A game that some might say was the inspiration for Nintendo’s beloved paint shooter, Splatoon, de Blob 2 is the sequel to de Blob. A game in which you play as a blob trying to restore colour to the world by painting it one stage at a time. Originally, the game released on the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 but has since been available for the PC and has now been finally released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and was originally developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment with the PC, PS4 and XB1 ports being done by BlitWorks. And I must say, the game really does benefit from the power of the consoles of this gen.
The story is pretty straightforward, the evil Comrade Black is trying to take away the colours from Prisma City with the help of INKT Corporation, a company that he commands. So naturally, our lovable, squishy and colourful protagonist Blob, along with his friends is out on a mission to take down Comrade Black and to bring back the colour to Prisma City while saving the city from being a monochromatic mind numbing city. To get the colours back, you go around with only the primary colours being available initially with the ability to mix colours being unlocked later on in the game. You paint the stage with the appropriate colours while fighting against enemies who are trying to steal your colour and while there’s also a timer counting down which adds the feeling of urgency which sadly is lost after you realize that you will have to time to spare especially since you can increase your time by performing various things.
In terms of gameplay, I’d say it is an extension of the first game that really improves on the core mechanics while introducing some interesting level designs and sections. 2D platforming stages are added to this game that a lot of times are the most fun part of a level in which you really get to see the creativity of the level designers and also the fun they had designing the levels because of how much fun they are. The platforming sections are solid overall. The non-platforming sections can be boring and repetitive for some since you go around painting a stage, fighting enemies before a time runs out while also making sure you have the correct paint and enough paint.
Visually the game is a colour fest. It is visually so appealing and really gets your attention. The colours really pop to make all the colours really stand out and ends up looking like a paintball zone that had an artist shooting the pellets. It is vibrant, it is loud and it screams fun which is exactly what this game is going for. The audio is also great and slowly kicks in more and more once you start spreading the colours in a stage. It has this really cool Jazz-esque music that you uncover as you progress through the level which is great because Jazz music tends to be layered with slow and measured progression and this works really well in tandem with the gameplay and visuals.
de Blob 2 is a fun game that can be enjoyed by players of all age. While the older players might find the constant hand holding annoying, it is good for the younger players. It is quite sad that we won’t get a sequel for this game because it feels like there is a lot that can be done moving forward but alas, the studio has since been shut down.
