Is this sequel blobtastic or a big mess?
After the remake of the original de Blob, the sequel was announced to be heading to PS4 and Xbox One. With the 360 version already backwards compatible, is it worth picking up this Xbox One version?
The story of De Blob 2 continues after the first game. Comrade Black and the Inkies are back with a whole new plot to rid the world of colour. With all new help from Papa Blanc and his flock of followers the Blancs, Blob and his friends will have their work cut out for them bringing colour back to the citizens of Prisma City. The gameplay feels very similar to the original and it takes a few hours for the game to get up and running, but it still feels like the game I had so much fun with before.
You control Blob as he colours the world around you by rolling into buildings after being coated in paint, which there is plenty of lying around each stage. There are also objectives such as colouring buildings certain colours, destroying statues; bringing trees back to life and bringing colour to the residents of each level. Add in a number of collectables and a time limit for each stage and you have plenty to do.
Some areas of the game change the 3D perspective to a 2.5D layout like the New Super Mario Bros games, but these sections are fairly short and usually result in puzzles like hitting switches with certain colours to get through to the other side or to activate something to complete the stage and advance to the next level. You can also play the game through 2 player co-op, but the second player only helps in a small way like a second Wiimote would help in Mario Galaxy and it’s only locally.
You can get upgrades for Blob to make him stronger and absorb more paint while the rest of the achievements seem fairly simple and in total, the game should take around 20+ hours to fully get 1000 points, but less if you just want to go through the game once.
In terms of visuals, there isn’t a great leap from the original 360 game which is a shame…some Xbox One X enhancements would have been nice to make this port more appealing to those who already played the original version or those toying between picking up this new version or the original and just play it through the Backwards Compatibility service.
The Verdict
De Blob 2 is a great sequel to a very good game. It surpasses the original and makes me wonder why there aren’t more innovative platformers these days. De Blob 2 is highly charming and addictive in its design that will give you reason enough to play it till the end. It just would have been nice to have some enhancements to the original to make it worth picking up over the original version.