E3 2007 Preview
The evil INKT
Corporation has run roughshod over the world, clamping down on the citizens and
turning the color scheme into a blah monochromatic landscape. Now, being that
you are a three-dimensional gooey blob, with illusions of being a hero, and with
the ability to pick up and disperse color to the world, it seems like it will
fall to you to save the citizenry and colorize the world.
That is the
concept behind de blob, a THQ title on display at the E3 Media & Business Summit
in Santa Monica. The setting is somewhat 1940s in tone, and while there are
familiar objects in the world, there are also some conceptually odd elements
that will make the game a bit more than just a puzzler. The missions run the
gamut from colorizing the world, to navigating puzzle-type terrain, to smashing
INKT minions with by dropping down on them.
The story
about how this title came to be is as interesting as the game itself. The game
was conceived for the Windows PC by a team of nine students studying Game Design
& Development at Utrecht University’s School of the Arts in the Netherlands. At
the time of conception, sections of Utrecht were being rebuilt and the principal
task in creating the game was to convey how the railroad station area of Utrecht
would look in 10 years. The city of Utrecht has since adopted the character of
de blob to be its mascot.
Of course,
there are perils that must be avoided. The title character spawns in a pool of
water. Now should an INKT minion infect or successfully attack de blob, it will
convert to black. Players will have a finite time to get de blob back to the
pool to wash off the black color or the character will implode. The game is
arcade in nature and when finished will have between 12 and 16 levels available.
Most of the missions are timed, though you can gain bonus time for completing
certain objectives.
As the game is
being developed on the Wii, the nunchuk and remote play a factor in the control
scheme. You will use the nunchuk, by flipping it, to direct de blob around the
environments, ricocheting off walls, using sticky points to climb and so on.
There are patters to collect and puzzles that will require you to apply certain
colors to certain areas.
The game does
not seem to be overly complex, but rather should have broad appeal. The game is
slated to release in early 2008.
