De Blob - Review
Reviewed on Nintendo Wii
De Blob is without doubt the most original game I’ve played in a very long time. Originality on its doesn’t necessarily mean a good game, but fortunately De Blob also has simple yet addictive gameplay and provides a rich sensory experience. The result is a true classic.
The storyline of De Blob is surreal: Chroma City has been taken over by the evil INKT Corporation who, led by Comrade Black, have enslaved the happy Raydians and banned all colour from the city. You play.. well, a blob… and your objective is return colour to Chroma City and liberate the Raydians (who have been turned into miserable Graydians). I can’t help suspecting that the plot is probably an after the fact justification for some development group brainstorming on the term “paint the town red”.
As de Blob you roll round the city picking up paint cans which increase your size and change your colour to match. The cans come in red, yellow and blue which can combine to produce secondary colours or all three for brown. Once coloured up you then roll, bounce and leap around the city painting buildings, trees and billboards. One touch of an object or building is enough to paint it all, not just with a plain block of colour but in one of the various street-art styles you can collect throughout the game.
Eventually you score enough points to open the gate to the next segment of the level. Levels do have a time limit but fortunately there are so many ways of getting bonus time that this is rarely a problem.
As well as the generic “paint everything” goal there are also numerous challenges on each level, usually taking the form of “travel this route” or “paint these buildings in this colour”. Challenges have a short time limit and can be very difficult but fortunately most of them are optional. Wanting to come back and finish all of these is one of the things that gives the game longevity.
Of course it isn’t all plain painting, the Graydians are out to stop you. Their black ink robs you of your colour and - unless washed off in time - your life.
Controls are simple and quickly become instinctive - the nunchuk is required to play this game. There are ten large levels, each with two short bonus challenges that can be unlocked. The levels use the same basic architecture but gradually introduce more variations and challenges to keep the interest level up. One complaint is that the game doesn’t save often enough and you can go a long time between saving if you’re not hurrying.
What you get out of the game depends on how you play it. Most of the gameplay videos on YouTube seem to be from people trying to race through stages as quickly as possible. That’s fine, but I prefer to take a more leisurely approach and enjoy the ride.
Restoring colour to the city is an addictive and surprisingly satisfying experience. The satisfaction comes partly from the game’s socio-political subtext, but mainly from the simple childish pleasure of splattering paint everywhere!
Unlike most games De Blob actually has a soundtrack worth listening to. This changes dynamically depending on the status of the game and sounds a bit like improvised jazz. The whole package has been really well put together complete with little touches such as your cursor leaving an inky trail on the menu screens.
De Blob won’t be for everyone. There are no fiendish puzzles to solve or zombies to mash. It’s essentially one part platform jumper, nine parts digital doodler. And I love it.
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