Upon starting the game, you are given some simple instructions on how to play the game. You move around by tilting the six-axis in whatever direction pleases you and you press a button if you want a little boost. Apart from that, there is the option to pause the game and a note that if other people want to switch on another six-axis, you can play co-operatively and swim around together. They’re very simple instructions because it’s a very simple game. Anything more complicated would take away from the friendly nature of an experience of this type.
All you have to do to progress in flOw is move your little fish-like creature around towards other little fish-like creatures to eat them. As you eat them, changes are made to your own little fish-like creature, and he continuously involves into something bigger and more interesting to look at. Eating specific objects will let you swim backwards into another layer of water where there are different types of creatures to eat and evolve with, and so the game continues on that way.
It's very odd...
After playing for a couple of minutes and swimming around with the six-axis, controlling your creature will be second-nature, and evolution will happen much more quickly as you get into a rhythm of eating certain creatures to evolve in certain ways. There are even other creatures that you can become who have different ways of moving around the screen – while the first creature you are given can boost a little bit with the push of a button, another one perform a sort of spin attack. There are 6 different types of creatures and once you’ve played the game for a while, you’ll be able to go back and choose to be any one of them.
The key to this game is the exploration and the desire to see what creatures you’re going to come across next, and then see what they are going to evolve you into once you’ve eaten them. It can become quite fun experimenting with different combinations of creatures, as they all add something different to your little organism, making it all the more unique. In this sense, the game is different every time you play it, as you’re likely to experiment with different things at different times.
In terms of presentation, Sony has well and truly nailed it. The game is an absolute pleasure to be a part of, with plenty of little organisms swimming around happily in a smooth manner, and with a very simplistic graphical style that is extremely basic, yet at the same time utterly mesmerizing. There is no way that you can ‘die’ in this game, but if some health is depleted you will simply swim backwards a couple of layers so that you can eat and build up your strength again.
...yet so beautiful to watch.
It’s a great little game, there’s no doubt about it, but once you’ve played through it a couple of times, there’s not much else you can really do. There’s not really a clear sense of challenge, as there is no penalty for getting hit, just as there is nothing wrong with coasting from layer to layer without eating anything at all. Without any ‘requirements’, the game is lowered to a form that is just an experimentation, rather than a gameplay experience that you’re likely to come back to again and again.
flOw is something a little different, that’s for sure. While it certainly won’t appeal to all the shooter fans out there, it’s something that’s so nice to watch and the perfect thing to come home and unwind to after a busy day at the office. It’s overly simplistic, and so after one or two plays through it you’ve basically done everything that there is to do, but at such a low price, one cannot expect an epic and complicated video-game experience. flOw tries to do something entirely unique and experimental, and on that level, it succeeds.
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