Painting the town

by ERIK LEIJON

As an avid watcher of 24-hour news networks (both Canadian and international), one word has been perched on the shoulder of every talking head in these fierce electoral battles: bias. Or, at least, perceived bias.

Video games are no different, as the term fanboy is used to describe an individual so vigorously partisan about their gaming system of choice, they’ll often disregard logic or factual evidence in their passionate, albeit childish arguments defending their console. Admittedly, though, everyone is predisposed to having a rosy outlook towards a certain game, and de Blob (Wii/THQ, Blue Tongue) might qualify as my not-so-silent crush.

MAKING A SPLASH: de Blob

Because first-party Nintendo titles dominate the Wii landscape on financial and critical levels, I unabashedly root for quality thirdparty Wii games. De Blob is one of those rare non-Nintendo titles that provides such pure enjoyment, one would assume the game came from Osaka instead of Australia.

Starring a Kirby-esque ball of sentient goo, de Blob rolls around dreary, grey cities and provides some needed colour. By rubbing up against a building, Blob will transform a previously lifeless tenement into a Jackson Pollock masterpiece.

It’s a platform game in the vein of a Mario, as Blob must climb building complexes and avoid various traps, but the constant interaction with the ever-changing environments constitutes some incredibly inventive level design. As Blob splashes more paint, the cities begin to explode with life.

Every level is a multi-tiered epic, with secret areas and dozens of mini missions designed to help you along. It’s important to not get caught up in the largely unimportant time limit—as you complete each mission (which consist of specific colour paint jobs or defeated designated enemies) the stages will reveal more depth gradually, whereas trying to finish the level as fast as possible will likely result in getting lost and failing.

There’s almost the feeling of an invisible hand, guiding de Blob as he sets more Raydians free from the clutches of the monochrome INKT corporation. INKT, whose servants look suspiciously like black versions of the Rayman Rabbid characters and call their leader Comrade, have transformed Chroma City into some cartoonish version of a flavourless communist capital, or Pleasantville.

Visually the game looks great, and not just in Wii terms. De Blob is capable of acquiring different colours of paint and mixing primaries for some festive purples and oranges. De Blob leaves trails of paint as he rolls around, and the splashing physics of the paint really give this title a unique calling card.

Since missions often involve painting buildings of a certain colour, the puzzle aspect of acquiring the right mix of paint is certainly more fun than doing the real thing with some lazy Rona employee. One must also commend the developers for creating an infectious, jazzy soundtrack. No bias, no bull, de Blob is a splash of colour for a Wii third-party line-up in need of it.

ATVS AND NINJAS

Pure (X360/Disney, Blackrock) is an ATV racing game on par with Sony’s excellent Motorstorm series. The ATV editor should appeal even to non-gearheads. For reasons unknown, I find ATV games to be physically very taxing—possibly a mix of the always shaking camera and the difficult handling of the vehicles.

The Legend of Kage 2 (DS/Taito) is an old-school side scrolling ninja action title. It has everything a good Ninja Gaiden or Shinobi title should have: insanely tough bosses, millions of flying stars to avoid and even more enemies. Graphically a tad lifeless, but a good challenge for retro handheld gamers.