Who doesn't like playing with fire? Don't bullshit me. Humans have always had fascination with fire. If you don't like lighting things to see what happens, that means you've been injured or burned a few too many times. I'm included in that group after a few too many close calls with fireworks in college.
Well the folks at "Tomorrow Corporation" have given you your very own "safe" fireplace! You can burn anything you can buy! And the weird thing is, burning things gives you money to burn more things! Everything from electronics, stuffed animals, to mini-planets. Set it all ablaze and watch the flames!
There's a little more to it than that as to complete the game you need to find all 99 combos (meaning burn several specific objects) at one time. Over the course of seven un-lockable catalogs, you burn some rather hilarious items. None of the combos are that complex to figure out (although some times I saw multiple items that could fit the description), so the game is far from a challenge. Think of it as an interactive toy. For instance you can use a "laser pointer" (with a real laser) to cut the head off a stuffed old lady. The objects interact in different ways not prescribed by the gameplay and this can be even more fun as unexpected interaction will make you laugh.
All that isn't why I loved this game (as fun as it ended up being), as that's pretty much the core gameplay. But as you progress, burning ALL the things, you get mysterious letters revealing oddnesses about this world you live in. No one leaves the house. They just sit and burn things in the fireplace. It's been snowing for years and the world keeps getting colder. The sweet yet evil Miss Nancy that runs Tomorrow Corporation, your overly enthusiastic neighbor Sugar Plums, and the mysterious Weather Man that reports, yes it is still snowing send you letters, revealing the story line of the world outside of your fireplace. I'm not really sure why, but with so little to work with...this story was powerful. With the music, letters, and general look of the game, The World of Goo folks made a wonderfully atmospheric game. It feels haunting and real. A sense of isolation so you just stare in the fireplace rather than think about it...Only human contact being mysterious letters from people you've never met. Eventually, you do get to see the world outside your fireplace and it continues the wonderful creation these folks packaged as a game of burning things. I have never seen a company tell such an interesting story with as little to work with. In the vein of Portal, they give you just enough to ask questions about the world this game exists in, but making it so creepy that you're not sure you want to know the answers. Yet you have to find out some, and aren't sure whether to be relieved or terrified at the end. They made this game so atmospheric and structured it to be just long enough to not reveal any glaring issues. It's impressive to say the least, and as close to perfect all around as anything I've played lately.
So if you call yourself a gamer, go right now. Pick up the current humble indie bundle where you can name your own price, and sink 3 hours into this game. You won't be disappointed.
Burn baby burn,
-Oz
No comments:
Post a Comment