Flower unionises beauty and simplicity to create the best downloadable Playstation 3 game you'll ever experience
Developed by the same people who brought you Flow, Flower puts you into the role of a flower petal that is caught by the wind. Using just the tilt of the Playstation 3 controller, you move the pedal through the environment. By holding down the X button you can increase speed of the wind. At first it takes a little time to get use to it, but once you master the controls it becomes the best utilization of the tilt feature which usually is a tacked on gimmick.
The objective of the game is to collide with specific flowers in order to bring the environment around you back to life. With every flower you collide with another flower petal will join you and eventually form a long trail of pedals. Once the entire area has been brought back to life you will be able to move onto the next level via the access point.
Aside from a couple of broken powerlines there aren't any real threats. Combine this lack of difficulty with the short playtime of two hours and you will be left asking what the point of this game is?
Well I will tell you. The point of this game is to present a relaxing and beautiful gaming experience. The whole time I played this game I felt really relaxed and calm. This was the result of the colourful graphics and soothing music. But more importantly, it's the simple yet original game play is what ultimately created these feelings.
I do wish the game was longer and had more replay value. But this doesn't hide the fact that Flower is a stunning piece of programming. It unionises beauty and simplicity to create the best downloadable Playstation 3 game you'll ever experience. I can't recommend this game enough.
RATING – 9/10
+ Beautiful and vibrant visuals.
+ Soothing music and sound effects.
+ Non-gimmick usage of Sixaxis functionality.
+ Simple yet original gameplay.
- The six levels only offer 2 hours of playtime.