Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Amazing"

World of Goo is the perfect puzzle game. It's satirical story has more heart than nearly any game. It's graphics are lovely. It's gameplay is intuitive yet challenging. There is no reason not to love it.

The gameplay is simple. You are given a bunch of living goo balls, and you must get some of them to an exit pipe. This is achieved by building structures with the goo balls, which can attach to each other semi-rigidly when you carefully place them using the Wii remote. This starts off fairly simple, but soon goes rather complicated. You'll have to avoid major obstacles, including chasms, windmills, and toxins. You're also given different types of goo balls with different properties; some might act as balloons, while others might be flammable. These mechanics, those rather simple in premise, are used extraordinarily well to create excellent puzzles. The puzzles grow to be quite challenging, but in a way that isn't frustrating. At no point do they require guessing or chance; they always have a logical solution. And, if you so choose, a friend can jump in a play with you in a sort of coop mode.

If World of Good had solely its puzzle mechanics going for it, it would be merely a great game. It's artistry and delivery, however, elevate it to the realm of masterpieces. You see, there a subtle allegorical satire delivered by the game, hinted at largely by funny, obtuse messages left scattered about the world by a mysterious "Sign Painter." He serves as a narrator of sorts, and takes an amusing and disarming uncaring tone. The player starts to wonder why and where the goo balls are going. By the time a bit of attachment to those squealing blobs develops, some have to be sacrificed for others, and a sinister tone emerges. A corporation, perhaps hinting at Google most strongly but also others like oil companies, seems to have something to do with all this. But what? And is all of this even real, or is it simply a product of our materialistic, socially-networked desires? The resolution is somewhat abstract, but it provides both food for thought and a strange satisfaction.

All of this is delivered in a realm of gorgeous graphics and sound. The 2D graphics have a tragic expressionistic quality to them. Cute, but perhaps slightly bizarre, 'characters' are introduced against harsh, windy backgrounds. In some levels, a colorful idyll is achieved, while in others the game deliberately deprives the player of pleasant colorful imagery. The sound is similarly excellent. The goo balls squeal with joy, inspiring greater empathy than many human game characters do. The soundtrack is remarkable, too, and it never gets old.

When its all done, there is still a sandbox mode, called "World of Goo Corporation.' In it, you can use your excess collected goo balls to build a tower upwards. Why? "Perhaps it is some sort of metagame," the Sign Painter taunts. This feature is integrated with WiiConnect24, so, as you build, you see the heights of other players' towers floating around you as clouds.

World of Goo is a magical game. It's perhaps the best puzzle game to date, and it is almost certainly the best game on WiiWare. It works great with the Wii's pointing ability. It's puzzles are perfectly designed. It demonstrates a truly outstanding and beautiful artistry in its design. This is certainly a must-own title.