DrinkBox Studios’ Latest Game, Tales From Space: About A Blob, is a quirky game in which the players’ objective is to slide, squeeze and jump their way through the levels. Based on one Alien Blob trying to escape the perils of a scientist’s eerie lab, absorbing objects and spitting out objects to solve puzzles and rescuing fellow Alien Blobs on the way are some of the things you will have to do in the game. Getting bigger and bigger the Blob can absorb more impressive things that range from, nuts and bolts to a full grown Cow!
But has the Blob tried to absorb too much? Lets kick off the HOTs and NOTs.
HOT
Presentation
As you can expect from any cartoon based game, the graphics are pretty standard. You can easily tell where you are supposed to go so the game design is pretty flat. The bright colours and the fun-like theme mixed with the easy gameplay, make it perfect for young children. The soundtrack to the game is good at first, but much like the music in Little Big Planet, it begins to get annoying. Having said that, the noise of the monsters and the activity of the actual game is brilliant for young children. It is easy and fun to tell whether you are doing something wrong as your Blob will turn red is it being hurt; not only that the facial expressions of the Blob add to the fun factor of the game.
There is a huge list of features you can do on the game that range from blowing up rocket launchers to be magnetically attracted to metal objects. With all the features, I found it very difficult to get bored of the game as each level brings new features and that means more excitement for the player. The game is split up into four sections and at the end of each section, you have the pleasure to defeat a boss – much like how it is in a Sonic game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very good but at times, it gets glitchy. The controls are very easy to use and suitable for anyone. There is a very useful tutorial at the beginning of the game which explains clearly and slowly how to control the Blob. Whenever there is a new ability, it tells you what to push. This is very helpful as you are not sitting wondering what to do. At the beginning of hard levels, the camera will focus on points and things the player needs to activate for a while before focusing back onto the Blob. This give you a little hint on what to do. The gameplay always changes and there is never a dull moment in this game, but sometimes I feel there is too much going on in one small space and it is hard to concentrate on the matter at hand.
NOT
Achievements
Although this game does come with achievements, they are very difficult to achieve, which I think is a problem considering that, I think the game is aimed at younger children. Although there is a satisfying achievement you gain from completing each of the four sections of the game. I believe they should have more achievements and make some of them easier to get a hold of. Also, most of the achievements on the game are bronze which can get frustrating for those who are trying to get their level higher.
No online
The fact that it has no online co-op is the only real downfall with this game. It would have improved the game massively and would help less able players for example, if a player could not get by a certain point, they could do it online where they have someone helping them through it. The online play should have been like LittleBigPlanet. In doing this, it would have introduced more players to the game.
Verdict
There is definitely a lot of fun to be had in this game but it takes time and lots of attempts to overcome some parts of the game. If you’re the sort of person who gets frustrated easily, then I think this isn’t the game for you. This game is ideal for little children in which the parents can have a sneaky go on the harder bits the children cannot do. Overall, I think game is brilliant as long as you have patience.
