Originally, I was going to do this segment on the podcast, but it just wouldn’t work without the appropriate visual aids.
In case you hadn’t noticed, today I’m taking about Flower. It’s a downloadable title released back in February for the PlayStation 3, and has done remarkably well for itself since then. However, popularity doesn’t always equal quality, so how does Flower fare as a game?
What immediately sets Flower apart from other titles is that fact that there is no main character. In fact, there’s no characters at all. You’re not even controlling the titular flowers when you play the various levels! What you are controlling is the environment, specifically, the wind and other air currents. In a nutshell, you direct the wind to blow petals from one group of flowers to the next, which will not only bloom them, but execute other changes in the environment. This could be shutting down broken electrical towers, moving large rocks blocking your path, and so on. Sometimes, you’re not even trying to bloom flowers; you might just be tracing a path around a certain area, and that will alter the level instead. While this may seem more like a puzzle game, Flower’s actually got a story to back it up, believe it or not. However, I can’t really tell you what it is without spoiling it.
Oh, and did I mention the game’s entirely motion-controlled? People may have bitched about the SIXAXIS controller in the past, but in Flower, it’s put to very good use. Tilting the controller gives you fluid control over the wind’s direction that no mere button or analog stick could provide. The only time you’ll be using a button is to increase wind speed, and even that’s not completely necessary. (It only helps if you’re in a rush to finish an area.)
On to graphics and sound. Flower is a game that truly requires an HDTV and surround sound system. (In fact, I purposefully refused to buy the game until I bought my new home theater! SDTV and stereo wouldn’t have cut it, kids.) The razor-sharp graphics, use of color and light, and atmospheric audio are nothing short of amazing. When you’re flying around the fields, so to speak, they truly look realistic! (For all you “graphics whores” out there…how does 200,000 individually animated blades of grass sound? Let’s see an FPS pull off something like that!)
Most importantly, though, is that Flower may be one hell of a audio and video showpiece, but it’s a damned fine game on top of that; it succeeds without all of the generic over-the-top violence seen in so many other games these days.
Still not convinced? Check out the trailer below. We rarely get to see truly innovative games like Flower, so don’t let it go to waste! If you’ve got a PS3, then you owe it to yourself to shell out the ten bucks and treat yourself to one of the finest games created in recent years.
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