Review: Flower

Just to clarify, I am a man’s man. I love watching sport, enjoy swigging beer and am extremely fond of female attention. I sometimes sport stubble and can be found, on occasion, in the presence of power tools. I also have a penchant for violent games, with guns and gore.

It’s not that I feel I have to justify my emotional reaction to playing Flower on the PS3 for the first time, but the above had to be said. That aside, I must admit I did feel pretty teary eyed after a brief stint playing thatgamecompany’s creation. In fact, I bounded up the stairs to tell my wife all about my experience. But unless you play it first hand, it’s hard to explain. And she looked at me with pity. I managed to convince her to give it a go – and now she’s a convert too.

Now, take a seat and a deep breath and relax.

The game's all about poetry, beauty and the dreams of flowers desperate to leave the confines of their pots on the windowsill (!) Confused? Well don’t be; the concept is beyond simple.

You control the wind through a simple button press. Any button, it really doesn’t matter. It’s your job to guide a lowly petal on the breeze through the clever application of Sony’s coveted six axis technology. By gesticulating your controller, your petal will come in contact with other flowers, which blossom and add colour and life to dead ground nearby. Each flower’s renaissance sees another petal join you on the breeze – your trail growing until the screen is awash with colour.



The subtle sound of the wind is accompanied by calming melodies as you glide about the place, but the music reacts dynamically whenever you come in contact with another flower. In effect, you not only create colour and beauty but compose ever-changing harmonies too. It’s magical.

There are no enemies and no failure, just six levels of increasing loveliness and relaxation. It may only provide just over an hour’s gameplay but you will certainly come back for more – if not to show people exactly how amazing this game is and why you’re all overcome with emotion and happy thoughts.

For the experience itself, it’s well worth the minimal outlay for the download. Highly recommended.