VIDEO GAME REVIEW: PlayStation 3 exclusive 'Journey' a brief glimpse of strange perfection
It only takes about two hours to play through "Journey" once, but players shouldn’t let that discourage them from playing the game.
"Journey," exclusively available on PlayStation 3, takes full advantage of those two hours, giving players one of the most concise, unique, intriguing and emotionally engaging experiences to be found in any game on any platform.
The game is easy to grasp. The left stick is used to move the character around and the X button is used to jump. The character has a scarf that indicates how much jump power the player has left to use. Players can lengthen their scarf throughout the game, allowing them to jump more or float longer distances.
The story of "Journey" is extremely interesting. Each time players finish a section of the game, their character has a vision. Some of these visions tell a story about past events that transpired in the character’s world, while others are prophesies about events yet to pass.
Many players may actually find themselves reflecting on their personal journey while the credits roll, a rare occurrence in video games.
The environments themselves are really interesting as well. From the barren desert to ancient city ruins, every location in "Journey" seems to have its own mysterious story.
It also helps that the game looks gorgeous. The sand looks great both undisturbed and being kicked around by the player, and the game does some really fantastic things with the lighting effects to alter the mood of a level.
"Journey" also has a unique way of handling multiplayer. One other player can seamlessly enter or exit one’s game. Players will not know the name of the person they’re playing with until the credits, and they cannot communicate using voice chat.
The circle button is used for communication; pressing it quickly will make the character chirp and holding it down will charge up the chirp to make it louder.
Amazingly, "Journey" is able to create very strong emotional bonds between players without ever letting them talk to each other or know the other person's name.
"Journey" is a game that should be experienced by every PS3 owner at least once.
