For the most part you’ll spend the game moving from area to area in the city of Chroma, collecting paint from little INKT droids and then splattering it up the walls of the buildings - returning colour to the city and freeing its citizens as you go in a kind of paint-by-numbers version of The Last Guy. Points are received from painting buildings and completing challenges, when you received a requisite number of points a gate is unlocked and you can proceed to the next area of the city. As a result of this it would be very easy to just fly through the game completing the bare minimum of challenges, however, there is something distinctly satisfying about finishing every last building in an area that makes its far more rewarding to actually hang back, slow down your progression through the story and do the job properly – a choice which pays dividends ultimately. Those who spend the time to complete each of the challenges in any given area will find themselves properly rewarded for their effort.

The game is not difficult by anyone’s standards. Anyone with two working thumbs could pick up the controls and start painting, which to begin with is all the game asks of the player. It then slowly introduces each different mechanic over the course of the next few levels. Considering how easy to master the original controls are, it can often feel like the game spends too long introducing new mechanics. As such it can get quite frustrating to be given yet another tutorial two or three hours into the experience (which if you’re anal about completing each challenge like me will certainly be the case). If you have an ounce of patience however, it shouldn’t post too much of a issue. If you’ve accidentally discovered a technique before it is introduced then you can just skip the cut scene and happily continue with the game.

The difficulty of the game is added on in layers as the game progresses but it never once takes charge over the player. Forewarning is given in advance of the difficulty of each challenge and there really is no imposition for the player to worry about completing them if they don’t want to.

There is one shadow looming over the gameplay however in the form of a time limit. Everything is done to the clock, not just the challenges but even simply roaming around the city. This can take the edge off the experience if all you’re looking to do is be creative and slosh some paint around or colour every building alternating green and orange. That said, effort and thoroughness early on in each level will be rewarded by ample time later. In many ways the overall time limit is a needless addition; it doesn’t pray on the mind and is incredibly easy to forget about with little recrimination. It would have been better to simply leave the timer for specific challenges when they can really begin to test the player.

Beyond the original premise, there is little story to speak of. Characters other than our blobular protagonist do little more than deliver instructions and handily get out of the way as soon as they’re done. Cut scenes and dialogue are refreshingly funny though, with a unique brand of tongue-in-cheek humour that is distinctly reminiscent Team 17’s Worms 2. The game’s soundtrack is an easy going blend of funk, latin and soul that is at first quite unremarkable and also confusing when the game asks for a choice between “Generic Funk Song A” and “Generic Disco Tune B”. Once stuck into the game however the music reacts in a seamless yet dynamic fashion with the actions of the player, rising and falling based on their success. After just a few minutes of play it becomes impossible to deny the infectious groove and trumpet along to the tune.

Overall, de Blob is really what the Wii should have been all about. The game is fun, ultra-accessible and not in the least bit gimmicky. The game is a wonderful marriage of the visuals and gameplay, with both feeding into one another to create a dynamic and vibrant experience. The game really puts the player first. It is only as difficult, as long or as stressful as they want yet it is always entertaining and astounding by its simplicity and irrefutable charm. It proves that the concepts of casual, fun gaming and challenging, engrossing experiences are not incompatible and not purely the forte of any particular system. Bravo!

+

• Vibrant and beautiful marriage of game mechanics and graphics.
• Makes the player the author of their own experience, never enforcing a particular style of play.
• Infectious and irresistibly cool soundtrack.

-

• Poor targeting mechanic is difficult to master and unfitting with the rest of the experience.
• Redundant timer adds nothing to general gameplay other than undue, creativity curbing stress.
• Main character lacking in… well, character! When compared to the rest of the cast anyway.