De Blob 2 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS is a colorful game that offers some interesting two-player cooperative and competitive multiplayer options for experienced players.
No matter what platform you decide to play it on, the gameplay in De Blob 2 is the same. You take control of the game’s star, an amorphous and easy-going Blob that is able to absorb and combine colors to brighten up an otherwise drab and bleached-out world. The game’s basic premise is that Comrade Black, the leader of the INKT Corporation has removed the color from De Blob’s world and its citizens.
The controls in De Blob 2 are sometimes very simple, but at times do require more complicated and slightly tricky maneuvering. The bulk of De Blob 2 is spent rolling your character around the world, picking up and distributing different colors on objects such as buildings, trees, other blobs and more.
This part is very easy to control. But from time to time, you’ll need to perform more powerful moves that require multiple buttons to be pressed at once. There are also times where you’ll “enter” different buildings or structures, and the camera view will switch from a “3D” view of the world, to a from-the-side “2D” view, where you’ll again need to roll around and perform slightly complex button combinations to perform actions, such as going up an elevator.
One of the really cool things about De Blob 2 is that as each level progresses, you can really see the impact you have had on your world. Levels often start as very monotone and drab, and by the time you’ve finished, you can see all your streaks of color that you’ve applied to objects, as well as the vibrancy you’ve brought to the world just by rolling around in it. The music in the game does a nice job of matching this building crescendo of color, becoming more nuanced and emphatic as you animate the world more and more.
Although there is no spoken dialogue outside of the gibberish spoken by the Blobby characters, the game does rely on reading to both tell the story, but also to explain objectives within the course of the game. The game never lets you stray very far, and provides a constant stream of reminders and tips to tell you what you need to do next.
De Blob 2 also features some very cool multiplayer options. In the game’s main story mode, a second player can play along cooperatively as Pinky, helping target enemies and collect items while De Blob rolls around the screen. There’s also a “Blob Party” mode, which is a competitive multiplayer experience that uses a split-screen to allow two Blobs to roll around levels that have been completed in the game’s story mode, competing to see who can leave a bigger impact on the world.
The game features more than a dozen levels, and each one can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour to complete. There are also quite a few “bonus” objectives in each level, which players can choose to complete or not. As the game progresses, players will need to solve many different types of color puzzles which involve mixing colors to create new ones, as well as figuring out how to apply colors in the correct order.
De Blob 2 offers a significant amount of single-player and multiplayer gameplay which can be enjoyed by older kids as well as tweens and teens who have a decent amount of videogame coordination. We really liked seeing the colorful impact that we could have on De Blob’s world, as well as the ability to play cooperatively and competitively. We recommend this one as a great choice for families who have some experience in playing this sort of story/adventure type game (e.g. Super Mario Galaxy).
*FamilyFriendlyVideoGames.com Favorite* - This was one of our favorite family-friendly video games we saw at the E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles in June. Here's what we had to say about it then:
In De Blob: The Underground, you’re a colorful blob who rolls around and collects colors and then spreads them around the world, under the premise that you’ll be able to make the world a better place by making it more colorful.
We saw a demo of this game at the E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles in June, and we must admit that this game immediately struck us as a game that looked like it might be just as fun to watch as it is to play, with the colorful environments and artistic gameplay.
De Blob: The Underground looks like it will appeal to broad range of ages, too, with the developers specifically trying to make something that will appeal to adults and kids in different ways. Kids will like this game because it’s colorful and easy to play, but the game will contain the kind of humor that has made a show like The Simspons so popular, including some subtle nuance that will appeal to adults. Another way we had it described to us was that De Blob: The Underground is sort of like the Keystone Kops, kids think it’s funny, but parents get the joke.
One other cool thing about this game is that each color also has an instrumental sound associated with it, so the game will contain lots of audio cues.
De Blob: The Underground is a game that just looks like it is fun to play, and we’ve got high hopes for next year that it will indeed be a family favorite. One of the only things that will limit young kids from being able to play will be the fact that much of the game’s stories and objectives are presented in written form, so kids will have to be able to read in order to know what’s going on.
INFORMATION FROM COMPANY FACT SHEET
The sequel to the critically acclaimed action platformer, de Blob® 2: The Underground™ continues the fight against colorless oppression in stunning high definition 3D.
Comrade Black is back and so is his war on color. Disguised as Papa Blanc, Comrade Black is rigging the city’s election and if he wins, there will be no stopping him or his brainwashing new cult from taking over Prisma City – that is, until de Blob comes back to re-ignite the color revolution!
de Blob must color his way through the enormous and polluted Prisma City that is filled with factories, ice stations, bio-domes and a massive array of underground bunker levels to match every surface level environment. To navigate the dazzling depth and complexity of Prisma City, de Blob has teamed up with a sassy robot side-kick named Pinky, who helps him to triumph in fun and co-operative ways
Key features
• Inside! Outside! Underground! Take the fight against Comrade Black into another dimension as Blob explores every nook and cranny of Prisma City. From 3D platforming to classic 2D sidescrolling, Blob won’t stop ‘til the last Inky drops!
• Nitro-charged Narrative Excitement: Step into a rich, story-driven environment as Blob and his Pinky investigate the terrible conspiracy behind the brainwashed Blancs. Refocused game structure provides a rich core story with loads of exciting side quests!
• Bigger! Faster! Stronger! New moves, new power-ups, new abilities! Join Blob in his search for inspiration and upgrade him into the Ultimate Revolutionary!
• Meet New Friends and Enemies: Comrade Black, Raydians and Graydians are back, but so is a new cast, including brainwashed Blancs and mutant Inky abominations!
• Multiplayer Play: Revolt with friends in up to a two - four player split screen mode. New co-operative modes allow players to liberate Prisma City together. Blaze away as Pinky in the story adventure and help Blob to triumph over adversity.