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  • Our fascination with ‘Unfinished Swan’, a first encounter

     

    Giant Sparrow is a small and incredibly unique development company working under Sony’s Santa Monica Studio. The team is currently putting together their PSN debut ‘Unfinished Swan’. A title that reflects the development team’s goal which states, “Our dream is to make the world a stranger, more interesting place. 

     

    That is exactly what the “Unfinished Swan” is at this point, interesting and very strange. Designed for the Playstation Move, Unfinished Swan features Monroe, a young boy with a mother that has a habit of starting paintings but never finishing them. One of these paintings is of a swan, hence the name of the title. One day the swan vanishes from the painting and Monroe begins his quest to find it.

     

    The game is a white screen, an empty canvas with no sense of depth or perspective. When players begin to “paint” the canvas suddenly; rooms, items, floors and ceilings appear. What once was an empty void slowly creates an entire room, which then becomes an entire world. The gameplay is a very stimulating experience, you begin picturing the rest of the room as bits of it are revealed, though are consistently surprised by its hidden treasures.

     

    The game centers around invoking the player’s sense of imagination, wonder and discovery. Anything can be in front of you and you wouldn’t even know it until you “paint” it. You don’t know how large the room your in is, or if your even inside or outside. It’a a marvelous idea and a gameplay mechanic that seems to be a perfect fit for the Playstation Move.

     

    There is story-line however, you are still trying to find your missing swan at first. As you interact more with the world, you will discover different locals and characters. The story continues with a “story-book” approach, this allows players to read more about the situations and “world” they find themselves in.

     

    This may seem vague, but that is the point of ‘Unfinished Swan’, knowing what’s coming next or not discovering the world on your own ruins the game. Exploration, discovery and chance, these are crucial ingredients in what will make the title work.

     

    While enjoying tech demos and presentations, the game reminded me of the excitement I felt from using decoder-rings, invisible pens and those glasses you wore to read special messages inside cereal boxes as a kid. Childlike surprise and wonderment come from the player and enhance the game, getting you emotionally invested in the world is the studio’s job.

     

    You can watch the E3 2012 trailer for Unfinished Swan below, to get a better sense of where the game aims to take players. There are also a few screens that you can enjoy. Expect to hear a lot more from Giant Sparrow and Unfinished Swan over the coming months.

     



     



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