World of Goo is a game that definitely deserves more attention. I can perfectly understand why people who played like it - it's got amazing art and music, which make for truly breathtaking moments, especially the levels in Chapter 3, and the Epilogue. These moments, along with fun gameplay, make the game stand out, and I truly wish more people knew about it.
And yet, I think that the people who DID play the game overpraise it.
The biggest issue I have with the game is its story. The Sign Painter, despite being the primary expositor, doesn't really explain much. Majority of World of Goo's storyline, while unusually nuanced, could be summed up as: "Event happens. You gotta make this thing continue, even though you don't know what it means." Maybe that's what the creators were going for, but with The Sign Painter occasionally providing us with seemingly important details (i.e. The Corporation "Burning evidence" of some kind, the process of the development of Product Z, all the insights into the Information Superhighway being not as nice of a place as it seems...) that are completely glossed over, despite having potential to provide depth on one thing that the game seems to do constantly, that is, provide social critique. And, once again, while the atmosphere the game provides is beautiful, it doesn't stick too well with me, due to all these Aborted Arcs and wasted story potential.
I still like the game a lot, and I still highly recommend it, but I don't consider it to be truly amazing for that very reason.
Somehow, Simultaneously Underrated and Overrated
World of Goo is a game that definitely deserves more attention. I can perfectly understand why people who played like it - it's got amazing art and music, which make for truly breathtaking moments, especially the levels in Chapter 3, and the Epilogue. These moments, along with fun gameplay, make the game stand out, and I truly wish more people knew about it. And yet, I think that the people who DID play the game overpraise it. The biggest issue I have with the game is its story. The Sign Painter, despite being the primary expositor, doesn't really explain much. Majority of World of Goo's storyline, while unusually nuanced, could be summed up as: "Event happens. You gotta make this thing continue, even though you don't know what it means." Maybe that's what the creators were going for, but with The Sign Painter occasionally providing us with seemingly important details (i.e. The Corporation "Burning evidence" of some kind, the process of the development of Product Z, all the insights into the Information Superhighway being not as nice of a place as it seems...) that are completely glossed over, despite having potential to provide depth on one thing that the game seems to do constantly, that is, provide social critique. And, once again, while the atmosphere the game provides is beautiful, it doesn't stick too well with me, due to all these Aborted Arcs and wasted story potential. I still like the game a lot, and I still highly recommend it, but I don't consider it to be truly amazing for that very reason.