Why would you want to play a game on the ps3 where you fly flower petals through a field? Well, that was the same question that I asked myself before I logged on the PlayStation Network and downloaded Flower by thatgamecompany. Being skeptical, I downloaded the movie to see Kelli Santiago, President of thatgamecompany, talking about Flower as an attempt to pull emotion from the player. Normally, that would have been strike 2 for me – flowers and then emotions. Then, I watched the video and saw it was a game with really great visuals and was onl going to cost me $10. Ok, I am in for $10 – I’ll support an indie game maker for that.
Now, I am 9% of the way into the game per the PS3 trophy I just won and I have decided that it is blog-worthy. The game starts with a single flower petal in a very dreary apartment which is perhaps in Beijing. It might not be Beijing but from my visit there, the view out of the window looks alot like it with the cranes and smog. As you navigate to the single flower with the very simple SIXAXIS control, your eyes appear to shut and then open to a wide open, sunny, green field. Again, you are flying a single flower petal in this open field.
As you move about the field, everything you touch seems to come to life and the chain of petals flying behind you grows as you touch each flower. While the vibrant colors are beautiful on an HD TV, there is nothing at all conventional about this game from what I can tell so far – there is no score, no lives, no death. It is unusual and I wonder if the general public will take to it. At a minimum, I hope everyone at least tries it.
; the mix in the tenth song – “In Step” – of Salt-n-Pepa (“Push It”), Dee-Lite (“Groove is in the Heart”), and Nirvana (“Lithium”); and the “What It’s All About” mix of The Police, Busta Rhymes, and Phil Collins only to bring in Faith No More and Boogie Down Productions. All of them are very cool and I counted over 100 different bands / songs, so you’ll definitely find something that you remember.
