That pursuit doesn’t always result in pleasing new levels, though.
There is a “hit and miss” feeling to things this time around.
But things are rarely as straightforward as the likes ofBridge Constructor.
Your building materials are googly-eyed weirdoes, and they are not confined to a single species.
Or the green velcro-like goos that can be re-used over and over again.
Many other goos, however, are new.
Before you know it, you’re playing with gravity, golf balls, and genre itself.
It’s the fluid simulation, however, that is the prime puzzle provider here.
Pools of black liquid need to be slurped up and transformed into goo balls.
Streams need to be redirected with little water cannon squid heads.
Fiery lava presents its own problems (and, sometimes, solutions).
This Buckaroo-stacking of puzzle ingredients is both impressive and, sometimes, a bit much.
That’s not the puzzle game 2D Boy seems interested in making, though.
This is as quickfire and jokey as the first game and just as obsessed with rapid re-invention.
So yes, that sense of increasingly ludicrous stakes is still intact, even thematically.
The developer’s characteristically light satire is also in full swing.
It all makes for a goo(d) time.
But then there are those “misses” I mentioned.
Not every level is a delight.
Or another where the pipe ejecting useful liquid counts down to the moment when the liquid stops pumping.
Yes, some of this game’s appeal comes from the fiddliness of its globular building material.
But there is a point, for me, when fiddly becomes frustrating.
It is a blessing, then, that you might skip any level without repercussions.
There are other annoyances.
I suspect World Of Goo 2 is probably wonderfully designed for tappy tablets and other touchscreen devices.
But with a mouse and keyboard it can feel awkward.
Maybe they’ll patch that in, along with screen edge disabling.
It would certainly clean things up.
Some of its frustrations feel intentional - the game’s whole schtick is a certain amount of unpredictability.
And I can safely confirm that this is not a problem for Goo 2.
If you were after another silly ride in a lazy river of black gunge, then jump on in.
The goo’s fine.
This review is based on a review build of the game provided by the developer.
