de Blob Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 19th January 2009

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Time to paint the town.

de Blob Details:

	Puzzle
	Nintendo Wii
	Blue Tongue
	THQ

Out Now

1-4

Since its launch the Wii has had no shortage of titles that have dared to be different and try something new and de Blob is one of these very titles combing the Wii’s unique control system to some classic platform adventure elements.

de Blob is set in Chroma City on a alien world where the evil InkT corporation has taken control and outlawed all colour making the city a dull and miserable place to live. As de Blob you are tasked to restore colour and happiness to Chroma City by the colour underground.

de Blob is best described as a puzzle action-adventure platformer, the basic premise is for you to gather colours locked away in paint bots and paint the once bright city by rolling around, jumping and bumping into the buildings, it may not sound like much but is strangely fun to play and fairly addictive. Each area of a level has a set number of points that have to be gained within a set time before allowing you to move on to the next area. Various timed challenges will also need to be completed in order to gain the required points total and restore life to Chroma City.

As with the rest of Chroma City de Blob starts each stage colour-less, colour can be collected from Paintbot’s that roam the various stages with capsules of colour on their backs. The paintbots only carry Blue, Red and Yellow for you to collect, however the game employs an excellent colour mixing system that sees de Blob change colour when he rolls over two different paintbots, allowing you to create a rainbow of colours. Each time de Blob collects a colour from Paintbots he also gains colour energy points that see him increase in size, allowing him to reach higher platforms. Colour energy points are also required for de Blob to paint the city and undertake some of the games challenges.

Challenges are separated into one of four types, Painting, Combat, Race and Landmark. Painting Challenges require you to paint a specific building or object a certain colour within a time limit, whilst races have you going from one area to another through a series of checkpoints within a set time. Combat Challenges require de Blob to take out a set number of InkT henchmen whilst Landmark Challenges require you to attack specific building after gathering a set number of paint energy points in a set colour to free it from InkT control. As the game is obviously aimed at the younger gamer, the challenges won’t really test any seasoned gamer, but they do get tougher as the games progresses as do enemies that you encounter.

THQ have implemented a good control system for de Blob that works well. Movement is controlled by the Nunchuck whilst actions are performed by swinging and shaking the Wii remote. Players have the ability to perform a series of special moves such as chaining, allowing you to move around the game world earning bonus points for not touching the ground and Z-Jumping which allows you to move around hard to reach areas quickly without being seen. These special moves are a breeze to pull off thanks to the games excellent control system. However, navigation around the game world can be hindered by the games camera, despite the fact that it can be controlled by the d-pad on the Wii remote it moves around to strange angles making it difficult for you to see the way forward, although this only really occurs after performing jumps and so on.

The games story mode is ten stages long, each of which is pretty large with its own sub missions to unlock! However, apart from this the game also features a “Free Paint” mode that allows you to replay any of the games stages without enemies or a time limit and “Blob Party” mode for 2-4 players to compete against each other in paint off contests, which is fairly entertaining to play.

de Blob features a very stylised and unique look and is presented brilliantly, in fact so well that I would go as far as to say it’s one of the best presented games on the Wii. The use of the colour works brilliantly alongside the monochrome background, with the game world coming to life as de Blob moves around. It’s a simple look but it works perfectly!

The games sound is very quirky with a nice dynamic Jazz soundtrack and effects that fit into the world of de Blob perfectly. The developers really have done a superb job in the sound and graphics department.

Overall de Blob is a pretty fun platformer, which should keep many entertained with its new approach to the genre. The games excellent control system, presentation, graphics and sound bring out the best in Nintendo’s console and its well worth a look for anyone looking for a slightly different platform adventure.