World of Goo Review



One of my most anticipated WiiWare games came out a few weeks ago, World of Goo. Developer 2D Boy really made a fantastic and unique puzzle game that looks and plays like Nintendo made it themselves.

In World of Goo you act as a sort of "architect" in that you have to figure out the best and most structurally sound way to build a tower or bridge like contraption to manuever your little goo balls to the exit of each level. The challenges can get pretty tough as there is a really good physics system behind the game. Your tower or bridge will sometimes collapse if you don't keep the base of it strong enough, it will lean in certain directions if there is not equal weight distribution, and it will hit obstacles in the level if not built well enough to avoid them. There are many different types of goo balls throughout the game, some can be used more than once, some act as baloons and instead of adding another frame to your bridge, it will raise it up over some spikes. The game controls wonderfully and using the Wii remote to pick up your goo balls and place them on your contraption works flawlessly and is very fun.

Word of Goo is presented in this very Tim Burton, almost story book like world. It reminds of Charlie and the Choclate factory mainly because of the Danny Elfman-esque music. There is a unique and fantastic story unfolding as you move your goo balls from level to level. The style of the game is a perfect fit for Wii, the developer didn't attempt to do anything too fancy and it ends up looking like a really well put together Flash game, which is a perfect fit for WiiWare.

World of Goo: 10/10

I gave Word of Goo a perfect score because it is really the epitome of the WiiWare service. A fantastic, well presented game for a low cost. I would have easily paid 40 bucks for this game in a retail store, it's that good. WiiWare is really proving to be a great showcase for indie talent in the gaming community. Games like Lost Winds, Word of Goo, and the upcoming Animales de la Murete seem tailor made for the Wii, and that's just what I was hoping we'd get with the service.

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