De Blob
Gooey goodness
Tags: De Blob Categories: Reviews, Wii Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Dec 16th, 2008
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| De Blob (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Arcade | No | ||
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It’s a pity that some of the most original and ambitious games to grace the Wii have been original properties largely ignored by consumers. Boom Blox, No More Heroes, Zak and Wiki. While the Wii’s lineup has been largely disappointing, and yet these few shining stars amidst the junkpile that have actually made use of the Wii’s unique control scheme to provide gamers with something new and different have been shunned by the Wii’s userbase.
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Because of this, THQ’s release of de Blob is somewhat brave. Again, we have an original property released amidst the wide array of ports, licensed properties, and unimaginative sequels. And yet again, this happens to be a game that makes good use of the Wii’s control scheme. And the strange thing is, this game could easily be ported over to other platforms without losing much of what makes it unique, and yet it was designed specifically with the Wii in mind.
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The game takes place within the confines of a peaceful city recently captured by the evil INKT, who force the city’s population into mundane office jobs and quite literally remove all color from their lives. Players take the role of the titular de Blob, an anthromorphic… well, blob, capable of absorbing the color the INKT have stolen and returning it to the city. This story is relayed, without words, with some very amusing cinema sequences throughout the game that really do a good job of pushing the game’s cute, funny presentation.
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The game itself is simple in a way that some have compared to Katamari Damacy, although the two games play very differently. Basically, you move around the city, changing the color of everything you touch to match whatever color you’ve recently absorbed. Players move with the control stick, and can jerk the Wii remote upwards to jump, and jerk it downwards to slam down on targets and enemies. It’s not really a pivotal use of the Wii’s motion controls, but it does enhance the immersion level considerably.
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The game gradually builds on the core gameplay with new elements, such as color-mixing and buildings you need to absorb a certain amount of a specific-color ink to change. In the end, it’s all fairly entertaining, although it can get somewhat repetitive after a while.
Still, it’s a splash of color in the otherwise mostly dull world on the Wii, and even if it isn’t the groundbreaking title the Wii needs. It’s still one of the better games the Wii has gotten this year, and is a solid game worthy of a spot in any Wii owners’ collection.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Simple and fun + Great presentation + Motion controls add to the sense of immersion |
8.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
| - A bit repetitive | |
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| De Blob is one of the better games to be released on the Wii this year. It’s fun, it’s easy to pick up, and it has a wonderful, unique presentation. Wii owners should definitely check it out. | |
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Tags: De Blob
Posted by Jake McNeill on Dec 16th, 2008 and is filed under Reviews, Wii Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
