Gamefrontz

The tough tough Tower of Goo

Download World of Goo today! It is officially the best Wiiware game in GameFrontz, since hardcore-inclined kolslorr and casual-inclined clouette had both downloaded the game on Tuesday. To be honest, the game is the best strategic puzzler I have played since Digger. World of Goo is very unique, yet very simple. Use physics and connect the dots to reach the objective, that’s it.

The creators used a simple story of how the a few little Goo balls want to get out of their little island and travel the World (not our World, their World) and awaken other Goos. As they travel along, they’ll discover sleeping cousins and make use of their specialties to traverse deep gorges or high mountains.

The most intriguing stage in chapter 1 is the Tower of Goo. There is more than 10m of height to build, with limited Goo balls and treacherous wind to overcome. Again and again the Tower of Goo collapse, with no consolation. You can click on the SKIP button, but where is the challenge. Finally, the true wisdom of architectural skills is required, build a fat base! But remember there are no infinite Goo balls.

World of Goo test your physics and chemistry to the extreme, and I truly feel that it should be part of the science syllabus in Primary school. The game helps you understand the strength of the different bonds – remember Tetrahedral? Hexagonal? No theory here, just practice and you’ll be perfect.

In some stages, reaction timing is essential. That’s why the creators mentioned that this game can never be found on PS360. Only the mouse cursor or Wiimote pointer can react fast enough. In fact, when Iwata and Miyamoto tried it, they said that this has to be on the Wii. It’s perfectly suited to the Wii.

As in other puzzle games, you will find many different and specialised types of Goo which has different purposes. Some can form 1 bond, others can form 2 or 3 or 4. Some are heavy, some are light. Some are stronger than the the rest. And you must understand all their strength and weaknesses to complete the game.

There is one small problem, however. Their World is terribly small, and soon the Goos came to the end of the World after four chapters of addictive and exciting traveling. Before you realised it, there is no where to go except… (the hint to the sequel)

Wait, there is still one more place, the Goo Corporation. Use your extra Goo balls to build the highest structure. This is where gamers can pit against one another in their architectural and puzzle skills. Puzzle skills because the extra Goo balls will come from each stage. How many you have in the end depends on how good is your solution. So, maximising the number of Goo balls that goes through the pipe is very important.

I simply can’t wait to rush home to play again. Just can’t get sick of the Goos.

Gameplay: 10.0
Fun-level: 10.0
Graphics: 9.0 (not lousy at all)
Music: 9.5 (for a self-composed music, it’s very good)
Replayability: 8.5 (for extra Goo balls)
Online quality: 7.0 (online for seeing others structure, no online co-op)
Price: 10.0 (1500 Wii Points)
Game length: 10hrs (each chapter average about 2hrs)
Overall: 9.6