The first in a collaboration between EA and Steven Spielberg, Boom Blox is an inventive feature packed puzzle game loaded with ingenious fun. While not all of its mechanics click, the central concept of physics based block breaking is strong enough to widen the appeal and make this an addictive romp through all of its available modes.
Boom Blox starts with a ball and a wall of ready to be toppled blocks, not all that dissimilar to Jenga. The player uses a simple lock on and throw mechanic to know down the wall, specific blocks, or set up chain reactions. This plays into some primal human instinct that draws people in with the urge to break random stuff, and does so in a colorful world of goofy block characters in front of sunny, clear skies.
The variety of set ups keeps repetition low. Earlier stages require specific gems to fall from the stack in a limited number of throws. Later stages introduce bomb blocks, chemical blocks, or vanish blocks which disappear when touched. The strategy required with each throw becomes increasingly important, and it’s far more complex than simply throwing as hard as you can.
Boom Blox takes a quality detour when veers away from these mechanics. The introduction of a ridiculously difficult grab move is touchy. Levels based around this are devoid of the fun generated by the ball throwing. The same goes for the laser which turns the game into a dumb, bland skeet shooting game completely out of place here.
Beating levels unlocks various objects for the games fairly deep creation mode. This full on level editor is easy to use with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck (the only mode to use both). A solidly constructed tutorial plainly lays out the basics, and levels can be sent to friends, though not uploaded to central server for all to see.
A slapped together story mode tries to make sense of the proceedings, though usually ends up lacking in fun. Throwing balls at invading critters trying to steal gems scattered throughout goes against the puzzle aspect of the game (much like the laser) and requires little strategy. Later challenges, such as pulling apart blocks to make a path for a monkey looking for her young ones make somewhat more sense.
Multi-player modes are included for up to four players. These include a variety of co-op and versus challenges, from trying to disassemble a tower together, or taking turns picking a tower apart for points. Like the single player modes, challenges involving shooting blocks are lackluster and unnecessary. It’s especially chaotic with numerous cursors on screen, particle effects and blocks flying about. Modes that involve turns make sense for this casual-oriented title.
While it tends to veer off course, Boom Blox offers an enormous amount of fun when it’s at its strongest. The market has plenty of room for original and addictive concepts, and Boom Blox fits right in on the Wii. On a console loaded with dud mini-game compilations, EA’s latest stands out.
4/5
Tags: boom blox, ea, family, Reviews, spielberg, wii, wiimote