[E3 2008] Flower
We get our hands on one of the less traditional games at the show at Sony's booth. Here's what we saw in our hands on time with flower.
Published: July 19, 2008
It's hard to write about flower, because it's not a traditional game in the sense that there is a defined objective -- rather, it's meant to be an emotional experience for the "player". flower elicits a very artistic feel, as if it's almost a living painting. The game begins with a view of a dimly lit flower sitting on a gloomy window sill. The grimy, grayscale background fades away as you hold any button to begin.
It's here that you're treated to a still watercolor image or two of a drab city, with the sounds of everyday city life echoing in the distance. As this too fades away, you're transported to an entirely different world: taking on the perspective of a gust of wind, you find yourself thrown into a colorful field of grass and flowers, almost overwhelming the senses with such a sharp contrast. It's here that the gameplay takes place. Guiding the wind with the tilt and pitch of the SIXAXIS, and holding any button to increase speed, you fly around the field at your own pace. Whether it's a slow ascent several feet in the air or a brisk race through the grass at ground level, the beauty of the environment assaults your senses from all angles.
When I was watching flower being played by people in front of me in Sony's booth, I was unsure of what to think. It looked pretty, but was that all there was to it? There was no sound in Sony's booth for those watching, because it was all being sent to a pair of headphones. As I waited to get my hands on the game, I was told by Randall Lowe of Sony that it was an emotional experience, something he frequently used to wind down after work. As soon as I started playing, I understood what he meant. The sound, as I had been told, is indeed half of the game. Over 200,000 blades of grass exist in the environment at a time, each reacting with their own independent physics. As I rushed through the grass and the blades bustled about, it sounded exactly like it should. It's a very serene experience.
The gameplay element, and the flower namesake, are derived from the core mechanic: by flying over flowers of different colors, you can progress through fields and hillsides as you please. As you pass over more flowers, their petals fall off and tag along in your traveling gust of wind, which help you to visualize where you're going and to make the experience a very visual affair. White flowers speed you up, yellow ones allow for more flowers to grow throughout the level, and red ones seem to colorize the level and open up new paths. If a player isn't ready to move on, but they try to fly into the next area, a gentle gust of wind will push them back into the previous space.
There's no need to rush, a point that was emphasized to me as I played. You can slow down as you pass by a flower to fully appreciate the scene around you. Why not fly straight up and crash into the ground? Doing so will push the grass around you outward as if you dropped a pebble in some standing water. It's up to the player to provide their own experience, flower just gives them the tools to do so.
It's here that you're treated to a still watercolor image or two of a drab city, with the sounds of everyday city life echoing in the distance. As this too fades away, you're transported to an entirely different world: taking on the perspective of a gust of wind, you find yourself thrown into a colorful field of grass and flowers, almost overwhelming the senses with such a sharp contrast. It's here that the gameplay takes place. Guiding the wind with the tilt and pitch of the SIXAXIS, and holding any button to increase speed, you fly around the field at your own pace. Whether it's a slow ascent several feet in the air or a brisk race through the grass at ground level, the beauty of the environment assaults your senses from all angles.
When I was watching flower being played by people in front of me in Sony's booth, I was unsure of what to think. It looked pretty, but was that all there was to it? There was no sound in Sony's booth for those watching, because it was all being sent to a pair of headphones. As I waited to get my hands on the game, I was told by Randall Lowe of Sony that it was an emotional experience, something he frequently used to wind down after work. As soon as I started playing, I understood what he meant. The sound, as I had been told, is indeed half of the game. Over 200,000 blades of grass exist in the environment at a time, each reacting with their own independent physics. As I rushed through the grass and the blades bustled about, it sounded exactly like it should. It's a very serene experience.
The gameplay element, and the flower namesake, are derived from the core mechanic: by flying over flowers of different colors, you can progress through fields and hillsides as you please. As you pass over more flowers, their petals fall off and tag along in your traveling gust of wind, which help you to visualize where you're going and to make the experience a very visual affair. White flowers speed you up, yellow ones allow for more flowers to grow throughout the level, and red ones seem to colorize the level and open up new paths. If a player isn't ready to move on, but they try to fly into the next area, a gentle gust of wind will push them back into the previous space.
There's no need to rush, a point that was emphasized to me as I played. You can slow down as you pass by a flower to fully appreciate the scene around you. Why not fly straight up and crash into the ground? Doing so will push the grass around you outward as if you dropped a pebble in some standing water. It's up to the player to provide their own experience, flower just gives them the tools to do so.
