Preview

Platform: Wii
Developer: Blue Tongue Entertainment Limited
Publisher: THQ, Inc.
Previewed by Justin Fassino on 2007-10-18

THQ is taking a stab at publishing an original Wii title with de Blob, a game that might be best-described as a "paint-rolling sim." The titular character, a colorless blob of good that resembles Pac-Man with teeth and horns, is the only being capable of saving a city that has come under the tyrannical rule of black ink, which has removed all the color from the world. What was once a beautiful metropolis with vibrant hues of life has become a uniform white from corner to corner.

The blob himself has the ability to soak up color, which is found in small robotic containers strewn about the world. After breaking them open, Blob can roll around and color entire structures by simply touching them or rolling over them. As he trundles along, he leaves behind a trail of paint splatter, which, combined with painting the town red (or green or blue or whatever color you want), causes his paint supply to decrease. If Blob runs out of paint, it's time to fill up again. The game world itself is divided up into set stages, and each stage can be explored in a non-linear way. Scattered around the stage are challenge markers, which will task Blob with performing a mission, such as painting a certain group of buildings with a certain color or reaching an out-of-the-way locale. Some challenges in the demo even provided a tough going, such as coloring an entire street purple while staying off the ground (which was covered in puddles of water that could rinse Blob of his paint). Blob can even be an artiste by mixing colors. Hitting a blue and yellow paint container will turn Blob green, for example, and this is imperative for some challenges. Other city items include puzzle pieces, which are collectibles that provide rewards once all of them are found in a particular stage.

Everything about de Blob is simple and user-friendly: the Wii controls are very easy to get used to. The analog stick moves Blob while the C button centers the camera, and flicking the Wiimote will make Blob jump, which he can do to reach rooftops or jump off of walls. As a Wii game, it's also one of the poster-children for artistic direction compensating for a lack of power. Blob is stylish, the paint marks on the ground and buildings are stylish, and the characters are all appealing and designed well, from Blob himself to the evil ink people. The city is Blob's canvas, and to that end, it isn't particularly beautiful to look at, but that's where the player comes in: he can make his city whatever color he likes. The game does suffer from pop-in in at the horizon, but the camera is usually looking down at Blob, so it's not that big of a deal.

de Blob will support both 480p and 16:9 displays, which should further vivify the game, and it will also have a multiplayer mode. The game is expected to ship in February 2008 for the Wii along with a DS version.

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