Wii Fanboy Review: World of Goo
We've been patiently awaiting 2D Boy's seminal work, World of Goo, for quite some time now. With it finally arriving on WiiWare yesterday, we jumped into the game as soon as we could. How does it stack up? Is the steep price of 1,500 Points too great a price for admission?
Read on and find out!
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Developed by 2D Boy, there's no other game on the planet like World of Goo. Clever, stylish and unique are some of the adjectives one could easily throw at the game. It's constantly engaging and constantly challenging, and easily the best WiiWare game I've played yet. With LostWinds and Defend Your Castle leaving me floating on cloud 9 after playing them, that's pretty impressive.
So, what's World of Goo all about? Well, the game is divided into 4 different chapters, along with an Epilogue chapter. Within each chapter, you'll find many levels, each offering up their own unique set of challenges. In the beginning, you simply need to build basic structures, but, as you progress, you'll find a variety of obstacles impeding your path, from the variety of goo balls you need to interact with to hazards you must navigate around in later levels. Thankfully, the controls are so intuitive that getting into the game and playing is a snap.
How does one play the game? With the Wiimote. That's it. You simply point your cursor at a goo ball, push and hold in the A button to grab them, then attach them somewhere on your beginning structure, building it toward the pipe that will allow your goo balls to escape the level. It's as simple as that and in the game's simplicity, you will find an experience that any breathing human being can enjoy. Seriously, if you play this and don't enjoy it, get yourself examined by a doctor. You may be insane in the membrane.
As great as the gameplay is, the game is equally as good from a visual standpoint. The goo balls themselves animate wonderfully, as they squeak and cry in lovable ways while moving about. The levels themselves also look great, as 2D Boy did a good job of establishing a visual tone all their own for this game. In the way that other titles on Wii have a look all their own (LostWinds, No More Heroes, etc.), so does World of Goo.
In the end, the only thing we can fault World of Goo with is its price. And, really, that's not even that big of a deal. For an experience such as this, $15 is a small price to pay. If you're a fan of unique games, support 2D Boy and download World of Goo. You'll be thoroughly surprised at how wonderful the game is.
Final score: 9.5/10
We're always looking for new games to enjoy. We've got plenty of other WiiWare reviews, if you're into that kind of thing.. If you're
so crazy that you want to go to the store and buy something when you could be playing World of Goo or Mega Man 9, we can help with that, too.
