Mention the word "journey" to your friends and right away they'll probably break out into an embarrassing round of "Don't Stop Believin'"...and won't shut up until you smack them in the head.  However, that name recognition may change this year, as thatgamecompany, the developer behind such outstanding efforts as flOW and Flower, are putting together an exquisite new downloadable experience for PlayStation Network.  Say hello to Journey.

In the game, you play this dark hooded figure who must make his (or her?) way across desert landscapes, trying to resolve the mystery as to why he (or she) is there.  Now, this may look like the typical sort of action platformer at first glance, but the game doesn't pit you against a barrage of enemies.  Instead, your job is to merely find your way, and take in the sights of what's all around you while you do.

We chatted a bit with Kellee Santiago, the co-founder of the developers at thatgamecompany, about Journey's goals, and she explained it's a bit like Flower, with gameplay that doesn't resort in violence and instead has a focus on puzzle-solving, with traditional jump and glide platforming thrown in for good measure.  Along the way, you'll discover a number of characters who help you along your course, either chiding you to follow them to the next area or helping you solve a puzzle that you may be befuddled by otherwise.

Your character in Journey doesn't have a life bar, nor is there really a need for one since enemies don't do harm to you in this world.  Rather, you have a scarf, and over the course of the game, you can find small scarf fragments, which in turn help you gain new abilities, such as being able to jump higher.  You're only able to use these abilities for a limited time, and then have to refill the scarf to use them again.  Luckily, there are spots over the course of each world where you can easily pick up fragments and move about your way.

thatgamecompany has become relatively known for making some truly gorgeous games, between the microscopic world it created for flOW and the gorgeous environments it's produced for Flower.  However, Journey really transcends both experiences, with a brilliant looking utopia that you wander through in real time.  There's a lot to see here, and everything from the changes within eac stage to the fluid movements of your main character sparkles on the screen.  There's never really been a downloadable game as beautiful as this.  We didn't hear much from the sound, but we expect thatgamecompany to produce a solid atmospheric soundtrack, along with minimal (but effective) use of sound effects.

Along with being able to travel through the game solo, Journey also offers the opportunity to hook up with a friend online through the PlayStation Network, solving puzzles and exploring new worlds together.  We didn't get a chance to try this out yet, but we have complete faith that thatgamecompany will put it off with ease.

This is only the developer's third game project thus far, but Kellee and her team have painted some bold strokes on PSN before this, and Journey will only make their resume that much better, we believe.  You can check out the video below, a full walkthrough of the demo, to get an idea what to expect when the game completes its trek to the PlayStation 3 this summer.  We'll review it then for sure.

About the Author

Robert Workman

Senior Writer/Editor

Robert has years of experience in the video game industry, writing for such sites as AOL GameDaily, PlanetXbox360 and Comic Book Resources.  He can also outdrink you any day of the week.  And twice on Sunday.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/thedcd.