Price: $19.99 | Release Date: October 13, 2008 | ESRB: Everyone (E)

5 Stars - Amazing, a must buy game

Yet another game in the wave of quirky, addictive indie games that has arrived within the last twelve months, World of Goo is a game that provides dazzle, charm, and enough challenges to keep you at it for days on end. What do you get when you combine puzzles, physics, and balls of goo? One hell of a game, that’s what.

Consisting of five moderately sized chapters, World of Goo has a simple premise; create structures out of small, living goo balls so that they can reach the suction pipe at a finishing point (usually the top) of a map. Goo balls vary in colour, and different coloured goo balls are introduced as the game progresses, while each different coloured ball has a different characteristic. For example, the green goo balls are a lot sturdier than the most commonly found black ones.

When you first boot up World of Goo, you’re sure to feel an immediate adrenaline rush as the game opens up with a fast paced, rollercoaster musical piece and a frantic main menu. As you start playing your first level, don’t be surprised if you feel a little... un-impressed, at first; World of Goo doesn’t blow your mind straight away, but starts you off easy, introducing you to the game’s mechanics and its unique, quirky style. The difficulty level creeps up though, at an almost perfect rate, and soon enough you’ll find yourself facing challenges that you just can’t wait to take on.

World of Goo’s plot is told through small cut scenes and through messages left by the mysterious “Sign-Painter”, a highly amusing entity that often gives you tips as to how to tackle your dilemma, through...well, signs. You needn’t even worry about why you’re actually doing what you’re doing. You may simply choose to have fun and have a laugh, or you might focus on helping the goo balls achieve their desired liberty. Either way, you’re sure to have an immense load of fun.  

Something that’s been taking the gaming world by surprise in the past year has been the amazing visuals developers have been coming out with in simple-minded arcade games (for example; Peggle and Braid). World of Goo is no let-down graphically, and its bright, vibrant world is one that you might just fall in love with straight away. You might liken the graphical style to that of the animated show Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, which shares the same sort of charming quirkiness that World of Goo uses to get your attention.

Goo balls squeal in excitement as you click them and fling them to the top of your goo tower, the suction pipe whooshes emphatically as you smile upon finally reaching your goal, and it slowly dawns on you that may not be able to leave your seat for a fair while. Not only that, but you notice that you’re subconsciously bobbing your head up and down to the catchy tune playing in the background. World of Goo boasts one of the most brilliant musical soundtracks featured in a game for years, with music ranging from quick-paced pieces that pump your adrenaline to maximum, to slow, relaxing string renditions. Each piece of music fits in seamlessly with the level it’s played on, and even serves as a guide as to whether you should recklessly jam goo balls together or stop for a while and think up a strategy. You can download the full soundtrack free of charge here, from composer Kyle Gabler’s personal website.

A unique experience awaits you in World of Goo, and certainly one that you can go back to time and time again. Developer 2D Boy have shown the big boys that millions of dollars and a hundred-person production team aren’t essential to make a great game. Simply put, World of Goo is downright, good old-fashioned fun, something so many games forget to be in this modern day and age, and in this case simplicity and charm win the day.

The Verdict: World of Goo is an addictive, fun, and inexplicably charming video-game experience. Innovation and creativity shine out of all fronts of this wonderful puzzle game, and for $19.99, you’ll definitely get bang for your buck.