Boom Blox

May 13, 2008

It's strange. Base a high school class around physics, and the result is pure boredom. Do the same with a videogame, however, and you have the potential for pure awesome. That's basically what EA's new puzzle game, Boom Blox is about: using those crazy actions and reactions to solve a variety of block-based puzzles. The game is the brainchild of director Steven Spielberg, who was inspired by his first hands-on experience with the Wii and the idea that people young and old can appreciate the fun of building up and knocking down blocks.

There are two main single-player modes: Explore and Adventure, each one containing dozens of puzzles. Explore mode is broken up into multiple segments that focus on individual skill sets. Many of the stages are cleared by knocking all of the blue Gem Blox off of a structure. Other stages require you to earn points by hitting Point Blox or pulling blocks out of a precarious stage (a la Jenga).

Depending on which group of puzzles you're playing, you'll have to experiment with different methods of completing your task. Obstacles like the Vanish Blox (instantly disappears when they're hit), Bomb Blox (causes a massive explosion), and Chemical Blox (detonate when they touch each other) force you to do a little more planning before tackling the puzzle.

Adventure mode combines all of the different elements of Explore mode around a goofy story mode involving the rectangular animal inhabitants of the Boom Blox world. The story is a pointless throwaway, but this mode introduces all sorts of new challenges like defending a stockpile of Gem Blox from invading thieves and clearing a path with the Grab Tool to allow the "good guys" to escape.

Block and Roll

Manipulating the blocks is handled entirely with the Wii Remote. Grab onto a block and use a steady hand to slide it out of the stack or take aim with a ball and wind up to knock a few blocks away. The harder you swing, the faster the ball flies. You'll also get to use other tools like a laser gun or a hose to knock the blocks around. No matter what items you use, the blocks react in a realistic fashion. The angle and speed behind your interactions fully determine how the stack of blocks will react. Occasionally, the game will have a bit of trouble accurately measuring your controller input. An extremely fast swing will be misinterpreted, resulting in a weak onscreen toss that barely has any impact. This problem doesn't show up too often, though, so it doesn't negatively affect the experience as a whole.

Once you've gotten the hang of the game in the single-player modes, it's time to get some friends together for multiplayer action. Up to four people can play a wide variety of co-op and competitive challenges. In co-op, the players must work together to tear down or build structures. Competitive mode features varied contests like trying to earn the highest score by toppling a large tower comprised of Point Blox or bombarding your opponent's castle in an effort to uncover and destroy their Gem Blox. The rules for these matches are always very simple, allowing for anyone to dive right into them. There are over 100 multiplayer levels, and they're so much fun to play that you'll keep returning to them even after you've plowed through them all.

The only fault with the multiplayer mode is that all of the events aren't available from the beginning. You'll have to play through the stages in the order that the developers want you to, which means tackling a group of similarly-designed stages all at one (including some relatively dull shooting gallery-style stages at the beginning of co-op mode). Unlocking stages makes sense in single player mode, but you shouldn't be forced to play through a ton of stages just to be able to sample everything in multiplayer, especially when the mode is dubbed Party mode. Nothing stops a party more than having to sit down and unlock stuff.

That minor flaw aside, another boost to the game's replay value is the Create Mode, which allows you to form your own custom stages and share them with your friends. The creation tools are simple to use, but they're versatile enough to form some very complex levels. You're free to build anything from a simple wall that you can knock down to elaborate Rube Goldberg-style devices.

Think of Boom Blox as a combination of Jenga and Sierra's classic PC game, The Incredible Machine. The realistic reaction of the blocks to your stimulus is remarkably satisfying, and it becomes the basis for some great puzzles. Carefully rotating the camera around the structure in order to find the perfect angle to attack the problem from requires a lot of thought, especially as the puzzles get more fiendish later in the game. It's also a perfect game for the entire family, being deep enough for adults to appreciate and visceral enough for kids to get a huge kick out of.