3.5/5 ★ – DaysposableHero's review of World of Goo.
I think I would’ve had more fun with this game if I’d played it on mobile.
Now, there’s a sentence I wouldn’t have predicted I’d ever say. And yet, here we are. While the game was still fun enough as it is, I don’t think it lends itself well to long gaming sessions. Playing World of Goo for three hours straight becomes a bit repetitive. And dealing with the Nintendo Switch’s motion controls, in cases where you need precision and timing, can be frustrating. But the game is still a fun physics puzzler that doesn’t really outstay its welcome, and its humor I genuinely enjoyed.
I had heard some folks excitedly anticipating the release of World of Goo 2, and fondly remembering the original played on the Wii back in 2008. Their description of the game made it sound like a funny and endearing physics puzzle, and I was interested. I figured I’d go ahead and play the first one to see if I’d be interested in World of Goo 2.
In World of Goo, you complete each level by using little “goo balls” to build structures and avoid obstacles, all in favor of reaching a pipe at the end of the level with as many goo balls to spare as possible. The goo balls automatically stick to each other to form lattice structures, with different kinds of goo balls having different properties. Some can be unstuck and rearranged. Some can be launched into position. Some can stick and cling to non-goo surfaces, and so on. There are obstacles in the level to avoid, such as spinning blades, or sharp spiked ceilings. And always you are contending with the physics engine. The goo balls all have weight and momentum. So, the width and height of the structures you can build are affected by the shapes and configurations you implement. Trying to build a tall tower? You better give it a decently wide base, or the slightest shift in weight on one side will have it toppling over. You can also add goo balls as counterweight, and other more specialized features that crop up as you progress. In each case, you are trying to build as efficiently as possible to reach the pipe at the end of the level, which will suck all your remaining goo balls off to the “World of Goo Corporation.”
The game is genuinely funny. There is a very light and somewhat abstract background story happening, relating to the World of Goo Corporation, the progenitor of the goo balls…I think. As the goo balls make progress across the various islands of their world, you get glimpses into the machinations of World of Goo Corporation, and their deleterious social effects. Much of the story is brought to you by the mysterious Sign Painter, a person who, as their name suggests, communicates to you via messages on wooden signs in each level. All the jokes are pretty light and airy, but they still made me smile, and I never wanted to miss whatever the Sign Painter had to say about a given level.
What didn’t make me smile, however, were the controls. World of Goo on the Switch allows you to use either the touchscreen controls on the Switch’s screen or use the “pointer” function of the JoyCons when the tablet is docked. I wanted to use the latter, as I generally do most of my gaming from my couch and on my living room TV. This isn’t a great option for World of Goo. Much of the game requires precise placement and some timing, neither of which are the JoyCon motion controls especially suited for. I was continuously having to use the “re-center” function on the controller to find my mark again, and I was forced into some very awkward hand positioning in the meantime. Eventually, I just gave up and switched to playing in tablet mode, with the JoyCons removed. This was better. Though, the switch isn’t a phone, and if I’m playing a small screen in bed, I might as well have the functionality of my phone added on. And as I mentioned before, the game isn’t very well suited to long play sessions anyway, so playing this game on a mobile device while waiting for food, or on a train, or what have you, would probably work better these days.
I enjoyed World of Goo. I got what I wanted out of it, though I’d probably approach it differently if I had to do it again. Will I do it again? Probably not. It’s one of those games where, once you “get it”, you “get it”, and I don’t really need to come back to it for a second playthrough, or a sequel. But for the short puzzle experience it sets out to be, it’s pretty good.