Usually, if I were to try a new game, I’d first hear about it from people online. Various places, such as gaming forums, review sites and more are places where I, like many people, look for new games to play. However, that’s not the case with World of Goo; I had been so busy for the past few weeks that I didn’t look for new games to play. Yep, I’ve been a good girl.
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I have a bunch of friends who install games in the Final Year Project lab at the university. Of course, it’s not like they play all day and do no work; on the contrary, they go there to work and play games during breaks.
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That’s when I first saw a friend play World of Goo.
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It’s such a cute game; I mean, who could resist those cute little blobs of goo? They squeal when you accidentally drop them, and if you put them into a structure (more of the gameplay later on), they stare at you with big curious eyes as though wondering what you’ll do to them next.
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It’s a mind-tickling game too. It’s based on physics, as in building structures and making sure that they don’t crash before you reach the goal. Sometimes you’re required to do more than just building structures; you’ll have to wake sleeping goo up!
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But first, before I go more into detail about the game, here’s a trailer:
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Official World of Goo trailer taken from YouTube.
Note that I have nothing to do with the creation or posting of this video;
I merely posted it here in my blog.
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It’s actually the second official trailer. I didn’t put the first trailer instead because I didn’t quite like it; it sped all the gameplay up and confused new people (like it did my friend).
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But anyways, now I’ll go deeper into the details of the game, and my thoughts on it!
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Artwork / Graphics:
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The first thing you’ll notice from the trailer is the stunning colours of the game. Different chapters of the game will give a different feel to the atmosphere; the happy summer beginning is filled with greenery and blue skies, a nice happy start to the game’s early stages; brown desert colours as we approach the autumn chapter in a windy desert; and so on.
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The Colourful Design of the World of Goo.
Source: http://wii.ign.com/
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These colours are pleasing to the eyes, making the game an attractive game to see, especially to people who usually prefer 2D games like me.
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It doesn’t matter if it’s not incredibly realistically 3D like Devil May Cry 4; a game doesn’t have to be 3D to be attractive, right?
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Music / Soundtracks:
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From the trailer, after the artwork / graphics, the next thing you’ll notice about the game is the music. Dramatic, full of vocals, mostly orchestrated (or, at least, it sounds orchestrated to me) and sometimes touched with percussion, the soundtracks adds on to the emotions created by the game, just like the track used for the trailer.
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Of course, not all soundtracks are dramatic and orchestrated; Captain of Polka is a fast-paced song, giving the players the excitement of building the highest tower of goo; Drive Slowly has a slow, dangerous feel to it, cautioning the players to proceed with care; Wind Through the Willows, a slow sad song that shows the desolation of a windy desert; and so on.
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For people who like orchestrated or slow songs, World of Goo is a great recommendation, available for download for free at Kyle Gabler’s Portfolio: World of Goo Soundtrack.
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Geez, I sound like a promoter now. x_x
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Gameplay:
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And, of course, the gameplay of the game is important; after all, without good gameplay, a game is of little value. Fortunately, World of Goo has a great gameplay, keeping players occupied and entertained for hours to end.
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World of Goo is a puzzle game with strong emphasis on physics, where the players build structures to reach towards the goal, not completely unlike the flash game Fantastic Contraption. There are five chapters in the World of Goo, each with varying number of stages, and in every stage, the player is given a different starting structure with varying number of goo balls (you may get a little as four clickable ones or as many as a hundred), distance to the goal, and terrains and obstacles to the goal, which may include, but not limited to, spikes, fire, blades, and more.
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The Different Ways of Reaching the Goal.
Source: http://www.gamesradar.com/
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The players will have to use each set of terrain to their advantage and build towards the goal, which, in many cases, is the pipe where the goo balls are sucked into. The catch is; each stage requires a certain number of remaining / unused goo balls to pass.
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Can you build a structure and still attain the number of goo balls left?
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Not only that, there are also several types of goo balls; the black ones, which can only attach to two others at the same time; the green ones, which can attach to three others and be detached from the structure; pink balloons that help to keep the structure up; water drop-like clear ones that only attach to one; and more.
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Other than the stages in the five chapters of the game, there is another stage called the World of Goo Corporation, where extra goo balls gained from each stage will go. Here, players can build a tower of goo as high as possible and submit their score to the online leaderboard.
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Storyline / Plot:
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Usually puzzle games have little to no storyline, as the focus is often on the gameplay. However, in World of Goo, there is a short plot; which is told mainly through short cutscenes (which occurs between every chapter) and even shorter messages on signs left all over the stages, which are written by the mysterious Sign Painter.
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As the game starts, we are presented with the curious and naïve goo balls, and we follow them around the summer island in search of adventure. As they reach the highest point of the island, they tried to go even higher by floating high into the sky, and there, they are able to see far and wide; a world much bigger than just their puny little island, where they can meet new kinds of goo!
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But the World of Goo Corporation then opens… what lies in store for the goo balls? What is this organisation up to?
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The storyline is a little subtle; while the Sign Painter’s messages are hints to help the players on the stage completion, they’re also often subtle messages that hint towards the storyline. The storyline are humourous and creative, added with a degree of silliness that makes it fun and entertaining.
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Yep, the storyline has a degree of silliness in it, with happenings that don’t make sense in the real world. For example, who would’ve thought it was possible to leave an island by grabbing onto floating eyeball things (filled with helium, maybe?) that are strangely strong enough to support a whole structure of goo?
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Of course, I don’t mean that the silliness is a bad thing; in fact, it’s greatly welcomed, we do need some humour in our lives. Not unlike how I enjoy watching cartoons sometimes!
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Is It Worth It to Get World of Goo?
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Of course! With great combination of colourful and cute design, expressive soundtracks, fun gameplay and interesting (though short) storyline, topped with humour and creativity like icing on a cake, who wouldn’t want to at least try the game?
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But hey, still not convinced? Well, here’s some extra resources for you!
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Reviews:
Downloads:
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Get it now! You’ll enjoy at least some hours of fun. =D
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~Estrelita Farr, who finished the whole game!
Stories of a Misty Autumn Day 