It’s not often that a trailer alone is enough to justify a post here, but World Of Goo 2 should be more on everyone’s radar. The sequel to one of the best games ever made should be cause for international celebration. It’s set to release next Friday, August 2nd, and the modern trailer below will flood your tower with glimpses of the mysterious tower construction you’ll find inside.
The premise of World Of Goo is pretty basic. Goo balls slide around the levels and you can pick them up. Keep them close to other goo balls and they’ll create connecting beams, securing them in place. This allows you to build towers towards the level’s exit, and unused goo can climb the tower and escape. It’s Lemmings with physics from 2008.
What makes World Of Goo a classic is that, in addition to such a basic premise, each level introduces a pleasant surprise: modern types of goo, modern obstacles, modern settings, etc. I remember people crowding around my monitor when I played it in the office in 2008 and applaud during the end-of-level cutscenes, overcome by what an explosive and coherent act of imagination the whole thing was. A typical example of an indie game taking a good idea and exploring it fully.
Which, if you buy that argument, makes it strenuous to imitate. I would worry about World Of Goo 2’s ability to find as many inventions as the original if it hadn’t been sixteen years. Since that much time has passed, I’m glad there’s more of it, and if it repeats a ton of ideas and ends up being a worse game, who cares, I’ll still have fun playing it.
Aug 2. I think Brendy went overboard with her review.
