In World of Goo, your primary objective in each level is to build structures out of balls of goo (blobs that connect to each other when placed correctly), and eventually get a tip of the structure to a pipe that sucks excess goo balls in. Each level has a certain amount of goo balls that you have to collect to pass, so even getting the structure to the pipe will not guarantee victory. There are no enemies in the game, but your environment plays a deadly role, making you dodge spikes, spinning blades, wobbly precipices, and even fire. In each level, you must find a way to best traverse the terrain in order to get to the pipe, which is easier said than done in most levels. Goo balls come in many varieties, and are slowly introduced even towards the end of the game. Their appearance, function, and uses are varied, and examples include retachable, flammable, albino, "dead", balloon, and many more.
The art style is reminescent of Worms Armageddon, the music, of Katamari Damacy (but better!), and the gameplay is, well, just plain solid. Rarely do you get such a polished game even from large developers. Each part of the design of World of Goo just seems finished; everything is alive and interactive, the sound effects are highly varied even for the litttlest motions. Goo balls splatter and squelch, and even react to friction. Menu screens are highly animated, and the music pervades the game with awesomeness.
Gameplay is challenging, but not frustrating. This is often a difficult balance to achieve for a puzzle game, but World of Goo accomplishes this by making each level clever, rather than long. Figuring out a level may take an hour, yet solving it may take less than 2 minutes. Many times you'll be tempted to consult an FAQ, but you're almost guaranteed to slowly progress your way to a solution by the game's subtle cues, some by its intuitive gameplay, and many of which are given out by the mysterious Sign Painter.
Outside of the wonderful design of the game, it also features a quirky personality that communicates to you through each level through writing on signs. The "Sign Painter" is a narcissistic, funny, and mysterious character that writes monologues on signs throughout the game. Sometimes it's just a random piece of humor, sometimes it's a hint how to solve the level, and sometimes it's a reflection on the game's story. The story of the game isn't too deep, but that' just fine considering the nature of the game. In fact, the story, paired with it's semi-epic music, is actually way over-the-top serious considering it's a game about goo blobs, so this actually (intentionally) translates to a very humorous experience as well.
Unlike many other indie games, World of Goo is far from short. On your first playthrough you are likely to use at least 8+ hours, and that's not counting the time it'll take to retry levels. There are 30+ levels, and while the developers could've easily recycled the gameplay or levels to extend the length of the game, they wisely chose not to, which means every level features a unique, innovative design, and each one requires their own clever solution. It's addicting because once you finish a level, you'll want to immediately play the next one to get another breath of brilliance. In terms of content, you'll feel like this game was made by a team of 30, not 3.
The music comes in short loops, yet manages to not get too repetitive by remaining somewhat quiet and only occassionally hitting a high point. It ranges from epic, to jazzy, to classic, to choir, but mostly remains in an ambient form. The music does a great job of accentuating the seriousness of the story progressions, which just makes them that much more over the top and ridiculously funny. While not perfect, it is very close and exceptionally good considering there were only a few people to get it arranged.
The only remisses I felt with the game was that it lacked a level editing feature, you couldn't zoom out, and and sometimes it's hard to select a goo ball that you want when there are dozens along a very small area. However, those are very small faults and don't overall detract from the game. Also, a community level creation feature could probably be easily modded into the game in the future.
World of Goo is the definitive example of a quality game made without a huge budget. It easily rates higher than many high budget games that have come out recently, and I highly recommended it to anybody. Available on Steam and Wiiware for only 19.99, it's a bargain considering that it's much more fun and unique than most full cost games out there. If you have any interest in good games at all, this is a MUST BUY. Not only will you be doing yourself a favor by experiencing this amazing game, you'll also be supporting and encouraging the developers - and developers like them - to make more games of this quality and innovation.
