As a sea loving pirate, I hate tankers and the companies that spawn ‘em. Aye, I may be the App Pirate, but that don’t mean I don’t care of the seas and the oceans that I roam. Ya see, I wouldn’t have a problem with any of the tankers that pass me seas, but the truth be that when they spill they kill the fishies in the water. I am no environmentalist, but I still care for things that pertain to me and the safety of me crew. The thing is that when I found out about World of Goo, I was prepared to send the oil to a figurative watery grave. Until I found out that I had to help ‘em escape the clutches of the dark world of game.
Pretty for a game about oil
Arr, though I hate oil and what it does to my sea, I have to admit, the World in World of Goo be remarkably pretty. The design and feel of the world be dark, but at the same time, the bright flash animations contrast it. On a side note, the game is also incredibly well animated and articulate of how everything functions. The little black blobs of oil ye have to build up teeter and totter at the risk of falling to their graves. To make that a bit more difficult, there are also spikes of the sharpest kind that can break apart yer goo construction in a matter of seconds. I only bring some mechanics into the graphics discussion because they both meld so well. They aren’t taken as parts or individual pieces, rather, as a whole that functions and complements each other. That level of design truly makes evident how much thought was really put into the game.
Lastly, the oil, or goo, whatever the balls are, react like they would in real life; often sludgy in movement and slow to move. When ye make arcing constructs, they slump to the heaviest side of the building. Once ye finally make that gap, they churn into the little paths that ye made with relative ease as they are part of that construct. It’s a pretty sight to see, and there be so little going on in the game that ye know it won’t cough like a wheezy old lighthouse keeper.
The Game and How Ye Play
As was mentioned above, gameplay closely ties in with how the World of Goo works. That, in itself, is a bit of a rarity in gaming, and they only titles that used to use that mechanic are long gone. Here though, they manage to revive it and make it work. Ye control the little blobs of goo that roam the pipes of the World, and yer job is to design ‘em in such a way that they reach sanctuary in the form of another pipe. Along the way, obstacles obstruct ye like spikes, or more often than not, infinite drops into the abyss. Perhaps the best reason why this works is that the simplicity allows for such huge expandability. There be no one way to win a level, and instead, is totally up to yer imagination.
Of course ye should get it!
Never have I imagined the plight of the little oil blobs to be so serious. This little semi-sentient creatures are adorable and almost remind me of the lemmings when I was younger. World of Goo, is truly one of those games that feel natural in gameplay and look. Couple that with the new iOS port, and ye have a game with great touch controls in its gameplay.
