World of Goo 2 game review;

If a list of the best independent games of history is to be prepared, World of Goo can be considered as one of the most serious candidates for this list. This is the game of the year Released in 2008 by independent studio 2D Boy consisting of just two people, it was well received by players and critics alike. This work was first released for Windows and Wii console and its Metacritic scores were 90 and 94 respectively. All these successes were achieved while the budget for making the game was only 10,000 dollars and it was initially a student project.

The studio initially denied making a second version, but then in 2010, one of the producers said there was a possibility of a sequel. Finally, after years of waiting, World of Goo 2 was announced at Game Awards 2023 and we recently saw the release of this game. Due to the success of the first version, the expectations for World of Goo 2 are extremely high; But has the production team managed to develop a work of the same size as the first game? In this article, we are going to examine this issue.

World of Goo 2 follows the same procedure as the first version and you have to get the “goo balls” into the pipe to complete the stage. Each stage includes three additional challenges related to the number of balls moved, the number of player moves and the time to complete the stages. In fact, for each of the challenges, a certain amount/time has been set, and by reaching it, you can complete the challenge. There are five chapters and more than sixty stages in this game.

Since the stages of the game are not linear and you have to use your creativity to complete each one, there are different ways to complete the stages. This issue, along with the mentioned challenges, make us face a game that has a very high replay value and you can complete the same stage over and over again in different ways without feeling repetitive. Also, the type of challenges in the game is such that all three challenges can be completed at the same time with difficulty and with several times of practice, and this is another incentive to experience the game again.

In the stages of the game, there are some wooden boards that act as game guides (Hint). These guides are well designed and while they put you on the right path to complete the stage, they don't provide the player with enough information to solve the puzzles yourself. But if you get stuck at some stage, don't worry; Because the game has a skip button so that the player can skip a stage if needed. Of course, this button cannot be used at the end of each chapter.

Because the puzzles of this game are based on physics, it is possible that by placing a ball in your structure, this structure will suddenly break and go off its path. But the production team has also thought about this issue and there is a small white bug in the game that by clicking on it, you can go back to the previous move and it actually makes this move ineffective. There is no limit to the use of this bug and you can use it many times to finally complete the stage.

There are different balls in the game, each of which has its own characteristics. In addition to the usual black orbs, we see other orbs such as balloon-shaped balls, reusable green orbs, white orbs that can transfer slime, red orbs that grow by transferring slime, and others. This has made the hands of the developer studio open in creating various puzzles, and as a result, the player faces new puzzles. The combination of these caves in different stages causes us to face many interesting puzzles. Also, exactly where it is thought that the game is becoming repetitive, a new type of balls enters it and as a result, we see a new type of challenges.

In addition, the environments of each stage are different from each other and their visual design is such that the player does not feel tired and repetitive. For example, in one stage we may see a bright environment with blue sky and beautiful clouds, and then in another stage we see a mood similar to classic movies. In addition to this, we must mention the beautiful music of the game, which matches the atmosphere of the stages, and as a result, we see a beautiful output.

From the technical side, the game runs easily and without any problems, and we see a good optimization on the computer version. Of course, the handle is not supported in this version, and the game can only be played on PC using the keyboard and mouse, which may be considered a defect for the game.

Another one of the few problems with World of Goo 2 is the difficulty balance between stages; In this way, we may face a very easy stage and then the next stage will be very challenging. The same process of changing the level of difficulty can take some of the game out of its rhythm and make us not face a seamless experience. Of course, most of the game's stages are medium or easy, and the number of hard stages is not very high; As a result, this video game is a suitable option for many people.

Unlike the first version, this game has a story and tries to tell the story behind these caves and their lives in a lovely way. Although naturally one cannot expect much from this story and it is only added as an additional stimulus to World of Goo 2, but we are facing an interesting story and in this way we are facing a little bit of Goo facts. This story is told through several cutscenes.

All in all, World of Goo 2 can be considered a worthy sequel to the first version, which was considered one of the best independent works in the history of gaming. This game with various puzzles and different environments, offering the player a lot of creativity and the possibility of high repeatability is a good option for a little mental activity. If you were a fan of the first version or if you like puzzle games, World of Goo 2 can definitely keep you entertained for hours.