Journey
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Platforms: PS3 (PSN)
Release Date: 3/13/2012 Publishers: Sony Developers: Thatgamecompany Genre: Adventure |
In games, enjoyment normally comes from the pursuit of a high score or the defeat of a tough enemy or the culmination of an epic plot. In Journey, enjoyment comes from the experience itself. There is no score, no combat and no explicit story. Many of the things gamers have come to expect in a game have been stripped out. By removing extraneous systems, ThatGameCompany has created a masterpiece capable of evoking emotion in surprising ways.
From the moment you step into the world of Journey, you’ll understand how unique it is. At first, you can only interact with the world by trudging through the thick sand dunes that stretch to the horizon. Your only sense of direction is a series of odd objects protruding from the sand in the distance. After you crest the first hill, you’ll notice a glowing mountain in the distance. It’s immediately obvious that this is your goal. The rest of the game is spent flying through the air, dropping beneath the planet’s surface, and scaling an insurmountable snow storm in order to reach the glimmering beacon of hope between two far-off cliffs. Along the way, you’ll team up with random human players, discover the odd creatures that inhabit the world and search for upgrades to your one piece of equipment: your scarf.
From the moment you step into the world of Journey, you’ll understand how unique it is. At first, you can only interact with the world by trudging through the thick sand dunes that stretch to the horizon. Your only sense of direction is a series of odd objects protruding from the sand in the distance. After you crest the first hill, you’ll notice a glowing mountain in the distance. It’s immediately obvious that this is your goal. The rest of the game is spent flying through the air, dropping beneath the planet’s surface, and scaling an insurmountable snow storm in order to reach the glimmering beacon of hope between two far-off cliffs. Along the way, you’ll team up with random human players, discover the odd creatures that inhabit the world and search for upgrades to your one piece of equipment: your scarf.
I hate sand...
Shortly after your first steps in Journey, you run into outcroppings of flying cloth that empower your scarf and enable you to jump. Your scarf serves as a power meter that indicates how long you can jump. You’ll need to refill it by coming into contact with the cloth that sprouts from the ground or floats through the air in order to make long jumps and reach new areas. Runes of light that can lengthen your scarf are scattered throughout the world, and you’ll eventually be flying great distances and using airborne cloth to bolster your jump as your twenty foot long scarf trails from your neck.
The controls in Journey are simple. The left and right analog sticks are used for movement and camera movement respectively. You can also use the six-axis controls to swivel the camera, but I found myself using only the analog stick. The X button launches you into the air and O button sends out a short wave of energy that brings fabric and runes to life. The majority of the game is spent using your pulse ability to awaken fabric that you can use to fly through the air and scale towers or cliffs. Occasionally, you’ll be able to slide down mountains as if you were snowboarding. These sequences are exhilarating and a great change of pace from the slower walking sequences.
Early in my Journey, I was surprised when I saw a group of fabric strands spring to life far in the distance. I swiveled the camera and watched as another traveler emerged from the strands and flew into the air. Just the sight of another living creature was enough to send me running across the dunes to make contact. Up to this point, it was just me and the fabric in a world devoid of life. I chased the other traveler and noticed that he had a much longer scarf. He’d obviously played the game before and knew where to look for scarf upgrades. At first, he seemed to be running away from me, speeding up rocks and flying away swiftly. Then, when he realized I wasn’t going away, he gave in and let me follow closely. We spent the next thirty minutes or so working together to traverse the environment and he even waited for me when I fell behind. We began communicating with energy pulses, and I was surprised at how much could be conveyed with a single tone and directed movement. The sense of camaraderie was something I’d never experienced in a game.
The controls in Journey are simple. The left and right analog sticks are used for movement and camera movement respectively. You can also use the six-axis controls to swivel the camera, but I found myself using only the analog stick. The X button launches you into the air and O button sends out a short wave of energy that brings fabric and runes to life. The majority of the game is spent using your pulse ability to awaken fabric that you can use to fly through the air and scale towers or cliffs. Occasionally, you’ll be able to slide down mountains as if you were snowboarding. These sequences are exhilarating and a great change of pace from the slower walking sequences.
Early in my Journey, I was surprised when I saw a group of fabric strands spring to life far in the distance. I swiveled the camera and watched as another traveler emerged from the strands and flew into the air. Just the sight of another living creature was enough to send me running across the dunes to make contact. Up to this point, it was just me and the fabric in a world devoid of life. I chased the other traveler and noticed that he had a much longer scarf. He’d obviously played the game before and knew where to look for scarf upgrades. At first, he seemed to be running away from me, speeding up rocks and flying away swiftly. Then, when he realized I wasn’t going away, he gave in and let me follow closely. We spent the next thirty minutes or so working together to traverse the environment and he even waited for me when I fell behind. We began communicating with energy pulses, and I was surprised at how much could be conveyed with a single tone and directed movement. The sense of camaraderie was something I’d never experienced in a game.
I get it. You scarf is longer than mine.
Then it happened. We were sliding down the side of a mountain and he fell behind. By the time I looked back, he was so far gone that the telltale white glow at the edge of the screen to indicate his direction had disappeared. I frantically tried to stop sliding and climb back up the mountain, but it was impossible. I was alone again. I had no choice but to move on.
By the time I finished my first playthrough, I met four more players, each with their own personalities and scarf sizes. I couldn’t believe how affected I was by finding someone to journey with and inevitably losing them. Multiplayer in this game is on a whole new level. Given only a rudimentary means of communication and no obligation to stay together, you’ll be surprised by the bond that you build with other players. At the end of your Journey, you’re presented with the PSN ID’s of your companions so you can send them friend requests or at least connect a name to a scarf.
All of this happens in one of the most interesting and beautiful worlds in a game. Stark reds and yellows paint the sand and rocks, and the lighting provides contrast through the different areas of the game. You’ll fall beneath the surface to find everything drenched in shades of blue or make your way back to the surface through a green landscape. Eventually, sand turns to snow, and the warm colors from the beginning of the game disappear. One sequence has you sliding through an ancient ruin at dusk and the way the lighting changes the visuals had me commenting out loud. In the hazy red light, everything is rendered in solid colors and silhouettes. There isn’t a single section of this game that seems uninspired or drab. The whole experience is a simplistic, striking visual treat.
By the time I finished my first playthrough, I met four more players, each with their own personalities and scarf sizes. I couldn’t believe how affected I was by finding someone to journey with and inevitably losing them. Multiplayer in this game is on a whole new level. Given only a rudimentary means of communication and no obligation to stay together, you’ll be surprised by the bond that you build with other players. At the end of your Journey, you’re presented with the PSN ID’s of your companions so you can send them friend requests or at least connect a name to a scarf.
All of this happens in one of the most interesting and beautiful worlds in a game. Stark reds and yellows paint the sand and rocks, and the lighting provides contrast through the different areas of the game. You’ll fall beneath the surface to find everything drenched in shades of blue or make your way back to the surface through a green landscape. Eventually, sand turns to snow, and the warm colors from the beginning of the game disappear. One sequence has you sliding through an ancient ruin at dusk and the way the lighting changes the visuals had me commenting out loud. In the hazy red light, everything is rendered in solid colors and silhouettes. There isn’t a single section of this game that seems uninspired or drab. The whole experience is a simplistic, striking visual treat.
And the same can be said for the music. The ambient tones set the mood perfectly and a minor chord can strike fear in your heart as you approach an area that you know hides a dark secret. The music and lighting work together to forecast your emotions and they make you feel more connected to the world and characters than most games with full-blown cut scenes.
Journey is an artistic masterpiece. Every part of the world has been lovingly crafted, and every visual and aural component imbues the player with emotion. Meeting or losing another player as you trek through the world is one of the most moving experiences I’ve had in a game. Thatgamecompany has mastered the art of implication, evoking emotion by stripping out needless systems and honing in on a core message carried gracefully by interactions with a mysterious world. Journey is a game that every gamer should experience multiple times. There’s a lot of room for experiences like this in the market and I’m glad that the team behind Cloud, Flow, Flower, and now Journey isn’t afraid to take chances when it comes to communicating a vision.
Journey is an artistic masterpiece. Every part of the world has been lovingly crafted, and every visual and aural component imbues the player with emotion. Meeting or losing another player as you trek through the world is one of the most moving experiences I’ve had in a game. Thatgamecompany has mastered the art of implication, evoking emotion by stripping out needless systems and honing in on a core message carried gracefully by interactions with a mysterious world. Journey is a game that every gamer should experience multiple times. There’s a lot of room for experiences like this in the market and I’m glad that the team behind Cloud, Flow, Flower, and now Journey isn’t afraid to take chances when it comes to communicating a vision.
