alarming cut-scenes, to the beautiful characterisation of those adorable goo balls. World of Goo isn’t just beautiful. The world, and its surreal anti-establishment storyline, feel original and sincere. It’s Tim Burton’s vision of one of Roald Dahl’s more amoral tales. The short music loops are fantastic, too. Alternately whimsical, dramatic and haunting. Think Danny Elfman’s themes to Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands, and a few things in between. Basically, World of Goo has the soundtrack to a life I wish I lived.

World of Goo is the product of 2D Boy – a couple of guys in a tent – and while it’s common to forgive indie developers a certain lack of polish, or finesse, there’s nothing here to forgive; the game is slicker than most full-price commercial games. Some of the nuances are pointlessly deep. Pick up one of the goo balls. Hold it against the wall, and move it up and down. It’ll rotate with the friction. Do it fast, and pull the ball from the wall, and it’ll carry on spinning. It adds absolutely nothing to the game, apart from that polish, that sense of completeness. Similarly, the sound effects are perfect. Yelping, cheering goo balls make every move an event. The World of Goo, basically, is a raging pleasure to spend time in, and interact with.

Oh yes. I’m addicted to this adorable puzzle! It’s like Worms + Bioshock + Lemmings. Read the full review here. I got some Goo Bridges to build.