Betasim and I are both big Katamari fans, so after seeing that this game was basically a dead-ringer for that series, we had to give it a go. What we found was a game that didn’t get far enough from it’s inspiration to set itself apart and be it’s own game. WeotW is a fun diversion, but only because of it’s low price.

First off: this game is very, very short.  Beta and I beat this thing in about 20 minutes, which is way too short for a commercial release. There are achievements to reach in the in-game trophy room, but they really aren’t even worth mentioning, because you’ll get about all of them just in the process of beating the game.

Some levels are fun, like the candy world seen here and the arcade based world (complete with references to Pac-man, Pong, Tron, Centipede, Frogger and more), but the Rice Paper Lane level is horrid. All of the objects are 2D, and are very distracting, not to mention hard to navigate around. Speaking of navigation, you can use either a mouse and keyboard combo or a controller, but neither is very deep. The mouse/keyboard setup is uninspired and the controller layout uses only one analog stick.

The graphics are very, very basic, although they aren’t that far from the Katamari mold. One of my biggest complaints is that as you grow by grabbing objects, people cease to walk around and simply slide instead. The FPS suffers greatly from a lack of optimization, and single-digit frame rates are very, very common, even when way over spec.

In all though, this is still a fun game for the short while that it lasts. You can enjoy the maps the first time through and some are fun to play again, but don’t expect even an hour of unique gameplay. Fortunately, the game only costs about $9 on Steam so, you’re not paying for a product you’re not getting (i.e., a full-length game).

The Katamari series is well known for it’s fantastic musical scores, and while Wonderful End of the World tries to emulate that with an eclectic mix, it falls way, way short. The only catchy tune is the main menu theme.

In the end, this is a fun game to play, and for under ten bucks, you’re not going to be too put out by it. I don’t recommend it over a real Katamari game, but if all you have is a PC, or you just can’t get enough of this play style, it’s worth consideration. Alphasim out.

 

   

Score
Overallwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
.