Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Flower Review Sony PS3 PSN

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  

  • Flower Review Sony PS3 PSN

    In Flower players take on the role of a petal gliding on the breeze, using SixAxis control to manipulate the wind and navigate the world. As you come into contact with other flowers they start to bloom, with one of their petals joining yours, so that by the end of each level there’s a massive trail of colour, billowing out behind you. The controls have been kept as simple as possible , with the camera view controlled by rotational movements of the DualShock and the X button used to blow the wind in the direction you’re facing. There’s no real implementation of gravity on hand, which thankfully allows players to stop and survey the world around them without having to constantly battle trying to stay put.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	flower_02.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	57.0 KB
ID:	2742099
    The game’s goals are fairly esoteric, each level plays out as a dream sequence for a different flower with the standard format requiring players to bloom a selection of specific flora in order to open up the next area. There is one major variation to this formula in the forth level, set at night, tasking the player with repeating specific patterns in the grass to move on. There’s an overarching storyline spanning the six levels with the player starting off in the countryside and gradually progressing deeper into a dark and foreboding urban landscape, with the goal of reinvigorating the environment by populating it with colour and light.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	flower_03.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	38.4 KB
ID:	2742096
    The delivery of the story is well handled with some moving and beautiful moments , but things can get unnecessarily dour and dreary at times. Playing the role of the wind should be a joyous, carefree affair, a feeling captured perfectly by both the beginning and final sections of the game, but which becomes lost as the developers darken the mood in the second act. The first level sees the player flying over a picture-perfect, green field set against the backdrop of a beautiful, clear-blue sky while the latter sees you skipping around tower blocks to a bouncy and upbeat soundtrack, lighting the buildings up in bright, clean swathes of colour.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	flower_01.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	23.1 KB
ID:	2742100
    It’s in between these superb bookend segments where the game really lays it on a bit thick. At times the music can be positively depressing, further compounded by some truly morose environments. While not a massive issue you can’t help but feel that the developers were trying too hard to produce a deep and emotionally moving experience and in the process somewhat lost their way. Had they simply focused more on the simple joys of flying over the beautiful scenery, letting the game‘s superb controls and excellent visuals steal the show, the final product would have been all the better for it.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	flower_04.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	26.7 KB
ID:	2742097
    The SixAxis is a motion -control interface with more than its fair share of problems, but Flower is the perfect example of how to work around its limitations. They’ve clearly recognised its inability to make quick, precise inputs and as such there’s no real way to die or fail. Certain Trophies do require the player to dodge a few tricky obstacles but for a simple playthrough you never have to carry out any tricky, complex manoeuvres. The device’s calibration is also spot on: you won‘t see people flailing their arms around madly or having to constantly realign themselves as a result of unintentional, slight hand-movements. Barring the odd alignment issue should you glide along the roof of the world for too long, it’s a pain free and glitch-less experience. Gliding the petal stream through the air with slow gradual arcs across the contoured terrain feels smooth and sublime. It is a testament to what developers can truly achieve when they dedicate the time and resources needed to properly integrate this controller into the experience.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	flower_boxshot.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	3.5 KB
ID:	2742101
    These smooth, flowing lines, scattered liberally with speed boosts, form the basis of a lot of Flower’s level layouts, lending the title something of a racing game’s feel as you navigate the landscape’s contours. Should the player miss some of the flowers there’s usually no need to go back and finish them all as only a specific subset of the brightly coloured foliage is required for opening up new areas. But there’s a compulsive element that makes you go back all the same, even if only to produce a magnificent looking trail behind you.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	flower_05.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	37.4 KB
ID:	2742098
    The designers have invested a significant amount of effort into Flower's audio , with it keyed directly into the game’s state. The volume of the music is based on the speed at which the player is currently travelling but where it gets interesting is how the title actually introduces new instruments and tracks into the mix as the player‘s petal trail grows, adding to the music’s complexity and depth. It’s a novel idea and works well behind the scenes, it’s just a shame that for so much of Flower’s length the music will be so utterly devoid of cheer and life that you’d be amazed if the composer wasn’t on antidepressants by the time he finished the recordings.

    Flower is a stunning game to look at, with a great artistic style. While the terrain is actually made up of quite simple, blocky geometry, it’s hidden by a layer of dense, long grass stretching all the way to the horizon. The blades ruffle and bend together in the wind, their movements also affected by your path and lit by the shining glow that you acquire during the night stages. It’s a fine sight to behold, and when the player starts the opening level, seeing the huge fields of green, it’s a cold soul who isn’t at least a little captivated by it. Later areas add novel sections where, as the player brings the flowers to life, it wreathes sections of the grass in great swathes of colour, an inherently rewarding act in and of itself.

    The biggest flaw in Flower, though, is simply its length. There are six main levels on offer, with an additional playable section during the credits and, while there’s a few hidden items to hunt out once the game’s been completed, they won’t take more than a couple of replays here and there to acquire. It’s to the developer's credit that each level is based around a new, novel concept, but given the sheer amount of effort taken to create the game you can’t help but wonder why a couple of months wasn’t spent just mapping out a few more areas to utilise these in. The game’s mechanics are a prime candidate for challenge and race-based scenarios, simple variations on the main theme with slightly modified layouts and mechanics. You only need to look at titles like Rez to see that a simple and short, yet moving experience, can successfully be expanded to provide a more fulfilling package without compromising the ideals of the whole.

    Flower is a game of two parts, that somewhat loses its sense of itself during the darker, moodier middle-segment, but which provides an enjoyable and novel, if short-lived, experience. At times it can be truly captivating, be it the breathtaking ruddy sunset the player is treated to as you zoom out of the canyon sequence, or the sight of the city blossoming with colour around you at the tail end of the game. But it’s simply not the piece of highbrow art that it feels that the developers were trying to create. It is an good game nonetheless, and could have been a truly great one had the designers just dumped the pretentiousness and focused more on what made this the case.
      Posting comments is disabled.

    Categories

    Collapse

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Motion Gravure Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      In this image-obsessed industry, it's critical that a game projects a strong sense of identity. With an identity comes a target audience. Sony have arguably captured the 'twenty-something male' flag and, to consolidate this position, Sony Music Entertainment releases this: a game featuring nothing but scantily clad females. Oh, and some very nice scenery.
      ...
      21-08-2023, 12:13
    • Devil May Cry 3 Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      Family reunions tend to follow one of two distinct protocols: everyone meets up, reminisces and has a good old chat and a laugh; or everyone meets up, reminisces and remembers why it’s been so long since they last saw each other, the evening ending in a ferocious argument. Why is this relevant to this Devil May Cry 3 review?
      The latest meeting of the divinely comedic twin siblings of Dante and Vergil falls rather violently into the second category. Something about their murdered mother’s amule...
      06-09-2022, 08:30
    • Silent Hill 3 Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      Fear. It’s something that collective consciousness values as a desirable commodity, especially in the pop culture spin of everyday modern life - An element that mainstream entertainment likes to use in distilled form when it comes to getting a rise out of our adrenaline glands. Whether it be watching the latest slasher flick, experimenting with the next extreme sport or avidly reading the current best-selling horror fiction… On the whole, we take pleasure out of being scared. Read this Silent...
      11-07-2022, 13:50
    • Viewtiful Joe Review - Nintendo Gamecube
      by Archives
      Pink Lycra. There just isn't enough of it in video games. So Capcom have bravely stepped-up to the plate and given us a game, starring a Hot Pink hero, clad in a spandex jumpsuit, that isn't afraid to be laid back and humorous in style, whilst containing some rock-solid gameplay at its core. Like a piece of candy with a stone centre, Viewtiful Joe is sweet and tempting to the eye, but underneath is solid rock. Our hero is introduced in the opening cut-scene as a bubble-headed, California-accented Sk8r Boi, o...
      15-05-2022, 11:48
    • Castlevania: White Night Concerto Review - Nintendo GBA
      by Archives
      Castlevania: White Night Concerto is the latest instalment in Konamis Castlevania series. It is the second title for the GBA, but the first Castlevania game appeared on the NES back in 1987. It is ostensibly a platform game, like its predecessors. Certain things have remained constant throughout the series- in all but a couple of Castlevania outings, the main protagonist (in this case Juste Belmont) brandishes a whip. Secondary weapons are also available. Again these weapons are the same as tho...
      03-04-2022, 15:57
    • Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Mugen no Frontier EXCEED Review - Nintendo DS
      by Steven Walker
      For the uninitiated, Super Robot Wars Original Generation Saga: Mugen no Frontier (Endless Frontier) is an action-RPG spin-off from the popular Super Robot Wars series. The player has to use attacks to keep enemies in the air in order to do maximum damage, and string together as many attacks as they can. Timing and knowledge of characters' moves is the key to success. SRW OG Saga: Mugen no Frontier EXCEED is the sequel, and goes to show that a follow-up can be better than the original.
      T...
      04-01-2022, 15:20
    Working...
    X