In the early days of shareware, small and more economically-managed software products were often produced by atomically-sized development teams working from similarly-sized (if any) budgets. In this world the seeds of innovative design and new ideas were nurtured and shared, aided by the growing use of the internet and personal computers. Today's game consoles have made mainstream digital delivery possible, and already this brave new venue has hosted a remarkable number of interesting and thought-provoking ideas and concepts. Crafted by two ex-EA employees armed with little more than laptops and pure spunk, World of Goo is set to invigorate the world of independent development with a level of confidence and originality most retail games would give their left arms for. They may have to, as developer 2D Boy has changed everything.

At the center of its gooey core lay a puzzle game of elegant simplicity; grab and align a number of differently-abled goo balls into a series of towers, bridges, and whatever is required to rescue the required amount specified. In this regard the game share a mechanic (among others) with the classic Lemmings, in that some of your butter balls will often have to be sacrificed if the majority is to survive. Some balls, once placed, become part of your growing structures, while others can be plucked off and reassigned at will. Some are flammable, while others still are actually helium balloons. The variety of pieces helps keep the increasingly difficult levels fresh and exciting, easy to return to and endlessly enjoyable.

The control scheme largely validates the Wii’s unique pointer system, with not a wiggle or a waggle anywhere – just point, click, drag, and plop. Both A + B buttons of the Wiimote are used to grab hold of the various blobs and bits that make up the repertoire of available pieces to accomplish your goal of saving as many of the little buggers as possible. While the number of necessary survivors can vary from level to level, the joy is in the construction, of using reason and dumb luck to solve a series of smart and involving challenges that tickle the funny bone and warm the hearts of even the most jaded critic. The Wii version also sports massively combustible 4-player (simultaneously) action, while the computer versions have updated leaderboard accomplishments. Both are essentially identical and thus equally playable.

Segmented in separate parts ala Super Mario World, World of Goo is nothing if not accepting. Completion of areas can open up new paths, and to help keep the happy train rolling some difficult puzzles can be by-passed entirely over its 48-level dominion. Incredibly, there’s even a plot tying the whole production together, told via cut-scenes that are more Pac-Man than Metal Gear Solid (thank goodness). Interesting is how little the game regards its own story and plotting, reinforcing the silliness with the inane chatter of the mysterious Sign Painter, whose hints and chatter are most welcome. Sublime humor is a lost art form in this age of cynicism.

Screenshots will do little to describe what’s going on in this world of sticky balls and shapes, as the game employs one of the most brilliant virtual physics engines ever designed. The result is an atomic blast to the senses, like brain lubrication after years of imagination stagnation. These gooey towers bend with the elastic realism that I imagine towers of goo would, subject to the rules of weight and resonance in all their dream-conquering fury. They also bend, squish, and ooze with alarming realism, often affecting the gameplay itself and injecting a sense of urgency rarely seen in puzzle games.

Of course even the juiciest glop is only just a glop unless it’s accompanied by just the right sounds, and it’s here the game continues to amaze, if not astound. From their excited shouts and yelps to the ick-inducing pours of liquid slop, few games have worked as hard to titillate the eardrums as this. Every action has the appropriate sound, every piece just the right effect and aural feel. Detached snotty balls attach and detach with just the right slobbering suction sound. It’s completely gross, disgusting, and perhaps even a little filthy; of course it’s brilliant.

The game’s soundtrack is equally amazing, with shades of Denny Elfman-inspired tunes to go along with its morbidly adorable backgrounds and art direction. But it’s even better than that, because you’re probably not expecting a mere puzzle game to have such an epic soundtrack or have the need to sound this beautiful. Its a good thing nobody told the composer this, otherwise we might have ended up with another series of robotic blips and beeps. It's utterly gorgeous and without question one of the best videogame soundtracks I've ever heard. This World of Goo is a constant source of audio/visual wonderment, and should be experienced by as many folk as possible.

I’m at a loss to describe just how I felt while playing World of Goo for the first time. In seconds the last twenty years of my videogame prejudices were reset, replaced and recharged with the endless and hopeful optimism for an entire industry that nearly lost its way. It has the audacity to reach higher and with more ambition than most games (and publishers) would dare go, pulling all the stops and saying to hell with target demographics. Its an astonishing piece of interactive art that fully demonstrates the possibilities of a medium that is too often weighed down by committee decisions and stockholder expectations. Developer 2D Boy have broken through with a thunderous debut whose implications will be felt long after the party is over.