The Ooze

Review

by Brett Alan Weiss

Unique and clever are the first two words that come to mind when playing The Ooze. As the title character, you'll feel the effects of The Corporation boiling in your green blood as you slither, pour, and ooze your slimy way through this tricky-yet-not-frustrating game of sticky vengeance. This game is a lot of fun for several reasons. First of all, the controls are good and the game play is interesting. You can punch a short distance, or you can punch like a long snake, slithering your fist around obstructions and hazards. Your fist is effective and versatile, and your snot is even stronger, but you must use it sparingly as it detracts from your form every time you use it. Another neat aspect of this game is the sound. Heavy, techno-pop music underscores the evil Corporation and environmental waste themes, and grossly realistic sound effects such as sloshing and flushing add to the overall yuckiness. The Ooze is kind of yucky, but it's not tasteless and overly gratuitous like Boogerman.

Graphically, this game is plain and simple. The levels, though challenging and competent, feature few if any visually arresting or even highly detailed scenes. Toxic waste dumps, power cores, and such are simply not conducive to great graphics. A few colorful bosses would have helped immensely.

The Ooze is not the kind of game you'll run around your neighborhood screaming about; it's not nearly gross enough to stoke controversy, and it's not pretty, groundbreaking, or violent enough to warrant rioting in the streets. It's just a quietly original, unassuming little game that you'll find yourself playing more often than you may have originally intended.