De Blob 2 Review

With an abundance of gore and violence fueled games contributing to the ever growing library of entertainment in the corner of my man cave, I felt quite optimistic about the opportunity to cram a couple of vibrant, fun filled hours into De Blob2. An experience as it turns out, that would remind me of a time in my life when it was ok to eat my crayons because they smelled like grape.

While the game establishes a firm grounding of uncomplicated juvenile fun, it does have the potential to entertain those who can tie their own shoes and although this eliminates most of the Lazygamer staff, there is a good chance that you and your family will enjoy this game.

After surviving an encounter with Blob in the first game (De blob-Nintendo Wii), the villainous Comrade Black is stirring up trouble yet again. Setting up an oppressive and brainwashing regime in conjunction with the malevolent INKT Corporation that would see the world purged of any colour or individual expression. Fortunately the gelatinous hero Blob and his faithful side kick Pinky are on to the scheme, working closely with a resistance group called the “Color Underground” to liberate the subjugated citizens and bring colour back to the monochromatic cities and islands that have fallen victim to the evil plan. While this storyline might sound like a bit of a hippie revolution, De Blob 2 actually has a level of complexity to it that suggests a target market slightly broader than I initially expected.

Armed with an absorbent body, Blob has the ability to soak up colour from pools and springs and apply the colour to just about anything he comes into contact with. As you traverse the lighthearted environments of this puzzle platform adventure, Blob will be required to use these skills to paint his way through specific objectives in order to beat the clock in each setting. Once these primary objectives are met, the timer will disappear, opening new secondary objectives along with the freedom to explore the surroundings and paint at your leisure. Despite the fact that this might sound like the game has the potential to become somewhat repetitive, for the most part it is actually quite engaging, with the small puzzles and problems that you are faced with becoming increasingly tricky, regardless of the simplistic nature of the game play.

Blob also has some limitations to the amount of paint he is able to hold from a single dip in a colour pool, so while it is possible to paint just about anything or dash and splat your way through the various objects, enemies or obstructions sent to make your life more difficult, these things will all cost paint points. This becomes evident as Blob gets more unsaturated as he brings colour back to the bland environments. Fortunately there is a heads up display that can help you navigate to the nearest pool, spring or paint bot to replenish your supplies. At times secondary colours like purple or green are needed to complete certain puzzles in which case the offered primary coloured pools and paint bots will provide the necessary basis for mixing these secondary colours. However, simply getting the right colour for the job can often be a small puzzle in its own right.

Besides the standard platform approach to the game, DB2 also incorporates a more traditional side scrolling view for instances where Blob’s journey leads him into structures like caves, factories or underground facilities. These mini settings may help to break any building monotony that may be surfacing during the standard gameplay but in turn become somewhat repetitive in their own right, considering that once you have been through one of these scenarios the others begin to look like much of the same thing, with varying degrees of length.

While DB2 is a good dose of light hearted fun, there were a few aspects to the game play that I felt were a bit silly. The targeting system which at first I thoroughly enjoyed because of the sheer simplicity of it all, is actually inherently flawed. The problem to me stems from Blob’s inability to move while targeting anything, while this is not a major predicament while dealing with a group of Inkies (small brainwashed enemies) that can easily be stomped on. When other enemies, more complex in nature are thrown into the mix, you find yourself trying to cycle an auto targeting system through a group of colorless hostiles while glued to the floor.

Last Updated: April 12, 2011