MMNTech Recommends: Tales from Space: About A Blob
It’s a terrible day to be a blob. First your homeworld is destroyed, then you flee to some disgusting backwards planet, where a local scientist has captured you and your friends to run experiments on. How rude. The only solution is to escape, save your fellow blobs, then extract a little revenge by absorbing the hapless humans.
I’ve always been a fan of Drinkbox Studio’s games. The small Toronto indie team has never really put out a bad title. Most people will probably be familiar with their smash hit Guacamelee, the luchador themed metroidvania from 2013. About A Blob though was their first title, and really set a precedent for the quality this small, five man team would become known for.
This 2D puzzle-platformer plays of course homage to the classic 1955 science fiction film The Blob. Your goal as Orange Blob is to absorb objects, and people, to grow larger and get past obstacles. You can do this by holding the R2 trigger as you roll over junk until you hit your target size, allowing you to progress in the level. You can also shoot out objects you’ve absorbed to attack enemies or destroy barriers.
Being a ball of gelatinous goo, naturally you’re pretty squishy, which the game’s physics engine takes into account. You can bounce and stick to platforms, or squeeze under objects. I feel this is the game’s one major weak point, as it’s often difficult to make precision jumps, and you’ll end up bouncing or sliding off platforms more often than you’d like. Controls here really aren’t as tight as they could be. Mind you, it was a pretty innovative mechanic for its time, and it’s not too bad once you get the hang of how the physics work. Later on, you also get a magnetic ability that allows you to stick to and repel from metal objects, which allows you to pull off some crazy stunts, and is a ton of fun to use. An electricity power-up also becomes available later in the game, that allows you to power up or discharge objects.
Visually, About A Blob looks great. I really love art style that pays homage to classic Saturday morning cartoons. There are quite a few meme references peppered in too, which Drinkbox likes to do. These date it a bit, but it’s a neat throwback to 2011 internet culture. The soundtrack is also excellent, with heavy use of synth and theremins as call backs to its schlocky sci-fi roots. Performance wise, you’re looking at a rock solid 60fps here at I believe 1080p. This isn’t a game that’s going to stress the PS3.
Speaking of which, this is a PlayStation 3 digital exclusive. Drinkbox unfortunately never ported it to other platforms. However, About a Blob did do well enough to warrant one sequel: Mutant Blobs Attack. Gameplay here is very similar albeit with some QOL refinements over the first entry. This was originally an exclusive and launch title for the PS Vita, however it has since been ported to PC and Switch.
If you have access to a PS3, definitely absorb this one into your indie library.
