When we first caught a glimpse of de Blob, it was at the Independent Games booth at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, a product of a student group from the Utrecht School of Arts. It certainly held our attention, with an inventive approach and easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay. Now, a year and a half later, de Blob for the Nintendo Wii has arrived, and the wait has certainly been worth it.

In the game, members of a group known as the Color Underground see a crisis growing in their beloved Chroma City. A vile businessman named Comrade Black and his fellow cohorts at the INKT Corporation have sucked it dry of all its life and color. Buildings and inhabitants are black and white, living a dull existence while INKT thrives on its success. The members, colorless blobs, spring into action as interactive paint tools. In order to change colors, they need to jump on or run over Paintbots, multi-colored INKT agents scattered throughout the city. From there, anything they touch – trees, boat decks, buildings – changes to that specific color. Your job is to paint everything you see, even the upper levels of the buildings and Chroma City's residents. The more you paint; additional sections of the city open up.

You don't own de Blob. de Blob owns you. Click to see more images from the game...

Granted, there are other dangers lurking about. Along with rogue INKT agents and a dwindling time limit, you also have to avoid ink spills. Dipping your blob in ink eats away its energy, and once it hits zero, it's game over. Staying in water for too long also does damage, so you might want to avoid falling into the sea. Water does come in handy for quickly rinsing away unwanted paint colors and ink, though.

Gameplay is what makes de Blob so much fun. Changing colors is a snap, thanks to the cool "slam" technique, and you can reach high surfaces with ease. Along with free painting throughout the city, there are also challenges that require certain colors, time frames and tasks, such as painting a monument while crawling inside of it and shaking the Wii remote. Overall, it's a wonderful game, one that doesn't grow stale after several hours of play.

In addition to the lengthy single-player campaign and numerous challenges, de Blob also has a stress-relieving Free Paint mode. Here, you can paint the city any way you see fit. There are also multiplayer games to play with your friends. These include a Paint Match mode where you try to cover as much of your territory as possible, a paint-stealing Blob On the Run mode and a quick Blob Race mode, where you have to paint a specific item in the fastest time possible.

De Blob also wins in the graphics department. The game brilliantly comes alive as you paint, with brightly colored buildings and happily jumping occupants. Chroma City is a large, well-designed area, so there's always something new to discover. Even the water effects are impressive, shimmering in the sunlight as you fling yourself out of it. There are mild camera problems, but it's easy to right yourself with a tap of the C button.

Music plays a huge part in the game as well. With each color you absorb, you also get a particular music style. Keep red and you'll enjoy soothing be-bop singers. Go with brown and you'll get record-scratching DJ noises. Stick with blue and you'll groove along to a rhythm guitar.

Occasionally, you'll run into a demanding challenge, such as painting buildings that need to be a certain color. Sometimes you'll have trouble locating Paintbots to mix together (even with a compass). Aside from these mild inconveniences, de Blob is one of the best Wii games of the year. The visuals and music are lovely, and there's plenty to do for single and multiple players alike. So, go ahead and paint the town red, yellow or orange.

Related Links

de Blob Game Guide

THQ

Our Final ScoreExcellent

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