flOw (PlayStation 3) review "FlOw's concept was originally created for a flash-application with the same name. I thought about it as "that eating game" at the time, because it was unique, and because you were eating things. "

FlOw's concept was originally created for a flash-application with the same name. I thought about it as "that eating game" at the time, because it was unique, and because you were eating things.

The unique thing about the eating game was that instead of the usual incrementally growing carnivorous fish, the game had multicelled organisms that ate various other simpler and more advanced organisms. As you did so, your creature grew new segments that trailed behind you. On the downside, the more segments, the easier you could be eaten by the other organisms.

Meaning that the point with the game was not necessarily to grow as fast, or as long as possible in order to beat a highscore, which the game does not have, but to just play the game however you would like it until it ended.

To me, it seems that a concept like this is an attempt to find back to the gaming joy anyone would have had when playing particular games that just let the mind wander, rather than challenge you to reach a particular goal. So instead of going for a "mission complete" prompt, the game would be about creating your own narrative - in this case the epic struggle of a massively magnified multicellular organism.

Still, making that type of type of goal with the game explicit is dangerous. And invokes stern looks and words from art-critics. But it's hard to really disagree after playing flOw, that a game with no high-score, and no reward other than swimming around as your neatly animated alter-ego, can't still turn out to be exactly what playing games is all about.

So the scenario is there, and the game's mechanics are no deeper than a petri dish. But the experience is beautiful. Generously helped by smooth, multilayered visuals on the ps3 version. And flowing animation where the creature's segments all have individually weighed angle-limits. That help the creature's segments trail each other naturally, as you control the direction you float with the motion-controller. Whether you play alone, or together with up to four other creatures, if you have enough controllers.

And then you just go along with it.

FlOw is a technically advanced game, but one that finds back to the type of gameplay that can be extremely simple, but meaningful and entertaining still.

Community review by fleinn (June 06, 2010) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.