Fl0w Dated and Priced

**Siraris** · 02-20-2007, 10:34 PM

The good word:

Comes out Thursday

Cost: $7.99

http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exere...B95C63C344.htm

Getting lots of good reviews!

**pari** · 02-20-2007, 10:38 PM

http://kotaku.com/gaming/fl0w/fl0w-p...iew-237865.php

fl0w is a soothing and visually stunning downloadable game for the Playstation 3.

SCEA sent me a final build of the game for my debug and I spent a chunk of time last night playing through it and I quite enjoyed the experience. I haven't yet played the offline multiplayer experience, but plan to check that out later today. It supports up to four players, any of whom can drop in at any time.

When fl0w was first announced for the PS3, I immediately went out and tried the game on the PC. fl0w was originally a Master of Fine Arts thesis from Jenova Chen, a gradute from USC School of Cinematic Arts and one of the creator's behind another visually stunning game: Cloud.

While I enjoyed fl0w on the PC, I quickly became bored with it. It seemed too repetitious and didn't appear to have enough of a framework to keep things interesting.

In the PC version of the game you drift around a sea of lights and sound absorbing smaller entities and avoiding larger ones as you try to grow your organism in both size and complexity.

As you drift around with your mouse, you can absorb certain organisms to drift down a level and others to drift up a level. The whole experience was very Zen in a way, but again, it seemed to be missing something.

The PS3 version seems to have found that missing component.

The most noticeable difference with the game is that you control it with the Sixaxis' tilt controls. And I don't mean like steering your amoeba like a car. No, to play the game you sort of hold the controller flat and then tilt it in the direction you want the organism to move. So to move forward you tilt the controller away from you, to move sideways you tilt the controller on its side.

Initially, I found this form of control very off-putting, but within ten minutes I was liking it and within 20 I wasn't even thinking about it anymore. Soon after I was zipping around the colorful soup of sound and shapes, deftly avoiding some things and chasing down others.

Where in the PC game I never seemed to quite grasp any set of rules or methodology, in the PS3 version I quickly came to grasp what I could and couldn't eat and what things I could eat, but only carefully. I also learned that each type of thing I gobbled up played different music.

There were times that I felt someone had finally turned Electroplankton into a real game.

After playing as the original type of organism for a bit I fell through to a level that allowed me to select a second, different, type of growth. Again I played through the game, noticing some subtle and not so subtle differences in everything from movement, to what you could and couldn't eat, to the sights and sounds of the game.

After playing non-stop, literally, for about two hours and with five different creations I found myself swiming through a sea of credits. I had, if such a thing is possible in fl0w, beaten the game.

While I'm a bit disappointed that the game only took two hours to "beat" I recognize that the game really isn't something you play through and put down. It's more like a toy. Sure it has objectives and a way to succeed and fail, but fl0w is mostly about the trip not the destination.

fl0w is most certainly going to be one of those mega hits for the PS3.

Something positive and honest coming from kotaku, which is what surprises me the most.

I am looking forward to this game and hopefully the server does not give up due to the load.

***GTAce*** · 02-20-2007, 11:12 PM

Cost: $7.99=Very fair price imo.

**jaxmkii** · 02-20-2007, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by pari

I am looking forward to this game and hopefully the server does not give up due to the load.

if its as bigg of a hit as everyone is expecting... oh god.

**Nameless** · 02-20-2007, 11:26 PM

This will be the first PSN game I purchase...

**jaxmkii** · 02-20-2007, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Nameless

This will be the first PSN game I purchase...

for real? gripshift was fun

**Fillibuster** · 02-20-2007, 11:29 PM

I like blastfactor. Got the gripshift demo but it wasn't my thing. I will think about fLOw

**Lucent Beam** · 02-20-2007, 11:35 PM

That sounds fantastic.
*jealous of PS3 owners*

***masteratt*** · 02-20-2007, 11:37 PM

Everyone will be jealous of PS3 owners in a few months time

And few months later, everyone will have a PS3! YAY!
Let the world unite with the love the PS3 spreads!

!

Also, awesome awesome and one more time- AWESOME! game.
I have been looking for a game to just lie down and play at night and most games I have are either too boring or too action packed to play at night but this I believe will be the perfect solution.

*is very excited but must wait until end of march*

**9thPower** · 02-21-2007, 12:16 AM

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/9415
A gameplay video of flOw, really.... I'm sooooooo there

man I can't wait for the PS3 to play this game, it's so..... can't put it into words, anyway, there is a review made by IGN, 7.6 but for a 7.99$ game, that like a 10 for me Lol.

P.s: by the way IGN and other sites should have special reviews and grades for this download games, even if a 7.6 is amazing for a download game like flOw.

**jaxmkii** · 02-21-2007, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by Filibuster

I like blastfactor. Got the gripshift demo but it wasn't my thing. I will think about fLOw

oh yea dude can't forget BF with X2 speed! and 4 of your close freinds!

***LaLiLuLeLo*** · 02-21-2007, 04:23 AM

Originally Posted by Nameless

This will be the first PSN game I purchase...

blast factor is mucho fun though.

I thought it'd already been established this game was slated for the 22nd.

**Epix** · 02-21-2007, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by Nameless

This will be the first PSN game I purchase...

Im waiting for CaC on 3/12.

**curryking1** · 02-21-2007, 02:15 PM

I like the 8 dollar price, 10 would be pushing it a bit I think, 8 sounds very fair. Talking USD of course. I guess it would be 10 CAD over on these parts, pretty ok price.