Journey review.

We go to games for several reasons. Fun, escapism, and sometimes to learn things. If you played Journey and didn't understand or appreciate it, you probably go to games purely for the fun of them and for a different kind of escape from realism than can be found in the gaming masterpiece that is Journey. Heaven forbid that a game should promote world peace instead of oppose it. Perhaps those players who decided Journey was not for them should return to the same old same old of COD and FIFA. I don't mean to pigeon-hole players who have said this about Journey but in many cases it's players who prefer classic shoot-em-ups and causing violence than actually being made to think and indulging with some deep ideas, both of which can be gained from a game like Journey.

I've played few games recently which I've wanted to replay - but Journey  made it easy. It took me a little over 2 and a half hours to play through the first time - I wanted to explore, get a feel for the game, etc. I was lucky enough to find a lot of good companions my first time round. Needless to say my first experience of this game was a good one and it's left me crying more than once - for it's sheer beauty to it's wonderful messages and also the slight melancholy aspect it has to it.

At once I got it into my head that Journey takes place after a cataclysm or war has ravashed a once thriving civilisation - and this world is now what could be called 'post-apocalyptic' in a sense. But you won't find grey gritty landscapes, far from it. Journey's sand animations are beautiful, the sun shining off it is stunning, and their use of colour to create environments is astounding. Rarely have I seen a minimalist game achieve so much with so little. The controls are wonderfully simple, and the chirping/singing control breaks down any language barrier players may have - and I've played with others on the online version of this from Germany, Japan, and many other countries.

Despite the loneliness and lack of hope this game seems to have, the Journey you take throughout play-throughs means you discover more and more about the world, in environments you thought you'd seen everything in. Journey gives a sense of hope and replenishment after what the story tells you happened, and that making this Journey helps in some way, to learn what happened before and how to right past wrongs. There are many other types of symbolism that can be gained from this - despite a story depicted by murals. There is a generally accepted version of events, but as mentioned, a lot of other things and even the story itself is open to individual interpretation.

A game that has replay value, ease of use, accessible to just about anyone with £10/$15 in their pocket, made me stop and think, made me cry with sadness and joy, is a game worth buying and cherishing forever.