Video Game Review
Journey
Published by thatgamecompany
Playstation 3 Downloadable
It’s been a long time since I’ve been really taken with a video game. Sure, I’ve played some great titles over the past year or so, but nothing that even comes close to my experience with Journey. From the moment the game began I couldn’t help but become overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of it. thatgamecompany have delivered the goods in the past with such titles as: Cloud, Flow and Flower, but I can tell you with whole confidence that Journey is my favorite of them all.
Your journey begins with your avatar (a red cloaked being, fashioned with an ever increasing, long flowing scarf) traversing through dry sands. Just over the horizon you notice a faded cloth, waving frantically in the desert wind. As you approach the cloth it begins to glow, glyphs now forming among the threads. Suddenly you notice that you’re lighter than air and able to jump small distances. Floating in the air are what can only be described as talismans, eager to surround you, wanting to gift you with their powers. You consume them, become stronger, and can now journey to places once unavailable to you.
Your journey continues this way through several stages of awe inspiring environments, a gorgeous symphony of sounds, and danger in the most unlikely places. Journey is a game that will not be for everyone. If you’re not willing to play a game where all you do, essentially, is relax, then this game is not for you. Personally, I found myself completely enraptured with the game. It was everything I had been hoping to sit down to and so much more. Even though I’d completed the game in under three hours, it is evident by my final screen that I still have so much more to explore.
Sometimes video games are just that, games. But, once in a while, a title will come along that transcends all the stereotypes of any genre. The game feels more like an experience than just another game in your library. I endorse the shit out of this title. Seriously, if you own a Playstation 3, have an internet connection, and haven’t purchased this game yet, you’re doing yourself a grave disservice. I could go on and on about the game if I really wanted to. But most of what is so fantastic about Journey needs to be experienced first hand in order for you to truly appreciate what thatgamecompany has achieved (yet again).
VERDICT
Buy it! The $14.99 price tag might throw some of the more casual gamers in the market for a new game.
