Developer: EA Los Angeles

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Release Date: May 6, 2008

System: Wii

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web site

0:00 This game has Steven Spielberg and some decent critical acclaim behind it, so I don't see how it can go wrong. Then again, so did the new Indiana Jones movie, and that was awful...

0:01 Rectangular, block-shaped cows by in the title screen's background, mooing all the while. An automatic attract mode tells me to "Meet the Blox" and shows block-shaped jungle natives, skeletons, chickens and more. "Throw, Grab & Blast your way to victory." An on-screen remote shows Jenga-like gameplay mixed in with ball-throwing explosions. The level creation tool is shown in a few time-lapse seconds. If only it were so quick in real life.

0:03 I can choose from a gopher, a sheep, a penguin, a chicken, a cow or a dog for my file. They're all equally block-shaped, but the penguin is cutest. Everything but the "Throw 'Em" Training is locked, so I guess I know what I'm starting with...

0:05 "Welcome! It takes good aim and strong throws to blast your way through BOOM BLOX (TM)!!" Two exclamation points look very odd after a trademark insignia.

0:06 Aim with the pointer, then hold the A button to hold the aim, then make a throwing motion and let go of A. This throws a ball that knocks the relatively lightweight blocks around rather realistically. Neat, but I can't seem to get a weak throw, even when I try. They're all "power throws" or "strong throws."

0:08 Holding the B button and moving the pointer moves the camera for new throwing angles. The beginning of a basic strategy is starting to show itself.

0:09 Red bomb blox explode when hit. Did I really need an entire training stage to tell me that?

0:10 Purple blox vanish when hit while green chemical blox explode when they hit other chemical blox. I love the explosion effects... dozens of blox flying around the screen beautifully without a touch of slowdown.

0:12 Apparently I can pick up some blox and swing them around into other blox. Lots of fun, but seems too imprecise for much strategy. We'll see, I guess.

0:13 I can also pull some blox out of piles, Jenga-style. It's much easier than in Jenga: World Tour, and much more natural, too. I unlocked a medieval forest! That's like the awesomest prize ever! Explore and Adventure modes are unlocked, too.

0:14 Adventure mode it is, and I dive into the Gem Kingdom level. "Greedy Bears steal the Gems of Woolington Kingdom. Lead the Sheep to Victory." Sounds a bit totalitarian, doesn't it? Leading sheep into battle, I mean.

0:15 "The Bahhs of Woolington went on a quest/for magical gems to fill their chest. Atop the ancient ruins found/but now they need to get them down." The rhyming leaves a little to be desired, but the cute, soft-focus drawings don't.

0:16 It takes me three throws to completely topple a basic tower, enough for a bronze medal only. I think I can do better...

0:17 On my second try, a well-angled throw knocks everything askew easily for the gold medal! I unlocked the Duke of Woolington and Sherman Woolington III. Or perhaps I should say the world-famous billionaire and play sheep Sherman Woolington III.

0:20 It's rather easy to destroy the multi-towered manor in Stage 2, but it's pretty hard to do it in just two throws for the gold medal. Nice balance between easy access and difficult challenge. The trick seems to be throwing a second ball before the first explosion can displace one of the red bomb blox.

0:21 Stage 3 is much easier -- just knocking two chemical blox together practically destroys the whole thing. The blocky Bahhs bahh in the background amid the destruction. SO CUTE!

0:23 On Stage 4, the chemical blox come tantalizingly close to hitting each other, but not quite. Frustrating. I'm not gonna be a perfectionist, though. I'm going to take my silver medal and move on.

0:26 My perfectionist streak comes out again as I try to create a chain reaction to destroy six towers with one throw on Stage 5. Almost get it, but one gem gets lodged in a decimated tower. Grrr... guess I'll accept the silver.

0:31 Ahhh... it's so incredibly satisfying watching a massive chain reaction that totally decimates a board full of blox. The satisfaction is marred only by the little gem blox that's left standing all alone at the end. Grumble....

0:32 Interesting strategy on Stage 7... I have to reposition a red bomb blox by toppling over one tower to fall into another. The idea is reprised in Stage 8, with toppling towers causing an explosive chain reaction. The physics model seems conducive to a lot of interesting puzzle ideas.

0:34 A few strong throws at the base of Stage 8 cause everything above to slowly tumble over. Very nice. The Gem Harvest area is done, with six gold and two silver medals. I'll take it, I guess.

0:35 On to the Sneaky Thieves area. "All the gems the Bahhs collected/Now earned attention unexpected. For just outside the castle wall/The mighty Grrs have come to call. The sheep are brave and will not stray. The plan to stand and fight today!" It's just like "Braveheart," but with sheep!

0:37 The gameplay is totally different here. I'm protecting the gems from advancing Grrs (read: block bears) by throwing explosive balls. The bears are incredibly slow, but so is my aiming and camera movement, so it evens out. Constantly moving the camera to protect my flank is a little annoying, too.

0:39 My bombs also destroy the walls that are protecting gems in Stage 2. A tad more interesting, but it's still a little too twitchy for the control scheme, I feel.

0:42 Through four bear-destroying levels, now. Even when a gem gets stolen, it's rather easy to hit the guy before he escape with it. It might get tougher, but I doubt it will get more interesting.

0:43 Stage 5 tells me to use chemical blocks to my advantage to destroy more bears, but it's never really necessary... I just aim right at them like I always have...

0:46 Stage 6 finishes out the area without a single gem being stolen. Yawn. "The bahhs cheered on their victory cries/The sheep had made their stand. But the Ooks snuck in and stole their prize/and took it from their land. The gems now with the monkey clan/and locked up safe away. But late that night the Bahhs did plan/attack the following day!" Those are some mad-looking sheep!

0:48 This third set of levels has monkeys atop the tower, throwing explosive poo at the sheep trying to steal back the gems. I have to help them by throwing bombs to stop the monkeys AND free the gems. Feels a lot like the first set of levels, only with a bunch of livestock roaming around for no apparent reason. Annoyance: I can't seem to change the camera angle in this level.

0:51 Apparently, if I'm too slow, the sheep are destroyed by the monkeys and I lose. This seems to be the entire point of the sheep... they do nothing to actually help me. Sigh. If the developers wanted a time limit, they could have imposed one without all this ridiculousness, right?

0:53 Not being able to move the camera means I can't find the one errant gem that's preventing me from completing Level 4. Grrr!

0:56 There's nothing more frustrating than a massive tower that teeters and shifts but just refuses to fall down. Oh, there is one thing. NOT BEING ABLE TO CHANGE THE CAMERA ANGLE!

0:59 These chemical blox seem to have some sort of aversion to touching each other. They always get micrometers away from each other, than just come to rest without exploding. Grah!

1:01 At some point, I got the ability to control the camera again, which makes it a lot easier to find the angles that will knock the chemical blocks together. "The bahhs were brave they did not fail, and so ends our little sheeps' tale."



Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Mainly for the time-independent puzzle modes, not for the bear- and monkey-destroying first-person-shooter-lite modes.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game rented from GameFly.

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