Last year's Portal was a masterpiece because it crossed great gameplay with ingenious
storytelling. But not every game gets the content it deserves, and that's the
biggest problem with the indie title The Wonderful End Of The World. Of course, the concept isn't as original as Portal's: Wonderful End all but clones Katamari Damacy, challenging players to lead a highly absorbent
puppet across an absurd landscape, sucking up as many objects as possible while
racing against the clock. Wonderful End spins a scenario about a crafty redheaded goddess who's trying to
salvage what she can before Armageddon, but at heart, it coughs up the same
giddy surrealism that Katamari did
better.
The action satisfies, from
the subtle way it adjusts the scale of your surroundings to the fulfilling
"thump" when you hit something bigger than yourself. But for a game with such a
colorful, anything-goes visual style, the actual design falls short. Twelve
maps are too few, and while some are original—like a world made of words,
or the homage to arcade games—others tend to recycle the same flowerbeds
and orangutans. The whimsical style comes off as shallow, and the developers
miss plenty of chances to work in jokes, satire, or anything else that could
catch your attention the third or fourth time across a level. And when you
finally finish the last map, there isn't so much as a voiceover to send you
off: The game ends anticlimactically, and you just have to imagine the heroine
dragging that giant ball of crap to a better tomorrow.
Beyond the game: As a way to rope in
customers, Dejobaan doesn't just offer a demo: They'll actually return your
money if you aren't satisfied.
Worth
playing for:
While it's derivative of Katamari, that style of gaming hasn't exactly been beaten
to death, and rolling around the map with a keyboard and mouse feels better
than you might expect.
Frustration sets in when: The difficulty varies
widely from map to map: You can ace some of them in the first try, while others
are incredibly unforgiving.
Final
judgment:
This world could've ended a lot more wonderfully.