Flower Game Review - Playstation 3

OUR RATING:

EXCELLENT

TANGIBLES:

Gameplay:		9
Visuals:		10
Audio:		10
Value:		8
Quality:		9

Why you should buy it: You want a game that’s more about the experience than anything else.

Why you should rent it: You don’t understand what about this game is fun.

UNIQUE RATING:

SUGGESTION:

Buy It

Flower

Written by: Chris Selogy | Tags: Flower, Playstation 3

February 9,2009 - Sony had a good name for the recent crop of games that strive to be more of a relaxing experience, a stress-free difficulty, and an experience that almost anybody can enjoy. This is Zen gaming. Games like A Kingdom for Keflings, The Maw, and flOw, ThatGameCompany’s first PSN game, are some of the best examples of this new genre. thatgamecompany’s newest entry in this genre is called Flower and it’s definitely another very unique experience on PSN.

Flower appears to be more of a 3D version of flOw set in field, but there’s actually a lot more to it. A story does surprisingly develop after you play through the first few levels that definitely did not come through with any of the pre-release trailers and demonstrations, which was definitely a pleasant surprise. This simple story is communicated through gameplay, level design, and music that create an atmosphere that really makes it a much more impactful and engrossing experience with the way that it unfolds. It’s almost sort of done in the indirect way that Ico and Shadow of the Colossus present their stories by letting you figure things out instead of just holding your hands and being preachy about the message that the game has. It’s best to not even try to spoil the “story” by looking at trophies or reading other opinions and just go into it fresh and without early judgment to let yourself get the full effect of the experience that Flower has to offer.

Flower’s gameplay is very simple in that you use the Sixaxis motion control to move a single flower petal through the field towards other flowers, causing them to bloom with one of their flower petals joining you in a manner that’s similar to Snake. You do need to press a button, which means any button on the controller, to give your petal a speed boost with a change in camera that is similar to the way that Skate’s camera is handled. As you collect petals, dead, or at least non-colorful, grass is given new life among other things occurring and there are even secret patches of flowers that you can find in each level that reward you with a special petal for the flower pots that represent each level in the main menu.

The one main issue with Flower’s simple control scheme is that you can’t really stop and look around, as you still move slowly when not pressing anything. The motion controls work well, but a sensitivity option would’ve been nice since the controls seemed almost too sensitive at times, causing us to miss flowers and have to turn around and interrupt a good flow of flower-blooming. You’ll find about six or so levels here in all and even though it may be a few hours long, it’s the kind of game you can come back to when you need a relaxing game to play.

Flower is not only an artistically beautiful game, but it also has great technical graphics as it renders a full field of grass and flowers that sway with the breeze and as you fly through the grass like a water-skier moving through the water. Color is used very well in a similar manner as Prince of Persia where you can bring life through the environment with more lively colors to make lifeless areas come alive again. The audio is done to the same extent with great sound effects when moving through the grass, like you’re really this entity of nature moving quickly through a field. Flower has a great soundtrack that can evoke the right emotions at the right times and greatly enhance the experience that Flower offers. Like Wipeout HD, Flower is one of those games that can be a showpiece not only for what your PS3 can do, but what a great HDTV and audio set-up can do.

We’ve been seeing Flower for just over a year now and thatgamecompany has done a good job of succeeding all expectations for the game. Flower offers a great experience for $10 that anyone who is open-minded enough to try it out will enjoy a great deal. This game can be as simple as a great game for kids to play and explore without much of any conflict to worry about while technophiles will love the great visuals and audio as a way to show off their home theater set-ups to friends and relatives.

The reason grass is green is because when the chlorophyll molecules inside of each blade absorb light, they are absorbing every wavelength of light but the green wavelength, which is then reflected away to give the grass their traditional green appearance.