RBS' Gaming Corner - Journey (PS3)

I began 2013 by going on a beautiful journey that opened my eyes to the world of independent (indy) games. On New Years Day I finally got to play the critically acclaimed indy game from ThatGameCompany, Journey, for the Playstation 3. I was stunned at the beauty of this game. The game itself is short at about an hour and a half to two hours on a straight run but players have the luxury of exploring the massive open environment which can increase the play time and enjoyment you experience.

The games controls are very easy as they only consist of four buttons/actions; character movement, camera movement, jumping/flight, and “talking”. The game easily walks you through these controls in the opening moment which is quite nice.

The music in the game is beautiful and rightly captures the moment from the beautiful exploration and discovery of new ruins to the heart-pounding moments you encounter the game’s “enemy” (the term is used loosely here). Visually the game is absolutely stunning and could not be more gorgeous. From vast landscapes and temple ruins to the snow capped mountain, the environment is stunning. You cannot help but stop at certain moments to simply just look around and take it all in. The imagery of this game is outstandingly realized. I have to admit that this game has the best environmental graphics I’ve ever seen in a video game.

Throughout the game you run into other characters roaming the landscapes which (*possible minor spoiler) turn out to be other gamers going on their own journey in real time with you. You can choose to go by these players and play on your own but I feel the game gets more exciting if you team up with another player. Just before the halfway point of my journey I met up with a player I nicknamed “Bob”. (I just randomly assigned the player a gender/name.) Not only was it fun running around with “Bob”, but he was able to help me out through the game and show me where things were which was great. Also, “talking” to each other was incredibly fun.

I recommend this game to all gamers and cannot stress the amount of fun that you will have. Replayability is very high and each play through will stir up a new batch of emotions that you may have thought impossible by a video game.

Rating: 10/10