de Blob (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Starting out as a tech demo from a collection of students in the Netherlands, the premise for De Blob was immediately obvious not only to gamers but to developers. What was initially going to become a free downloadable title for the PC was quickly snapped up by THQ and passed on to Blue Tongue Entertainment, who were tasked with fleshing out the experience to make it a worthwhile retail release. And flesh out they did as they took the basics mechanics already thought up and developed and turned it into one of the best third party efforts not only on the Wii, but on any console in 2008.

Gameplay

De Blob puts you in control of a character, which is essentially just a blob of paint. As Blob, you along with the Colour Underground must re-animate the dreary and lifeless city that is Chroma, which has come under attack from the foreboding INKT forces, who have waged a war on colour and sucked the life out of the city and its residents leaving it in a monochromatic mess. The story doesn't really play a huge part in the game but it's there and it's what you'll be following as you progress. Yet, it is the gameplay that you'll find hard to look away from. The idea is simple: as you pilot Blob around a series of places within Chroma City, you must paint buildings, liberate citizens, known as Raydians although given the moniker Graydians after the INKT have invaded, and complete missions to return the city to its former glory. Sounds simple and it is. Yet the gameplay stretches beyond this. While initially being about undertaking these missions and liberating the locations at your own pace, although there is a time limit involved but this can be expanded by completing missions, the game mixes the gameplay with style, both in the visual and audio domains. The painting of the buildings and environmental jargon soon becomes an art as you have freedom to paint them whatever colour you want, mixing the 3 primary colours to get the desired look aesthetic. It's incredibly pleasing to have such freedom over what the game's world will eventually look like because you are the one expending paint points to colour it and bring it back to life. And what's more, each colour has a specific sound tied to it that builds, along with the main music, as you chain together more and more points. But more on that later.

The single player is incredibly weighty. With an in game achievement system, you'll find yourself literally glued to each of the levels for at least an hour as you valiantly try to colour and complete every aspect. And even when you do finish them, as well as unlocking the next level you also unlock specific side missions in the level you've just finished, and these mostly require you to collect a certain number of 'styles' to which you are given either a bronze, silver or gold medal. And because of this, there's always something to come back to if you don't quite get the gold on your first time. The game also boasts a free paint mode where you choose a level and are given complete freedom over where you go and can just happily paint away. It's certainly more pick-up-and-play than the main game because this can be enjoyed in short bursts whereas you will be sucked into the campaign.

There's also a multiplayer option where up to 4 players can challenge each other to paint the most architecture in a location, adding another level of fun to the game. To top it all off, there is a plethora of unlockables to get from the in game achievement system, from artwork to cutscenes. So while the main menu may seem to lack options, beyond this menu, there is a huge amount to play. Oh, and the main menu is interactive as your cursor can draw over it which is a nice touch.

Controls

Utilising a combination of the Wii-mote's motion capabilities and the Nunchuk's analogue stick, the game is easily controlled, at least most of the time. During gameplay, you'll be required to make Blob jump, a lot. And to do this, you have to flick the Wii-mote up. It's a very strange choice and can be a bit hit and miss. It would have been better to have had the jumping attached to one of the unused buttons but it's ok. Blob controls well with the analogue stick and the controls work well for the most part. The only real control issues, besides the aforementioned jumping one, come down to the camera controls. The game does an amicable job keeping up with the action but with such large levels and varying architecture, there are times when you'll have to adjust the camera yourself and this is done courtesy of the d-pad. It's cumbersome in its position on the controller and also in its use because it moves very slowly. Luckily, you can realign the camera with the C button so it's all good.

Graphics

There are two obvious sides to the game in this department and both are meant to be like this. Prior to your Jackson Pollock-esque painting of the levels, you'll be greeted with just about every shade of grey, black and white possible. The developers have done a great job of getting the feeling of a dystopian society with this initial look, brought home even more by the sheer size of the levels. But once you are on your way, the environments spring to life in a range of colour that is a delight to view. While the general architecture is mainly reused across the levels, with the odd new piece, it's the way in which you colour it that makes it stand out from being just some bland location. Simplicity can be a drawback in some titles in this department but de Blob does it in such a way that less is more. The character models are also done extremely well, with Blob being full of charisma and charm, which is strange given that he is just a blob afterall. The cutscenes are fantastic, much like the in game graphics, having been rendered in CGI and they are fantastic to watch; very comical. A special mention does have to go to the interactivity of the menus, allowing you to draw over them with the cursor.

Sound

Sound plays a huge part in the game. It is tied in with the graphics and gameplay and works incredibly well, allowing for on the spot changes in tempo and music type. With each colour granted its own musical style, you are constantly adding to the wide range of musical styles that play in the background, from jazz to techno, and it's just so much fun to mix and match the sounds with your colouring. The sound quality is superb and it's such a great idea to bring the music into the gameplay as Blue Tongue has done.

Final comments

On paper, it's hard to get across just how great this game is. From a truly amazing, yet simple, concept the game oozes charm in every department, so much so that if you didn't see the THQ logo on the box, you'd wonder if Nintendo's own Miyamoto had thought this up. Incorporating a fantastic visual style with great music, all tied together in a mix of platforming and puzzling, THQ and Blue Tongue should be incredibly proud of what they have done, as should the students from the Netherlands, who are now Ronimo Games. There's ample room to build a great series here and thankfully, THQ have already committed so if you haven't played this yet, you really should before they show us the next step because this is truly one of the best third party titles on the Wii to date.

Pro: Fantastic graphics, sound and gameplay, just so much fun to play
Con: A few control issues, many of the missions are carbon copies of one another
Final score: 8.6

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