Flowing with de Blob

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenSeptember 26, 2008
78 1,380 2 minutes read


According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, ‘flow’ is the mental state a person reaches when they are fully immersed in a task. Commonly known as being ‘in the zone’, Csikszentmihalyi isolated nine elements that occur when people flow, among them a distorted sense of time, clear goals, and a sense of reward. In the past decade only a handful of video games have catapulted this writer into that euphoric, engaged state of mind: the first two Katamari Damacy games, Call of Duty 2, and now, de Blob. While I’ve felt different levels of engrossment playing other games, these three titles have provided a prolonged and complete sense of immersion.

de Blob’s engagement is derived from its synergistic combination of elements that are masterfully interwoven together. While playing the title, there are always multiple activities vying for the player’s attention. Even on the loading screen, players can doodle, or unlock pieces of the game’s narrative. Once the player in dropped into the game’s city, thing open up even more. Player’s can bounce along streets, instantly adding splashes of paint to buildings, revive trees, fight enemies, or activate mini-missions. The whole experience seems reverse-engineered around an OCD thought process- there’s always something to complete.


On top of these proceedings is the skillful mixing of sight, sound, and color. As the city grows increasingly vibrant, so does the soundtrack. A simple botched component could have pulled the gamer out of their immersive interlude. In anticipation of this shortcoming, de Blob wisely errors on the side of ease, rarely allowing frustration to tarnish the proceedings or bring the gamer back to reality. When things do get challenging in the sixth level, the gamer is proficient enough to confront the escalation of difficultly.  The title doesn’t want to punish the player or slow their progress, but wisely maintain them in a state of captivation.

Those who solely play games for deep storylines may be one of the few groups disappointed by de Blob. The games narrative centers around a group of fascist, monochromic invaders named the INKT, who strip Chroma City of its color and life. It’s up to the player to return happiness and verve to the city’s chromatically deprived environments. While characters are drawn with a nominal complexity, they still display personality and mood. Players control de blob with the nunchuck’s analog stick, leaving a lingering paint path behind them. Contact with any building instant covers the walls with a luminous pattern. Players can also lock onto objectives and enemies by holding down the ‘Z’ button; a flick of the Wiimote then sends de Blob hurling toward the target. While some may fault the lack of a jump button, we found the controls precise- we were able to nimbly navigate around the city effortlessly.


While a fluctuating framerate often ruins a sense of immersion, gently reminding the player that they are playing a game, de Blob rarely has any problems maintaining a 60 frame per second framerate. Occasionally, a minor screen tear will show, but overall the title is as fluid as Super Mario Galaxy. Instead of dazzling the player with huge amounts of polygon-pushing, the game strives to charm the player with vibrancy and an overall sense of effervescence. You have to be a pretty jaded gamer not to enjoy the sensory delights the title holds.

In closing we can’t recommend the de Blob enough to Wii owners. It’s an original, family-friendly game that deserves to sell enough copies to warrant a sequel. We’d love to see what other concepts developer Blue Tongue can perfect to captivate us once again.

Final Grade: A

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenSeptember 26, 2008
78 1,380 2 minutes read
Photo of Robert Allen

Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

78 Comments

  10. de blob looks like one of de best Wii games around. de graphics are good, and so was de review.

  12. I was already interested, but your review makes this all the more enticing! It’s especially nice to read higher than the average brow reviews like this.

  25. It’s $49.99 which was a bit steep for a game I hadn’t heard much about in the way of reviews. This review plus my employee discount means I probably will get it soon!

  29. Nice, I’ve been following coverage on this game for a while, sounds like it may live up to expectations.

  31. This looks like a fun title for the Wii. I love the Wii for all its cute fun games.

    So many blob like games for the Wii with Dewey, Mercury, de Blob.

  32. Great, another fun game that will not be able to be purchased by me. My wii will have to collect dust a little longer.

  48. this game looks really unique and seems quite fun! painting places with whatever color you want. seems new and actually doesnt sound to bad.

  54. A friend got the game. I really liked up, but some of the controls frustrated me a bit.

    In one on the mingames you have a minute to paint all the condos- fall off a ledge and you’re done.

    I played it about 15 times; getting a silver medal, but got aggravated I couldn’t get gold.

  61. Great review! Have heard many good things about this game and it’s definitely been put on my wanted games list!

  64. This is the kind of unique game that the Wii needs. Using great graphics and cool control schemes will show that it really is a cool console. I’m excited to play this game.

  66. I like reviews such as this one. The difference between a reviewer and a critic is that the critic puts emphasis on the emotional aspect of the experience. Good job.

  67. Agreed with darth, the review isn’t just about a breakdown of graphics, sounds, etc. It talks about the combination of all these things.

  71. This game looks really creative and unique. I’ve heard good things about but this review just sold me. I’m gonna have to ask for it for my birthday. Great review!

  73. Bought this game on Sunday, and while I was watching football my girlfriend was playing this pretty much non-stop. She loves the game. Good call, TG!

  75. Sounds like fun,the wii has been putting out alot of crap lately, good to hear they actually made a good game.

  76. Sold out near me. I looked at Gamestop, Walmart, and Toys R Us.

    I hope when I read a review, get all pumped up, then let down 🙁

  77. My daughter has been watching this game, after reading this article I just might buy it for me..err I mean her….

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