Blueberry Garden (PC)
No, I do not want that rock.
6/19/2009 11:42 AM | 17 Comments | Page 2 of 2
What's Hot: Unexpected sandbox moments; Haunting music that makes you think about your lost childhood.
What's Not: Birds are frisky; A struggle to play.
Ryan Kuo
Status: ('______') -- blorp blorp I'm a DJ blorp blorp blorp
But isn't it significant that
Blueberry Garden is better observed over someone's shoulder than it is played? As an art object, it's full of atmosphere and events: Trees sprout, the earth quakes, big things fall down. You might collide in mid-air with a bird, or drown by accident, after which you'll reappear at the beginning with a pop.
As happenings in a strange world, these events exude a mythic aura. But for all their aesthetic style, they feel inconsequential as gameplay. I think it's because
Blueberry Garden -- the game -- feels like work. To its credit, the 2-D world is surprisingly freeform within its narrow margins. No two playthroughs are quite the same -- you'll use items differently, reach different areas, find different objects, and end up with a different world each time.
Some Mayo and Bread Would Go Nice With That Garden.
Nonetheless,
Blueberry Garden seems reluctant to have you interact with it, as if it'd rather be admired from a distance. You walk on surfaces. You jump, awkwardly, over chasms and animals. You fly in straight lines, weaving left and right to go higher (think wall jump with no walls). And you get stuck
a lot -- on rocks, between surfaces, amidst flocks of birds. You never feel physically integrated into the world, and emotionally invested in the game by extension. As a result, your actions don't feel empowering; they feel somewhat desperate. The question I most often asked myself was, "Will this get me out of here?"
As an indie game without the mandate of selling millions,
Blueberry Garden clearly enjoys a nonconformist stance. However, it still doesn't work. If games were like blenders or vacuum cleaners, I'd note that
Blueberry Garden costs $5, offers about an hour of gameplay, and will hold up to at least one replay; and let you make the informed-consumer decision. But this is a perfect example of why aesthetics and emotions matter most in games: They're so often a missed opportunity.
This review is based on a downloadable copy of the game provided by the publisher.
