The Inkies have eliminated all traces of colour from the world. It is your responsibility to restore the environment back to its original beauty and put an end to the Inkies once and for all. That is the premise within THQ's De Blob 2: The Underground - a sequel to 2008's Wii exclusive puzzle-platformer, De Blob. Developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment, the game sees the lovable paint blob hero and his friends reunite for another attack against the drab inkblot oppression, and it's something that fans of unique games and the platforming genre are sure to be impressed with. Just make sure you use the right colours.
Despite the oppression, a colour underground has formed, and is ready to revolt against the Inkies' oppression. They've developed a plan to regain control of their world and hope to be able to stop the brainwashing that has been done to their fellow citizens, who were formerly very colourful and vibrant. These citizens have been changed from their normally colourful selves to drab, white bores, who live their daily lives without any sort of personality. Along the way, you will meet new members of the underground, who will aid you in your goals. They teach you new abilities, open new environmental areas and give you new tasks to complete. Each new citizen that you bring back to life (per se,) adds a new member to the revolution.
In the midst of the oppression, the Inkies (General) leader is trying to influence the voting process in Prisma City to make voters choose him as their next general leader. De Blob and his friends spend most of the game chasing this madman throughout the world, eventually leading to a confrontation in outer space. Though the General doesn't speak much, he's a major part of the storyline and works well as an antagonist. This political aspect of the storyline may be lost on kids, however, but adults will understand it and be able to identify with aspects of it.
At its core, De Blob 2 is a platforming game, but it also features plenty of puzzle elements. Players control De Blob, the game's titular hero. He's a gigantic blob of paint, which is capable of changing his colour at any time, just by touching a new paint colour. Its gameplay revolves around using this ability to absorb different colours of paint in order to paint buildings, citizens and the environment, in order to complete challenges. Painting is easily done; De Blob can spread his colour to neighbouring buildings or elements just by touching them, though each painted item decreases the amount of paint that he contains. This absorption amount is shown in the top right-hand corner of the screen and sort of works as your health. Everything you paint reduces it, as does attacking enemies or destroying their creates. If you're small and get hit by an enemy inkblot, you risk the chance of death (as the game also features a life system, allowing for you to have up to five at one time.) This means that you're quite often having to look for sources of paint (pools or 'paintbots') to replenish your absorption.
There are several different types of colours available to be used, and certain ones are required for certain tasks (such as painting buildings which need to be a specific colour.) The three primary colours you absorb are red, yellow and blue. They can be combined together to create secondary colours, which become a more prevalent task requirement later on in the game. Available for creation are green, purple, orange and brown, which is made by mixing all three of the primary colours together. Though, if you are orange (for example,) you can revert to red just by touching a red paintbot. Water plays a major role in the experience as, if you touch one drop of it, you lose your colour. However, water is at a premium in the new world because the Inkies have replaced it with ink in a lot of instances. When De Blob touches this ink, it hurts him and eliminates any colour from things that he touches. The only way to get rid of it is by touching water.
In order to complete certain tasks, De Blob is faced with the opportunity to enter certain buildings, after meeting a certain colour and absorption requirement. Once you enter an indoor environment, the game shifts from its large-scale 3D platformer design to a design resembling a 2D platformer. This design reminded me of Splatterhouse, with its perspective altering from three dimensions to two at certain points. These portions of the game require you to hit different colour switches, defeat all of the enemies inside and/or save imprisoned citizens. Though it's easier said than done considering there's always something in your way that must be accounted for, such as a pool or stream or water, ink, moving platforms and a limited amount of paint. I enjoyed these sections of the game as they added a good amount of variety into the experience. Though I found that they were over-used at points, such as one level that primarily consists of having you take over buildings.
Natural progression throughout the game's twelve lengthy environments allows for the debut of many different types of enemies. These enemy types range from basic minions to enemies with guns, helicopters, tanks and ink mortars. It is only possible to take some of these foes out in a specific manner, such as using the dash ability to avoid their spiked heads or by slamming onto them when you're a certain colour. It is generally pretty easy to take most of them out, as long as you have the required amount of absorption strength. A lot of the time, you'll need to take out a specific amount of them to complete a main story challenge or one of the secondary goals that present themselves after you've finished the level's main requirements. Just be careful because their ink can be quite damaging.
Where De Blob 2: The Underground really shines is in its puzzle design and its ease of use. This is a game that can be played by young children (though they'd need a lot of help with some sections,) families and even core gamers. Due to that broad target market range, the developers were tasked with creating puzzles that were complex and varied, but were able to be completed without much frustration. I think they did a very good job of this. Though having to paint buildings certain colours became somewhat repetitive after a while, I was impressed with the gravity puzzles and the other indoor puzzles that they introduced as I progressed into the later portion of the experience. Though I wish there would have been a couple more different types of puzzles instead of so many buildings to paint, there was at least a decent amount of variety within. Their design was almost always impressive though.
Upon completion of a level's main objectives, you are given the opportunity to either leave the area (to progress onwards) or stay and complete secondary objectives which have been unlocked. Enlightenment awards (in the shape of lightbulbs) are hidden throughout the environments as collectibles and are also awarded for completion of these tasks. They are used as currency within the game's upgrade menu, but they are not the only collectibles within the game, which is something that annoyed me. This game simply has too many collectibles to find. So many different hidden gallery photos, enlightenment awards, patterns (which add a pattern onto buildings you paint,) billboards, trees and crates. It's a collectible overload, which can become quite taxing.
The amount of collectibles and secondary objectives (which lead to awards) and a scoring menu after each level, which grades you based on your score, makes some levels take longer than an hour to complete. It adds a lot of length to the game, especially since each level invokes a time limit system. You can earn more time by saving citizens, defeating groups of enemies or reaching checkpoints. However, your first crack at a level is streamlined by this limit, meaning that you generally have to wait until you've completed all of a level's main tasks before you can look for collectibles. If you run out of time, you have to restart from your last checkpoint. To be honest, I didn't find the time limit to be a good design choice. I found that it was more frustrating than necessary, as it didn't really have a purpose other than adding stress and streamlining your playthrough to add length to the experience. In a tranquil/relaxing game like this, a time limit kind of defeats the purpose.
De Blob 2 not only features a lengthy single player campaign, but it also incorporates multiplayer in two different ways. In the campaign, a second player can join in as Pinky (a companion/tutorial giver) to help player one by shooting enemies and crates, with a limited amount of ammo. It's not something that would interest many people though. The other mode (Blob Party) is a bit more interesting, allowing players to work together to try to finish time-based objective challenges, while fighting to earn more points than their teammate. Unfortunately, neither mode features online matchmaking.
Controlling De Blob is a simple and easy task, which is streamlined to appeal to any audience. Basic movement and camera controls are mapped to the two thumbsticks, with the left shoulder button utilized for centering the camera behind De Blob. Targeting enemies, paintbots and entry ways is completed by just pressing the left trigger in, allowing you to easily jump to and/or smoosh them by pressing the right trigger. Also, as usual, basic jumping mechanics are mapped to the A button, which is also used in rapid succession, to evade enemies who try to put you into a trance (and then lead you to an ink well.) This is a control scheme that doesn't require a lot of gaming skill to get used to, so it works well in a game like this, which is predominantly appealing to families.
De Blob 2 looks great in high-def on the 360. When you begin each level, you're met with a white canvas, where De Blob is the only hint of colour. He really pops, as does each element of colour that you introduce. I personally found the game to be stunning, making it a contender for one of the best looking games I've played. Its art style is also really well-done, with some decent variety as you progress through different types of environments (such as a university campus, senate, beach and outer space) in the campaign. The animations are also quite well-done, though there isn't a grand amount of them. If you're looking for something that will blow you away in a visceral sense, then I recommend checking this game out.
Its audio is also something worth mentioning. The game's original soundtrack is great, and it really works well with the game. At the beginning of each level, players can select their mood, which translates into the type of music that is played. Each new type of paint also has its own signature instrument sound, which plays whenever you paint something. Additionally, the game features a ton of varied sound effects, which sound great. I was impressed with the game's presentation to say the least, despite encountering one sound bug.
The game's storyline is told through the use of comic panels (during load screens,) text dialogue and quite a few computer generated cutscenes. There is a great sense of humor that runs rampant throughout the cutscenes, as each cutscene shows the Inkies getting into humourous trouble, which is reminiscent of Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids franchise. Despite this overzealous homage, I quite enjoyed these storytelling moments, as the humour was great. In fact, one of the first cutscenes was one of the better cutscenes I've ever seen. Several others would rank up there as well.
Generally speaking, the game is extremely well-made. I was impressed with the amount of polish that it featured, as well as the fact that I didn't really encounter many glitches other than a short sound bug (which eliminated one sound effect) and a couple brief frame rate hiccups. With that being said, I must admit that I was bored a few times while playing the game. When I first started playing it, I didn't like it very much, but it grew on me. So much so that I ended up enjoying playing it as I progressed. This is a well-made experience, but it's not something I recommend playing for hours on end, especially if you're a core gamer. It never evolves from its basic premise, always remaining in a basic comfort zone. Sure, there are new elements which are established in each new level, but the game gets very repetitive at times, because it never undergoes a major change from start to finish. With a 15-20 hour campaign, that can become a bit dull at times.
Overall, De Blob 2: The Underground is pretty good game. It features some great elements and annoying issues, such as repetition. It's a game that is sure to impress people who don't play games much, with its beauty, but it's not a game that will keep you interested for hours on end. Though short bursts can be quite enjoyable and relaxing, this is a game that will be appreciated most by a younger audience. If you're looking for something different, this is certainly a candidate.
Rating: 7.5/10
De Blob 2 was released for the XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS on February 22, 2011. The 360 and PS3 versions sell at a suggested retail price of $49.99. It will be released on the Nintendo 3DS later this year.
