Reviews// flOw (PS3)

flOw started life as a simple interface to back up a thesis on Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) - a game mechanic that enables the game designer to allow for difficulty levels to automatically adjust to the proficiency and style of play exhibited by each individual player. Jenova Chen, Nicholas Clark and Austin Wintory put together the first version of flOw as a game written in Flash and playable in a web browser. In the game's first two weeks of being publicly available, it was downloaded around 350,000 times.

With games like Yeti Sports and Every Extend Extra having proved the basic model, it was only a matter of time before flOw was picked up by a major games company for publication on a console. Enter Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), developer of the Playstation 3 console, which was looking for some flagship games for its nascent digital delivery service. Sony announced at E3 2006 that flOw would be available on the Playstation Network Store that would launch alongside the PS3 console. flOw was developed by ‘thatgamecompany’ and made available for download on 22nd February 2007 by SCEA.

The origins of flOw as a simple interface to express deeper design ideas for a thesis show through in the fact that the game is very, very simple to play. You can easily do without the instructions all together as I did the first time I played, skipping them before I had even registered that they had appeared. The accessibility and simplicity of the game really lend weight to the ideas behind Jenova Chen's DDA thesis, maybe consigning the difficulty level selection screen to the game ideas rubbish bin.

As I have said, flOw is not a true game, but more of an interactive experience, it blends pretty, but basic, graphics with a soundscape that evolves as the players' creatures do. This all combines to produce a calming atmosphere that can engross and enchant you; it fosters a feeling of exploration that is difficult to find in most games these days. However, the replay value of flow is lacking, after you have experienced all the creatures that the game allows you to control, there is little incentive to go back and play through again.

Given the game's popularity on the Internet, it is hard not to see it being very popular on the Playstation Network too. This may be the game to attract casual gamers to the PS3, indeed reader reviews of flOw have the same sort of, "My parents tried it and couldn't stop playing", comments in them as those found in reviews of Wii Sports.

flOw is a game that certainly has the ability to introduce the Sixaxis controller's motion sensing to an audience that may not be able to get their heads around it in a driving game or FPS.

SPOnG Score: 76%

flOw is an easy game to like, but it is too simple a game to really love and that may be its only drawback. However, it's a drawback that may see flOw ignored when lined up against the more intense entertainment provided by the PS3's other European launch titles.