I have this sinking feeling I'm one of the only gamers who has finished THQ's clever, funny and innovative Wii platformer "de Blob."
Even though the game is gimmicky and repetitive, I loved "de Blob" from start to finish. Its hooks never got old for me, and coloring everything around me became an obsession.
But I've detected that almost everyone around me has given up on "de Blob" or, at the very most, declared it part of their back log for 2008. That'd too bad; they're missing out.
I did finish "de Blob" and hope THQ has the sense to give Australian developer Blue Tongue a chance to work on a sequel. There's plenty of room for improvement.
"de Blob" is gameplay built upon a gimmick, which is why I'd written an entire post with recommendations for folks who were feeling "de Blob" but finding themselves burnt out. There are some very basic solutions to this problem in a follow-up. The levels in "de Blob" are simply too big. You can open up the exit within the first 15 minutes of playing, but rushing through the rest of the world and leaving everything black and white is not only boring, it defeats the point of playing "de Blob" in the first place.
Whereas "Katamari Damacy" only diluted its magic formula in its sequels, "de Blob" has a chance to do the opposite.
Many of the game's repetition issues would be solved with smaller levels. To complete about 80% of a level -- meaning you didn't rush through it and tried accessing most of its content -- takes about an hour. That's far too long, especially since "de Blob" has so little variety in its level design. It isn't until the latter half of the story that Blue Tongue started mixing things up. It's too little, too late. "de Blob 2" would greatly benefit from levels that were about half the scope, or at least delay those levels until later in the game.
Even though one of my favorite parts of "de Blob" is its intuitive use of the Wiimote to have your character jump with a flick of the wrist, I understand why someone would get fed up with flicking every few seconds. Just give people the option to map jumping to the A button and move on! Leave motion controls as the default, but for someone who wants to disable it, what's the big deal? You'd cut complaints in half with that change alone.
There's another frustrating technical oversight that needs to be remedied, too: you cannot save mid-level in "de Blob." Granted, smaller levels would largely negate the need for this, but I'll never forget how frustrating it was to quit out of a level after 30 minutes of play because of a dinner appointment, only to find my entire level progress erased. Gamers just expect that feature now, guys.
The basics of "de Blob" are sound. "de Blob" taps into that creative part of us to affect and alter the environment around us that was similarly tapped in "Katamari Damacy." Whereas "Katamari Damacy" only diluted its magic formula in its sequels, "de Blob" has a chance to do the opposite. Now, here's hoping THQ gives Blue Tongue a chance to do so.
What recommendations to you have for a "de Blob 2"?
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