PlayStation 3

flOw

"Flow" é uma experiência singular e altamente imersiva, para não dizer hipnótica. A mistura de formas, cores, sons e interatividade te leva para um universo instigante e abstrato, que poderá fazê-lo esquecer do mundo ao seu redor e concentrar-se apenas na sobrevivência de seu microorganismo. Não espere por um jogo extenso, pois ele dura apenas algumas horas - mas deve fazer destas as mais agradáveis de seus dias.

It’s hard not to love flOw for what it is – a freeware game in a tuxedo. It’s simple and fun and very attractive – but don’t expect a gameplay revelation or anything beyond the basic concept. It can be as short or as long as your patience can stand – a thorough play-through should clock in around the two hour mark. It’s also relatively inexpensive, compared with some of the other content available, but as with most things in life, you really do get what you pay for.

flOw is an extremely interesting game for multiple reasons. The only goal is to evolve and see what's next, and its presentation couldn't be any better. The downside is that that's about all there is to the game. You evolve in a linear manner, so replaying the game is only fun if you want to veg out. It's certainly worth a purchase if only because it's so unique, but don't expect to be glued to your television for hours on end.

There is not much to it other than eating animals, growing in size and evolving. You will eventually get to play as seven different creatures (including a credits one), but it will only take a few hours to do. Once you are done, you may only want to come back to show your friends this neat new experience. I am a big fan of new and unique ideas. This is one of them. The art direction and music of flOw make me feel that this is the Fantasia of video games. I highly recommend giving this game a look.

It won't take you more than a couple of hours to unlock and play through all of the creatures' "campaigns," and though the game does offer two-player multiplayer, it doesn't add a lick of depth to the experience to play with two people instead of one. At an asking price of $7.99 on the PlayStation Network, flOw is ultimately geared toward those that are looking for something ornamental, as opposed to a lasting gameplay experience. It's basically like buying art. You buy it as something to look at and appreciate from time to time. It's a way to cool out--not something to compete at. Not everyone is going to have interest in spending money on a game that's equivalent to an attractive screen saver you can steer, but those with a penchant for arty pieces of gaming ought to enjoy flOw for what it is.

FlOw, from Sony's Santa Monica labs and developer ThatGameCompany, is a welcome sign of innovation and experimentation being injected into the PlayStation Store. It isn't so much a game as such, more a trippy ornament of sorts for your PlayStation 3; a bizarre Fantastic Voyage of an experience that propels you into a microscopic fluidic world where cell-based organisms fight for life, all the while evolving into ever-larger, more beautiful creatures.