Tawkn.com Review: Flower | Written by Josh Rai Published at 2009-04-08 15:06:20
| 1-player Action for the PlayStation Network.
Developed by thatgamecompany. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Released 2009-02-12. Rated E (Everyone). |
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First, flower is not a traditional game, I would not even call it a game. I would call it interactive art. Unlike the other PSN interactive art, Linger in Shadows, flower does have more game like structure. There are levels, which are represented as single flowers in your apartment, collectibles in each level, and a theme (rather then a story).
The controls are similar to flow, it is totally controlled by the sixaxis tilt, and pressing any button will move you forward. By you I mean the wind, you take control of the windstream. Some levels have wind currents that will speed you along and give you a little exhilaration during the mostly calm gameplay. This is one of the few times that I have felt that the tilt controls added to the game rather then be an annoyance.
The actual goal for each level is to simply make each area transform into a cleansed area, similar to Prince of Persia. Each level lasts about 15-30 minutes depending if you're trying to collect every petal and the 3 special flowers in each level. That equates to about 3 hours of game in one play through. I would say that is worth $10 when comparing it to the length of most retail games.
Graphically speaking it is gorgeous, not just because of the technical aspect but because the art design is very strong. The colours are either dark/desaturated before you rescue an area or lush and vivid afterwards. The colours pop and have a feel to them that can not be described, the grass bends and moves with the wind, and the trail of petals that you have collected creates a wonderful trail of different colours that hypnotizes the player while watching them blow in the wind.
The music and sound is also very strong. Each sound track for the different levels sets the tone for each theme the levels represent. The different types of flowers will make a different sound after they have added a petal by your wind. The tracks range from calm and soothing to intentionally distorted and kind of creepy.
I should note a couple of problems I had, every once and a while the camera got stuck behind an object and would not move, but it eventually reset and caused no real problems. Also when I collected a long stream of petals it was a little difficult to see where the wind stream was headed perfectly. All the problems I ran into, which were very few, did not detract from my overall experience.
Flower is fun, beautiful, and unique. It was enjoyable from start to finish, and I will go back to it to replay a level to cool down from a long session of gaming. Flower is not for everyone, some won't like it because they want to shoot stuff and some won't like it because it is artsy. However it is an experience that will be loved by many and can be loved by anyone no mater their gaming tendencies.
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