Derek Sweet reviews Journey for Playstation 3

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• Game Title: Journey
• Published By: Sony Computer Entertainment
• Developed by: thatgamecompany
• Release Date: March 14, 2012
• System Reviewed: PS3

If the only thing you know about video games is what you see on the news then you probably think they are nothing but a place where sex-crazed plumbers shoot people in the head while stealing cars and killing prostitutes (and occasionally playing a plastic guitar). But believe it or not, video games are art. Journey is proof of that.

Brought to us by thatgamecompany, makers of the brilliant PS3 exclusive titles fl0w and Flower, Journey is a wild exploration into a mystical land of flowing powders with vibrantly shifting colorized landscapes that range from sand to snow. I know it sounds like your last mushroom trip, but it’s just a video game.

When the game starts it is almost like a scene from “The Doors” movie, however, as the heroine of this adventure stands solitary amongst a seemingly infinite plain of sand dunes. As you start to move through them you leave a trail that needs to be seen to be believed. It looks like they’ve rendered each individual grain of sand shifting as you kick it aside, which you’d think would be more than any aging game console could handle. Apparently not!As with most of thatgamecompany’s games, there isn’t much in the way of challenge here. That’s not the point of their games; they aim to provide an experience. You see a tower in the distance with a beacon of light shooting into the sky, and you know getting there is your goal. Other than that you are free to explore like a former catholic school girl on her first day in college.

The protagonist of the game is a gorgeously drawn female character whose outfit is very reminiscent of a Muslim burqa. Coincidentally, she also does not speak. She floats about never quite letting on what her motivations for getting to the tower are, part of the ambiguity that makes these games so intriguing.

You’d think that you were alone through this entire adventure at the start, but occasionally you are joined by your twin. Someone else in the real world is playing the game and is at the exact same point as you, so the game just throws the two of you together whether you want them there or not, kind of like being at a forced family gathering.

I have a theory, with nothing to confirm it, that the people who join your games have already completed it once. I say this because they always seemed to have longer scarves than myself, the indicator of your success in finding hidden power-ups throughout the game, and they always seemed to know what to do and where to go when I did not. From looking at my evidence, however, it could also be used to support the idea that I might just suck at the game.

The challenges range from solving simple puzzles to sliding down hills of sand and snow like you were Ross Rebagliati (Remember him? Another stoner reference snuck in). The puzzles aren’t exactly hard, you just need to take the time to look around and spot the patterns like you were Tommy Chong (OK, that one doesn’t even make sense).

Much like this review, the game is a little short. You can easily start and finish it in an afternoon if you feel so inclined, clocking in at somewhere between 3-4 hours. I can’t say I feel very motivated to play through it again anytime soon, either, except maybe to see the absolutely gorgeous final level once more.

When Journey comes out on Wednesday I strongly suggest you pick it up. For $15.00 you really can’t go wrong, and much like that fateful and adventurous “trip” you and your buddies took through that rainforest in college, it’s an experience you’ll never forget.