Now that I’m a parent, my time for gaming has dwindled, which is to be expected. When I am looking at new releases, I try to find games that provide a fun and unique experience. I definitely found what I was looking for in Journey.

If you were going to break down Journey to its basic mechanics, you could say that it is a 3D platformer. The problem with that categorization is that it sells the game short. Journey is about your own sense of discovery and your personal experiences on the way to the top of a distant mountain.

It doesn’t accomplish this in the way that I would have thought. It isn’t an open world game, which generally lend themselves to the kind of spontaneous, crazy experiences you tell your friends about. Journey provides levels to explore, but it also does something incredibly clever with its multiplayer component. As you make your way toward the mountain, you will encounter other people playing the game on their own journeys. What keeps this from devolving into the standard internet name-calling and hate speak from your random partner is that you can’t actually speak to each other, but you can communicate.

Your only communication comes in the form of a musical chirping sound that you can tap to give the other player an idea of what you are trying to accomplish. This lead to an interesting phenomenon when I was playing. Usually when I’ve played with random other people in games, nearly all of them try to take the roll of the leader. There are plenty of “over here’s” and “this way, stupid” (only not always in as nice of language). This keeps my interest level in playing with random strangers in most games from minimum to non-existent.

My experience in Journey was quite different. As I was exploring, my random companions would often chirp to show me where a hidden room was. Rather than trying to forcefully make other players do what you want to do, it quickly became a collaborative process to explore and show your new friend interesting things you have found. It also helped me communicate back when farther into the game my companion was stuck on how to progress up the frozen mountain peaks.

I am of the opinion that graphics aren’t everything, but Journey does its best to prove me wrong. It showed me that having HD graphics and beautifully rendered landscapes can be a huge factor in a game’s enjoyment. thatgamecompany used the power of the PS3 to show off a world of endless deserts, snowy mountain peaks, and a sunken city that gives the impression of being underwater. Your robed character encounters other creatures that appear to be made of cloth that flutter on the wind. You and your creature friends can help each other fly around the landscapes in ways I was not expecting. The sense of movement you feel when flying around Journey‘s landscapes or sliding down its many dunes gives you a sense of freedom and exploration that you don’t often get. It made for a sense of wonder and scale that I hadn’t felt since playing Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Journey looks great and plays great. It is a unique experience and, while brief, is one that gamers should have. Even after completing it, I find myself thinking about the game often. If you are a PS3 owner, you owe it to yourself to give Journey a try.

This review is based on the PlayStation 3 version of Journey purchased by the reviewer.

Tags: 3D Platformer, Ico, Journey, Playstation 3, ps3, Shadow of the Colossus, thatgamecompany

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.