86

Very Fun

Plasros | June 13, 2013 | See all Plasros's reviews »

THE PROS: My hat is off to this game for its artwork and level design, which are interesting, original, and often adorable. The gameplay also deserves points for its originality. The basic concept of WOG is that there are these tiny goo balls squirming around in every level, and these goo balls can be picked up by the player using the mouse cursor and then dropped near other goo balls to create structures. The objective of most levels is to build a structure (or series of structures) that allows a certain number of goo balls to reach an exit pipe. The more goo balls that reach the exit, the better your score. So the challenge of the game is twofold: 1) Figuring what sort of structure you'll need to build to accomplish the level objective, as it is rarely a straight course, 2) Conquering the laws of physics by building a goo structure that not only accomplishes your goal, but is also structurally sound and unlikely to be destroyed by environmental dangers. The game does a fantastic job of creating fresh scenarios, either by introducing new environmental dangers or by introducing new goo balls with new unique abilities. The game's originality is incredibly refreshing and its character will charm you to no end. THE CONS: Interacting with the goo balls in the game is not always very user friendly, and in some situations it becomes just plain infuriating. In most levels, the goo balls start on a small, pre-built structure. As you build, the goo balls whimsically travel around the tresses of the structure you're putting together. As the game goes on and the challenges become more difficult, this actually starts to become frustrating for a number of different reasons. For example, if there are multiple types of goo balls in a particular stage (let's say regular black goo and balloon goo), you might be trying to pick up a particular kind of goo ball to accomplish a particular task. However, the one goo ball you're trying to pick up is buried beneath 60 other goo balls that you don't want. You can't just move all the unwanted goo balls aside and dig down to the goo ball you want, because all the goo balls are running around like disobedient children. The whistle the game gives you to "call" goo balls is no help, since it seems to only make the goo balls do what they are already doing (i.e., running around chaotically), only faster. The chaotic dog pile of goo balls also proves frustrating in time-sensitive situations, since you'll try to quickly grab a single goo ball from the writing mass of them, but instead you'll accidentally yank out a goo ball that's already been placed, causing your entire structure to collapse. The developers have kindly introduced tiny flies you can click on to flashback to an earlier point in the level, in case you make any huge blunders; however, these flies also prove frustrating since 1) the restore points they choose seem almost random, ranging anywhere from two seconds ago (letting you watch your structure fall in instant replay) to three minutes ago (causing you to rebuild a significant chunk of your structure), and 2) it is too easy to click one of these flies by accident when you don't mean to, effectively deleting GOOD progress you've made. In short, all of the problems and frustrations of world of goo boil down to one essential problem: there is too much crap on the screen at one time. It all piles on top of each other, and it can make your life hell. VERDICT: Definitely buy the game for its originality and charm, but be prepared for some unnecessary frustration.

100

An amazing game <3

Bynn | June 10, 2013 | See all Bynn's reviews »

When I think of it, I can't think of a negative or impartial comment about this one, by far one of my favourite indie and puzzle games. An interesting story, beautiful scenery and use of colours, nice music, cute little balls of goo that make cute sounds when you move them, good use of physics, quite a challenge sometimes, fun all the way in. World of Goo will allways have a special place in my game collection.

80

spectacularly cute

KellinCore | June 7, 2013 | See all KellinCore's reviews »

It is a world focused on the agony, puzzle, design, music, art and many figures depicted at different times in the history of this game. I really liked a lot

90

Charming, beautiful and fun indie that should not be missed!

Cakefish | June 6, 2013 | See all Cakefish's reviews »

The game is filled to bursting point with pure charm. The goo balls make great little funny noises when you interact with them and it's very satisfying to do so. The art design is wonderfully colourful and imaginative. Animations are sleek and smooth. The soundtrack is wonderfully catchy and upbeat. The whole game has a great vibe to it. The puzzle elements are cleverly designed and have a perfect difficulty curve, never at any point becoming frustrating. It's very satisfying when you finish a level and simply put, it's just pure fun, with the physics interactions that form the basis of the puzzles handling very nicely. Humour is even present in the game, through the wonderfully mysterious Sign Painter, whose narration and random thoughts on the task at hand will make you smile. All in all, a very feel-good game. The only downside is that the game is over too quickly and you are left longing for more!

88

perfect casual puzzle

McDoenerKing | June 2, 2013 | See all McDoenerKing's reviews »

It got humor, simple but yet deep gameplay mechanics and enough levels to keep you busy, when you do not feel like playing one of the aaa titles!

I totally recommend to get this game for a weaker machine, which you might take with you while travelling. This game will even run on a netbook. :)

The gameplay is easy: Get the goo to the pipe and save as many as you can! How? By combining goos of course, but it is harder than it sounds, because almost every level introduces a new obstacle to master!

One level will consume about 2-5 minutes to complete depending on your puzzle solving skills. While I am at it: There is never only one solution! Most levels provide different paths to victory, some might not, but my feeling is that they're in the minority overall.

You take the train often? Get this game and taking the train was never this much fun! ;)

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