Comic Con 08: de Blob’s Interactive Music is Super Amazing

I’ll admit that de Blob really hasn’t been on my radar until today. I’ve been hearing great things about the music, and when I finally got my hands on it at Comic Con today, I was blown away by how interactive and innovative both the gameplay experience and the music truly are.

The entire soundtrack is performed and recorded by members of the popular Australian jazz act, The Bamboos. The music ranges from jazz to funk, but the interactive elements that are a part of the game’s focus really make the music an entirely new experience each time you play.

Read and be amazed by de Blob after the jump.

The premise here is that all color has been drained from the world, and it’s up to de Blob and his friends to return its lush greens, reds, and blues by collecting paint and rolling over colorless structures and objects in the game. It actually kind of sounds like Katamari Damacy, and really, de Blob immediately delivers that feeling of wonder and amazement that many felt when playing that game for the first time.

At the beginning of each stage, players choose a “mood,” which is effectively the base tune that plays throughout the stage. Moods are unlocked as players progress through the game with a total of 12 being avaialble. When players begin, the stage is devoid of color, and thus, the music is sparse. With the euphoric mood that I selected, this consisted of only some scant bass notes and bass drum hits. However, as players progress through the stage and complete objectives, the tempo increases and more musical elements are added until an amazing jazz, funk, or other awesome piece of music is generated based on the mood selected at the beginning of the stage.

But wait, it gets even cooler. Each color that de Blob takes on in the course of a level has its own unique sound. For example, taking on blue paint blue sounds like an electric guitar while yellow provides a brassy synth. As de Blob rolls into objects, splattering them with paint, this color-specific sound is triggered, and it’s entirely in sync with the background music! When things get really crazy and de Blob is rolling over tons of objects in series, the sound it creates is unbelievable.

This works the other way too. When players get “inked” by in-game baddies, the music suddenly drops off to a base level, accurately reflecting the action on the screen. Some of the objectives require players to expend a certain amount of paint in order to destroy and object, and from what I played, these usually required a fun shaking motion (with accompanying shaker sounds) of the Wii remote and nunchuck that was again synced to the music. Simply put, this game is a music lover’s dream, especially if you’re a fan of jazz.

So, what about a soundtrack? I was told that they will absolutely be releasing it, but likely as a “promotional bonus.” Pre-orders, perhaps? I don’t know, but the full songs are so awesome that I can’t wait to hear them on CD.

Have you been following de Blob? Does the interactive music system sound epic to you?