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- First reviewAugust 8, 2008
- Last reviewAugust 8, 2008
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Aviticus's Reviews
SynopsisYou've left the Frontier behind and now the Medieval world unfolds around you. You pick your way through the halls of the castle with caution. With your trusty bowling ball in one hand and a fire hose in the other, you're ready for any challenge. You remember only too well how those chickens almost got the best of you last time. But wait, what's this? Monkeys have launched an attack and suddenly you're being pelted with baseballs. You dodge the baseballs and unleash the fire hose to give those sneaky monkeys a taste of real hydropower. Quickly you make your escape, but what awaits around the next corner?An entirely different world awaits you in Boom Blox ~ and there are actually five different worlds and no less than 300 levels. Brought to you in cooperation with renowned director and producer Steven Spielberg, Boom Blox is a creative thrill-ride filled with zany characters, mind-bending challenges and bizarre new places. Explore richly imagined environments, including, Tiki, Medieval and Haunted, and utilize crazy virtual tools ranging from fire hoses to lasers to blast your way through hundreds of exciting challenges. Encounter characters the likes of which you've never seen before, such as baseball-throwing monkeys and Blox-laying chickens. Make the game even wilder in Create mode, where you can unlock characters, worlds and props to build virtually anything you can dream up. In the thrill-a-minute settings of Boom Blox, the only limit is your own imagination.
Posted by: Aviticus
from Cleveland
It may look cute and fuzzy on the outside, but don't let that fool you. At its core, this game is about one thing: destruction. EA and Steven Spielberg have created an addictive simulated-destruction-puzzle-game with a realistic physics system of building and destroying puzzles/levels populated by odd but cute block-style animals.
The goal of the game is to get through the 300 levels of blocks, stacked in many shapes and configurations, with the least number of moves/throws or most number of points possible. The blocks come in a variety of shapes, sizes and types, each with its own unique properties. Using the Wiimote, you grab, shoot, and push the stacks of blocks to cause them to collapse. And depending on the types of blocks available, you can set off massive chain reactions or throwing a variety of different items at them.
Chad and I have nearly completed the multiplayer co-op mode and I’ve been spending some time on the single player modes, here are our impressions.
Gameplay:
The very realistic Havok physics engine makes Boom Blox especially fun. Blocks react to being hit and towers fall as they would in the real world. Blocks react the way you think they would. And the explosions and topplings are satisfying. But this game isn’t without a few relatively minor problems:
"Too-small" blocks: Several of the co-op levels are shooter levels where you and your friend(s) need to shoot blocks hurling across the screen, a problem is that some of the blocks are so small it’s virtually impossible to hit them. There’s another level where you have to pick up these small blocks, we fared better.
Jenga-esque puzzles/levels: Here EA and Spielberg have taken two elements of Jenga and separated them out –the pulling of pieces out of a tower and the building of a tower from pieces. Pulling pieces out can be really awkward, especially if you try to pull towards or push away from you, what we found works best is to rotate the camera so you primarily pull pieces sideways, giving a greater level of control. Stacking is pretty tough because of finite camera rotation and the inability to zoom in –imagine playing Jenga with backward binoculars and oddly shaped pieces. Still, we found these levels fun and challenging and enjoyed playing them.
"Hold on to yer [Wiimotes]": We can’t stress enough when playing Boom Blox you need to make sure to secure the Wiimote’s wrist-strap, using the rubber Wiimote jackets (covers) helps too –personally I really like the one that comes with Wiimotes now. We found ourselves making hard throws that had our Wiimotes slipped, something (e.g. TV, window, or wall) would have been damaged.
Graphics:
The game’s visual design is fantastic! From the crazy little varmints populating the levels to the backgrounds and themes (Tiki Island, Medieval Forest, Wild West Town, and Haunted House) everything is top notch.
Sound:
The sounds of blocks scraping and hitting each other and the ground are a big part of what makes this game so fun, you almost feel like you’re interacting with real materials. The animals populating the game (either as spectators or actors) making noises and the soundtrack really add to the world created in the game.
Replayability:
The overall 300+ puzzles/levels (not to mention the desire to achieve gold status for each) will definitely keep you busy for a long time. In addition to several single-player modes including a single-player campaign that includes a little bit of story and short animated scenes, Boom Blox features co-op and competitive multiplayer gameplay (in single and split-screen modes) alongside various mini-game activities. There’s also an in-game level editor where you can create from scratch or remix any puzzle from the game and then share with your friends via the WiiConnect24 service.
The goal of the game is to get through the 300 levels of blocks, stacked in many shapes and configurations, with the least number of moves/throws or most number of points possible. The blocks come in a variety of shapes, sizes and types, each with its own unique properties. Using the Wiimote, you grab, shoot, and push the stacks of blocks to cause them to collapse. And depending on the types of blocks available, you can set off massive chain reactions or throwing a variety of different items at them.
Chad and I have nearly completed the multiplayer co-op mode and I’ve been spending some time on the single player modes, here are our impressions.
Gameplay:
The very realistic Havok physics engine makes Boom Blox especially fun. Blocks react to being hit and towers fall as they would in the real world. Blocks react the way you think they would. And the explosions and topplings are satisfying. But this game isn’t without a few relatively minor problems:
"Too-small" blocks: Several of the co-op levels are shooter levels where you and your friend(s) need to shoot blocks hurling across the screen, a problem is that some of the blocks are so small it’s virtually impossible to hit them. There’s another level where you have to pick up these small blocks, we fared better.
Jenga-esque puzzles/levels: Here EA and Spielberg have taken two elements of Jenga and separated them out –the pulling of pieces out of a tower and the building of a tower from pieces. Pulling pieces out can be really awkward, especially if you try to pull towards or push away from you, what we found works best is to rotate the camera so you primarily pull pieces sideways, giving a greater level of control. Stacking is pretty tough because of finite camera rotation and the inability to zoom in –imagine playing Jenga with backward binoculars and oddly shaped pieces. Still, we found these levels fun and challenging and enjoyed playing them.
"Hold on to yer [Wiimotes]": We can’t stress enough when playing Boom Blox you need to make sure to secure the Wiimote’s wrist-strap, using the rubber Wiimote jackets (covers) helps too –personally I really like the one that comes with Wiimotes now. We found ourselves making hard throws that had our Wiimotes slipped, something (e.g. TV, window, or wall) would have been damaged.
Graphics:
The game’s visual design is fantastic! From the crazy little varmints populating the levels to the backgrounds and themes (Tiki Island, Medieval Forest, Wild West Town, and Haunted House) everything is top notch.
Sound:
The sounds of blocks scraping and hitting each other and the ground are a big part of what makes this game so fun, you almost feel like you’re interacting with real materials. The animals populating the game (either as spectators or actors) making noises and the soundtrack really add to the world created in the game.
Replayability:
The overall 300+ puzzles/levels (not to mention the desire to achieve gold status for each) will definitely keep you busy for a long time. In addition to several single-player modes including a single-player campaign that includes a little bit of story and short animated scenes, Boom Blox features co-op and competitive multiplayer gameplay (in single and split-screen modes) alongside various mini-game activities. There’s also an in-game level editor where you can create from scratch or remix any puzzle from the game and then share with your friends via the WiiConnect24 service.
What's great about it: Great physics and control!
What's not so great: One level has blocks flying through the air that are too difficult to shoot with.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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