Spielberg’s Boom Blox looks addictive
This one has come out of left field for me personally. I knew there was a Steven Spielberg-endorsed game in the works, and I’d also heard good things regarding it. Though, until the news broke the other day at Nintendo’s Media Summit in San Francisco of the finalized release date (May 6th) I hadn’t delved any deeper into this intriguing title.
How much fun does this game look? 3-D Jenga + EXPLOSIONS + awesome real-time physics! In my opinion, this game is ticking all the right boxes, whilst ensuring production of more Spielberg-endorsed games. God knows a Spielberg-endorsed first person shooter would get torn down, unless it was crushing Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 in each hand, or any other tried and tested genre for that matter. This game is casual, pick-up and play, with a child-friendly aesthetic. It’s right up “Wii exclusive alley” to be sure.
Where many Wii games have failed in the past, this game seems to shine. One look at the trailer and you can already understand how you’re going to play it. It’s simplicity, and that’s the key. Aim, Flick, Grab or Aim, Click, BOOM! On first impressions, whoever thought they were going to spend hour after hour playing Peggle? And how many of you were proven wrong? This is the type of addictive gameplay I’m sure Boom Blox is offering too, with its “let’s see what happens” appeal.
The cherry on top is the ability remix and create your very own levels. This adds extra depth to this already appealing game, and will surely result in physics-based domino effect mayhem on YouTube. A video sharing feature would have topped this off, so you could trade your creations with friends. A Boom Blox channel on Wii would definitely be worth checking out.
I really hope this game does well, and reaches the wide audience it’s aiming for. It has a lot of potential from my point of view, not least because of the backing behind it. Who knows what Spielberg’s input was to this title, or whether it’s merely (and more likely) a Tom Clancy style name drop on the box. I eagerly await review scores coming out for this in the weeks to come.
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I don’t know about anybody else but I got a sort of “Burnoutey” feeling while watching that trailer.
It seems kind of like crash junctions but with lots of Jenga, and perhaps some dominoes thrown in!
The only flaw I can see is the sometimes unpredictable Wiimote which sometimes selects the wrong thing.
Pulling out the wrong block would be annoying.