Dr Blob's Organism

Sam gets back to basics with Digital Eel's retro-styled burst of fun.

More Images

On Easy level the game is no walkover but as you progress through Normal and onto the Insane difficulty level things get harder still; what with Mitosis causing the nucleus to split into up to four separate enemies, steel and forcefields for the Blobs and a few other testing tricks. The spread of the goo as you shoot it off the nucleus can lead to dangerous outcroppings which throw your whole attack out of whack. As can the tantalizing lure of a power-up. And death can come very quickly, one second you are in control and then you take your eye off of one bit of goo and it’s all over. But you want another go, and the wonderful inclusion of a score-board gives you another incentive to do just that bit better.

Dr. Blob’s Organism has the feel of many classic games of yesteryear, and to this reviewer it comes across as a mix of Tempest, Galaga and Qix. Fortunately it only takes the spirit of such games and isn’t derivative. The graphics are colourful and clean and while they aren’t going to have you crying out in amazement they convey the playful humour of the game very well, (unfortunately there’s no way to change the resolution in the options but it can be upped by adding a line to the shortcut). The same can be said for the sound effects and retro-gaming-jazz soundtrack.

I recommend this game for a number of reasons. One it is by a small independent development team who have produced an enjoyable piece of entertainment without any of the trappings associated with the monoliths of modern game development. Two, it is, as said, a lot of fun and something different. And thirdly, it’s cheap, coming in at $10 when it’s released at the end of June. My only reservation is to whether this game’s natural home is the PC. PC gamers tend to be into big grown-up things that are complicated for their own sake. If you are into games for gameplay’s sake then have a look at this, try out the demo, maybe buy the game. Get these guys some recognition and maybe Dr. Blob could create an Organism that would escape over the Petri dish and onto a console or handheld, the place where the guys at Digital Eel can make some well deserved ‘big moolah’.

For more information on the game, visit the official site.

By Sam Gibson