![]() Similarly, the sound effects are perfect. It adds absolutely nothing to the game, apart from that polish, that sense of completeness. Do it fast, and pull the ball from the wall, and it'll carry on spinning. Hold it against the wall, and move it up and down. Some of the nuances are pointlessly deep. World of Goo is the product of 2D Boy - a couple of guys in a tent - and while it's common to forgive indie developers a certain lack of polish, or finesse, there's nothing here to forgive the game is slicker than most full-price commercial games. Using drool and balloon goo to negotiate high winds - it's amazing how quickly impossible becomes easy. Basically, World of Goo has the soundtrack to a life I wish I lived. Think Danny Elfman's themes to Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands, and a few things in between. Alternately whimsical, dramatic and haunting. The short music loops are fantastic, too. It's Tim Burton's vision of one of Roald Dahl's more amoral tales. The world, and its surreal anti-establishment storyline, feel original and sincere. From the beautiful levels, which go way beyond the basic graphical expectations of "looking nice", to the charming-alarming cut-scenes, to the beautiful characterisation of those adorable goo balls. Every level, from all five chapters, feels like a learning process - but however ridiculous the challenges get, they're all still solved with that same simplicity, fairness and skill. You're bridging an impossible-looking gap, and plotting your escape from a creature's stomach. Pretty soon, you're learning the feel of the goo, and forging swaying structures around lethal windmills. "It's easier than it looks," you're reassured. The first level is a simple, short climb - you can do it in three moves. The clue's in the title of the level - You Have To Explode The Head. You simply repeat this process until you reach the level's goal - usually a pipe that hoovers up any balls of goo that come near it. Pull off a goo and place it nearby and it'll eagerly attach itself to the main building. Crawling along the struts of this structure, or sleeping around the level, are balls of goo. Levels begin with a small structure, and this is where you begin. An era before William's Defender arrived and scared off the lightweight with all those buttons. An era when Pac-Man made the women put down their Cointreau, hoist up their petticoats and fling ten pees every which way but loose. An era when everyone got a little bit excited about video games when you'd find coin-op machines in your local pub, and everyone played them. A game so utterly charming, so pregnant with charisma, and so simple in concept, that it belongs in another era. Physics' latest, purest, and most brilliant gift is World of Goo. If the Large Hadron Collider does cough out a couple of black holes, on balance the end of the world will be acceptable payback for all the fun physics provided along the way. Paint cans that pelt across the room when you walk into them, fallen enemies who collapse into difficult yoga positions, see-saw puzzles, cowboy hats flying off, oranges you can throw at a soldier - physics has given us all these things. ![]()
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