World of Goo

Developer: 2D Boy
Publisher: 2D Boy
Release Date: Oct. 13, 2008
Systems: PC (reviewed), Wii
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Not as disgusting as the title would lead you to believe. Quite the opposite, in fact...

0:00 For an indie game, World of Goo has been getting massive, massive amounts of hype. It was this RPS piece that finally pushed me into sitting down with the demo, though.

0:01 The game displays some cute, SimCity-esque messages while loading up: "Distilling beauty ... Challenging everything ... Debating games as art ... swapping time and space." Heh. The title screen has a small globe in silhouette and some soaring music. On to Chapter 1, "The Goo Filled Hills."

0:02 "Summer," says white text on a black title card. The first level is "Going Up," which is described as "Easy as Goo pie." A sign in the background tells me to "Drag 'n' drop to build to the pipe." Down below there's a sort of black latticework structure. On it are thick, black balls of goo traveling all over the place. They have eyes. Creepy!

0:04 At first my dragging and dropping does nothing ... the goo balls just drop back to the ground. Eventually I notice some thin, wispy lines when I drag the goo close. When I let go, those lines become new struts on an ever-expanding, teetering tower. When I reach the pipe hanging above, all the goo balls that are still traipsing about get sucked up. I have the option to submit my score to the "World of Goo Leaderboard of Excellence." Nice name.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer