Watch Out for De Blob for the Nintendo Wii, by THQ Games

We live in an age where new video games come out daily, programmers have to come up with all kinds of games to keep players of all ages intrigued. Several of the newer games are very complicated, involving a lot of button crunching and complex controls. However, sometimes the simplest concepts, like Tetris or WiiSports, are the games that win audiences over due to their addictive, simple gameplay.

Such is the case for de Blob, a new game for the Nintendo Wii and DS by THQ Games. I got a chance to try it out at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle this year, and it was by far the most addictive game that I played there. In fact, it was the only game that I played more than once out of all the ones that I sampled at PAX.

In de Blob, you are a rolling blob who lives in a 3-D world that would normally look cool, but has been tragically derived of all its color. Apparently, an evil INKT corporation has ruled that color is a crime, and so de Blob has started a mission to colorize the monochromatic streets.

You then smash the Leech Bots who will paint you a certain color as well as increase your size. Then, as you run into buildings and other structures, they are instantly painted whatever color you are. As the buildings get painted colors, you accrue points that are used to go to new levels. Colors can be mixed, as ramming into a yellow and blue make green, and so forth. There are also some nifty splatter paint mixes.

Also in the game are these little green imps who look a lot like Plankton from Spongebob Squarepants. They tell you to go on little mini-missions, like when I had to paint an entire fleet of boats blue. Sometimes you have to take on the INKT police, who you can defeat by bouncing on them. It takes a little Z-targeting for that, and it works out pretty well. If the ink guys touch you, then you begin to shrink. The only to get over that is to plunge yourself in water, and you start out small again.

I realize that the very premise of this game sounds completely ridiculous, but I found it as addictive as Pac-man, Burger Time, or games with silly premises back in the eighties. The controls of the game were a little awkward, as is the case of a lot of 3-D games. In other words, every time I jumped, I wasn't certain whether I was jumping in the right direction. I had the same problem with Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but I quickly adapted, as I did in de Blob.

Still, I might shell out the money for de Blob when it comes out in early 2008. Too bad it isn't a Christmas release, for I highly recommend it.