TMCnet News
RESIDENT GAMER: 'Journey Collector's Edition'Apr 12, 2013 (The Monitor - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Some games are fun to play. Some games make you feel smart. Then there are some games that make you feel something more. The Journey Collector's Edition games all elicited in me very strong feelings. The title game, Journey, throws you into an empty desert, completely devoid of life. As you run forward toward this light you see in the distance, parts of the story become uncovered after completing simple puzzles. Sometimes you'll need to activate small pillars or grates to figure out a way to continue on your journey, while other times you may just need to think creatively. While Journey is incredibly beautiful, both while traversing the desert and into the later parts of the game, the real beauty comes in the actual journey itself. You may be on your own, but sometimes another person will show up. They have no way to identify themselves. You can't speak to them. You don't have to play with them. Should you choose, though, you and this other player can continue your journey together, and then part ways never to see each other again. It's strange how much of a connection you can make with someone, even when unable to communicate, when you are the only people left in the world. Flow was a game I had played before in its first incarnation as a Flash game. Back then, it was a wonderful little game that had you diving ever deeper into the world, consuming creatures and growing. In the updated version, the core gameplay remains the same. I felt no real threat as I dove deeper into the waters, but it still felt challenging. I also had a strong desire to continue. I wanted to evolve and grow and find out what would happen next as I became king of the ocean. When you reach the bottom of each stage, you unlock another creature, with different abilities. Where the first one could get a boost of speed, one of the later ones, for instance, can paralyze its enemies for easier devouring. Another can slam into other creatures and break them apart. My only real disappointment with Flow are the controls. Using the motion control of the PS3 controller is a great idea, and I felt it made things more immersive, but an option to use the analog sticks would have gone a long way with me. My first attempt to play the game was while lying down, and it was incredibly difficult from that position. For such a relaxing game, I find it odd they would limit playing it to, essentially, a single upright position. Though Journey was the star of the show, Flower completely blew me away. It made me feel happy. Not happy to play, but happy in general. You control a single flower petal, pulled into the breeze and made to change the world. The world is old and dying. The grass is brown and there are only a few flowers left. It's hard to say if you're the petal or the wind, but as you steer around each stage, more petals are picked up, in a variety of colors. As you touch flowers and cause them to blossom, the world begins to come alive. The grass starts turning green, more flowers bloom and, eventually, life returns. Flower uses the motion controls, just as Flow did, but it really, really works for Flower. It almost feels like a flight sim or a racing game. Tilt left or right to turn, and tilt up and down for altitude. Pressing any button will begin to move you forward. When I played it, I couldn't put it down. It was so simple, but exhilarating. Still, though, it would have been nice to have the option of using standard controls. Aside from the games, the disk comes with a few fun things. There was a code to download a slew of avatars from the PlayStation Store, and a couple neat themes for the PS3 dashboard. Also, each of the games can be installed to the system from the disk so they don't have to be played directly. One thing to note is the code for my avatars had expired, but still worked. These three games are ones I can see myself going back to time after time. Yeah, they're fun, but they also do so much more than give you a good time; they give you a look at what gaming could be outside the fancy graphics and explosions. They're beautiful, both inside and out. As cheesy as that is, it's completely accurate, and the Journey Collector's Edition should be in absolutely every PS3 owner's library. ___ (c)2013 The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) Visit The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) at www.themonitor.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |