World of Goo Review

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Dangerously cute. Story with a twist. Novel, simple, but addicting gameplay. World of Goo symbolises the best qualities of original indie games. It is a really good game and one of the classics.

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It is difficult to review such games, because they are small, focused and polished. You either like what this game is trying to do or this game isn’t for you. There are no complex systems which would not function as advertised. There are no over-ambitious marketing. There is no confusion in a game genre and on what aspects game should focus and to what game’s sub-audience it should appeal. You either like what you see from trailer or you do not as you had seen the whole game at that point.

 

        Gameplay

• Gameplay had charmed me back in a day. It was simple, addictive and surprisingly deep. You can use various building blocks to attach them to each other. As your structure grows, you have to balance its weight not to tip over your structure. Likewise, your GooBalls are alive. They constantly move around the structure and in their excitement they can tip your beautiful tower down. Game also tests your knowledge fully in free build mode where you collect gooballs from all the levels and build them into a massive tower or in epilogue with last three hardest levels of a game.
  
  Aesthetics
• To me this game is beautiful. I love such simple, cute looking games. Nothing what isn’t supposed to be here is here. Your building blocks are personified and part of living world. Levels represent part of a greater world. Something as mundane as a gap to sewer system is a level in this game. It is not stated as obviously, but a lot of levels do take mundane things and make them into oversized obstacles. This gives game a strong narrative feel. You are not simply doing random things. You are part of a living world. World which is tied to the story. To motivation of your GooBalls. This simplicity of design and adorable artwork is something which I really love seeing in games.
  
  Story
• Story is minimal, clever and with a twist. I do love how it manages to be a meta commentary without feeling forced. I love humour in it. I love how this twist is always hinted through environment, but it is never told you directly. Game does not try to force itself upon you. This is why I had enjoyed this game for what it was.
  
  There is also a sign. It is a small background element which gives usually a short message. It sits in a background and if you want to press it, you can. As level progresses, you might eventually see more of them scattered across the level. It is a clever way to add developer commentary. I liked humour in it. I liked how story was portrayed through them. I liked consciousness which post sign had ironically tried to portray.

To me this game represents what a lot of games should be. They should try to accomplish one simple thing. They should not be overloaded with unnecessary mechanics. This game is simple. It is as long as it has to be. It does not overstay its welcome. Each design element which is in this game is part of core gameplay. Everything is polished to the mirror finish. It is a game which I’m glad that I came back to play again. I started from start and finished it. It was fun little game to play in short bursts. I’m glad that I came back to play this game.

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