World of Goo 2 Review

The late 2000s saw a brief period where puzzle games had a big emergence. After years of being considered too casual for the mainstream video game market, the arrival of smartphones combined with the launch of a number of well-made games created quite a moment for this genre. From Braid, to Echochrome, to Machinarium and Portal, suddenly the simple yet engaging and mind bending riddles were all the rage. Among this class was World of Goo, a game about building paths across the level using cute goo blobs, which went on to inspire many similar experiences. However, the game itself seemed like a one-off. And yet, over 15 years later, World of Goo 2 has been released, and it's almost as if no time has passed at all.

For those who aren't familiar – and considering how much time has passed, many won't be – the sequel builds on the original game, but is very much a standalone title. There is a very thin narrative that is told through occasional cartoonish cutscenes, that sees the World of Goo Corporation from the first game rebrand itself, and become an Organization instead. There is some light cultural commentary on modern corporations and sustainability, but the game doesn’t dwell on it and presents its point through a humorous lens.

The campaign consists of a series of puzzles that are mostly tackled in a linear order and laid out on a world map. There are occasional split-paths, but you have to complete puzzle levels on both sides of the path before moving on. It's the same design that puzzle games have adopted in their campaigns over a decade, but it's important to remember that the original World of Goo was among the first.

As for the levels themselves, the sequel also keeps the basics intact. Across 2D levels that vary in size, the goal remains to get a group of goo balls from their starting position, to the escape pipe or another contraption elsewhere in the level. To do so, players grab the available goo balls and start building on top of the starting square, by placing goo balls and creating new parts of the bridge or whatever structure you wish to build. You have to attach to an existing goo ball, thus locking a new part into place. The building is freeform, meaning you can create whatever angles and shapes you want, but there is a distance limit to how big a part of your next goo-linked chain can be. Similarities can be drawn to the Bridge constructor series – which of course in itself was likely inspired by the original World of Goo.

While creating new support beams and sturdier foundations as you cross gaps or reach higher into the sky, you won't just be battling the limited supply of goo balls, but also the game's physics. Your gooey construction material is prone to all kinds of wobble, as it starts to sway and can topple onto itself if you build poorly. This isn't a precision game with specific answers to discover – it's a game where randomness is part of the package, and you need to find it entertaining, as otherwise frustration may set in. You can choose to build quickly and try to beat the impending collapse, or use a methodical approach to create something sturdy.

Much like the original, World of Goo 2 isn’t satisfied with simply presenting a series of building challenges. With every batch of levels, the game quickly introduces all sorts of new mechanics and goo types. You'll aim turrets that can propel your goo friends between platforms, use balloons to provide lift, touch goo reservoirs to suck up the liquid, manipulate the level to create a safe passage for yourself, use yellow goos to create solid surfaces, and many more. Variety is definitely the name of the game here, and it won't be long before trying to battle the physics engine becomes secondary to manipulating the many different elements of a puzzle level.

Most levels remain fairly snappy, and it doesn't take long to arrive at the solution once you know what must be done. However, for some players the hint system may be too vague – it's just a series of amusingly written signs, but it often doesn't contain much useful information. Some additional sources of frustration can come from the occasional uneven difficulty of the levels, as well as levels that introduce time limits. You could be dealing with dangerous lava that begins to flow immediately at the start of a stage, or a dispenser unit that has finite goo. Getting stuck is possible, and so is trying a level numerous times just to see what works. The levels offer a small white flying creature that can be popped in order to undo your most recent move, and if you get particularly frustrated the levels can be skipped. If you feel the desire to return to completed levels, you can also try to go for special objectives, which include finishing in a specific low amount of moves, rescuing certain number of goo balls, and beating a level within a time limit.

The sequel retains the charming visual style of the series, but with improved fidelity and detail. The goo balls continue to emit amusing noises as they wait for your actions and get stuck together, and the soundtrack has a variety of nice background arrangements. The cartoon-ish visuals are clean and the effects are pleasant, even as a fire spreads across your carefully constructed bridge. The menu system is extremely minimal, without many settings to adjust. The game is clearly retaining its very simplistic and mobile-focused approach (even though it's on PC and Nintendo Switch only, without a smartphone release at the moment). At $30, it's also not exactly a casual market price point that you’d expect – even if you do get roughly twice the campaign length of the original game (about 6 hours for this sequel) .

World of Goo 2 is an excellently made sequel that looks and plays exactly as fans would expect, as if no time has passed at all. But while that is very impressive, a lot of time did pass, and since the success of its trailblazing predecessor many other games have adopted and evolved on this style of puzzle. It doesn't remove any credibility from this fun and very varied puzzle experience, but a bit of the novelty has definitely been lost. If you're looking for a well crafted and enjoyable puzzle game, this freeform physics-based goo manipulator is sure to satisfy – even with its high price tag.