Reviews - de Blob (Wii)

Sandbox games that take after Grand Theft Auto are dime a dozen, but have you ever imagined what it would be like if instead of roaming a city behind the wheel of a car, you can paint anything that you touch? This is the premise of de Blob, a game for the Nintendo Wii.

The entire city serves as your canvas in de Blob, and you can paint it in a variety of cheery colors. Interestingly, these colors can also be combined to form new hues, and can affect the tunes being played. A few challenges are introduced to mix up the gameplay: paint a building or block with a certain color; or beat several types of enemies. The best part? Almost everything can be painted—cars, street signs, buildings, trees, and even the citizens of Chroma City.

The de Blob gameplay is a strange mix of 3D platforming and puzzles, and its controls make unnecessary use of waggle controls. Everything in the game is timed, so one can’t bounce around leisurely. To gain time, you’re going to have to paint plenty of city blocks and Chroma citizens. The optional unlockable stages are chiefly timed obstacle courses that award you for specific painting objectives, but you also have to reach the finish line to succeed.

Like any game, de Blob isn’t perfect. The cityscape environment can get rather old quickly, while the camera is a chore to move around. However, these blemishes are easy to forgive because de Blob is cathartic and fun. The visuals may be aging but the pre-rendered cutscenes are very well made and hilarious. The interactive soundtrack is outstanding; the choice of tunes is a mix of jazz, funk, and reggae, among others; while the blubbery language and sound effects add a great deal of charm to the overall effort.

Not bad for a freeware game that was originally made for the PC by students from the Netherlands.

There’s a fair amount of replay value in de Blob. The main story would eat up around eight hours, but given everything that you can rescue or unlock, de Blob could a bit last longer. There’s also split-screen multiplayer that supports up to four players. There are a handful of game modes here, and they’re the well-balanced sort that could keep you and your friends busy. Want to play the main story with pals? No problem. In fact, it’s going to be much easier.

While the Wii has been enjoying a huge lead in this generation’s console wars, its good titles come mostly from Nintendo. The arrival of de Blob for the Wii shows us that yes, Cinderella stories do come true and that great third-party games do exist. Thumbs up for de Blob—it must be experienced.

8/10

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