POSTED 6/11/13


PROTEUS

Curve Studios
Vita/PSN + PS3/PSN

Sometimes when you lose your way, you find yourself. Sometimes when you find yourself, you’re still really bloody lost.

It doesn’t matter in Proteus, for which the term ‘game’ can only be applied with a maximum quantity of loosely. Very loosely. Looser than a stick figure hippie’s Pavarotti-proportioned kaftan. Man.

While it sounds like the epitome of wank to label an entertainment like this an ‘experience’, it really is. Imagine Flower, but without any semblance of game-like point, crossed with the aimless parts of Journey, the colour palette of another experiential distraction in Keita Takahashi’s magical Noby Noby Boy, the blockiness of Minecraft (or any 8-bit system if you’re an oldie) and the graphical oomph of, erm, Zarch/Virus from Dave Braben back in the 1980s.

You’re plopped on a – we hesitate to say randomly-generated, as we think there may be some locational trickery at play - island. You’re given no instructions. Instinct soon kicks in. The left stick allows you to trundle about, the right allows you to take in the sights. These may be anything from rock circles to random buildings or big tower-like structures. They could also be flora or fauna – the latter of which might be chickens, frograbbits (it’s all too blocky to make the distinction) or just weird moving Duploesque blobby things.

You’ll experience (there’s that word again) seasonal change, weather veering from sunniness to raininess to snowiness. Depending upon your vibe you’ll either wonder “WTF?” and get angsty, or just go with the flow and chill.

You see, there really is no point to Proteus, except perhaps to take a break and just lollop about your own island, bigger than you, floating along to music that makes The Orb sound hardcore and gently absorbing soothing visuals.

If that sounds appealing then get lost.

CLICK THIS!



CLICK THIS!