Flower

[Brandon B]

I know, third game review in 10 minutes. Someone's gotta keep SCEA afloat.

This is a very different title. It is not really a 'gamer's game', in that the play is not ultra challenging and it sort of lacks 'goals', although it does have trophy support and a few things to accomplish.

But, like Flow, the other title from this company, what it does offer is a very new dynamic and a very artistically beautiful experience. Basically, you have two controls, the six axis motion sensing, which you use to steer, and a button (any button will do) which is basically a throttle which controls the speed of the 'wind' blowing you. 'You', in this case, being a stream of flower petals you have picked up by flying by and causing to bloom many flowers in each of the levels.

I finished the title in about 2 hours, so it is not huge bang for the buck, but it does have a bit of replayability if you want to go back and try for more complete mastery of the levels. I bought it partly, though, to reward the developer for thinking outside the box and delivering a well-conceived and interesting product. $9.99 on PSN.

You can check out videos of the game play on YouTube and elsewhere.

BB

[Brandon B]

The creator of this game did a presentation at my work last week. Quite an interesting and creative guy.

He is plainly very keen on breaking gaming out of its current stage of development, which he likened to the show off technology phase of film at the beginning of the 20th century, and into it being more used as a medium of expression or art.

His goal seems to be for games to evoke moods or feelings, beyond the usual thrill or adrenaline many settle for.