Fisty's Bog!

Having only seen a few press screenshots of World of Goo up this point we were intrigued to know more about how the game plays. Putting it simply it is a puzzle game not completely unlike Lemmings. The aim is to guide your ‘Goo balls’ from the starting point to a pipe elsewhere on the level. If you reach the allotted quota of Goo for that level then you can proceed to the next level.

We were playing the PC version with mouse controls but it is easy to see how this would work with the Wiimote. In order to reach the exit pipe you simply move the mouse cursor over a Goo ball which you want to move and drag him in-between two other Goo balls so you can create a tower structure. Before long you will get the hang on building an impressively tall tower of Goo. The tricky part is your Goo tower has a bit of a life of its own as it sways from side to side with realistic feeling inertia. You will have to try and build a well balanced tower or it will flop where you don’t want it to, like the cogs of a Goo squashing machine.

Building bridges

Whilst things start off quite easy before long your Goo building skills will well and truly be put to the test. Fear not however, there are ‘Time Bugs’ in the later levels which enable you to undo any mistakes you make. The levels have lots of variety and before long you’ll be using balloons to help keep your Goo structures from flopping to the ground and building crazy towers reaching high into the skies.

Graphically the style is probably most similar to Loco Roco on the PSP. It’s bright, colourful and cheery but with a darker Tim Burton style overtone. The music fits nicely with the game, before long you’ll be humming away building Goo towers in a world of your own.

So far what we’ve seen is impressive. If indeed World of Goo is released on the WiiWare service we would imagine it will sell like virtual hotcakes. Even if this ends up being a regular disc based Wii game it would still be worth a look. Something this new and original is a rare thing these days!