Hands On With Flower
I sat down today with Flower, and in the midst of a wet gray rag of a day in Manhattan, That Game Company's sophomore effort on the PS3 swept me somewhere sunny and Jenova Chen-y. I could go on about the beauty of playing as the wind, or the ease with which you'll find yourself looping about like Zephyr himself, but mostly I marveled at how fun it was to simply fly up into the sky and feel free. Break out the bongos.
The substance of the game hasn't changed much since Fruit Brute's E3 experience, but I was struck by the effortlessness of the controls, which definitely have the feel of a "second generation" flOw-style mechanic - ie., tilt the SIXAXIS to adjust your position and hold any button to move forward. The scope and perspective of Flower make it feel meatier than flOw, and I can see myself spending a good deal longer greening up the fields and powering windmills than I did eating zoological sprites.
Chen and company have definitely captured the blue-green section of the emotional spectrum (wanting, as Chen explained it, to expanding the emotional spectrum of video games beyond the "red rage" of violence and death), and while it won't pull you in for as many hours as, say, violence and death, Flower will easily win your heart.
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 11 December 2008
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: flower, ps3, that game company
At first I thought the premise of the game was to build up strength as wind to kill humans like that scene in the Happening where Mark Wahlberg and co. were running from wind.
I suppose basking in visual ambiance is ok too.
This, LBP, KHIII and FFXIII are still the only titles I'm interested in, and will get if the PS3 ever comes to an affordable price.