Despite it's short length, Journey is still a great experience
Pros:
Beautiful graphics and artwork
Amazing soundtrack
Immersive and memorable atmosphere
A great experience that you will come back to again and again
Unique co-op experience makes it Journey even more engaging
Cons:
Short length (it lasts about 2-3 hours on average)
A little over priced (it's 15$)
Not really any challenge to it.
Journey is a different type of game, the best way to describe it would be "interactive art". It kind of reminds me of the Disney classic film "Fantasia", it's more about the experience and the artistic atmosphere than actual challenge or plot. This however is not a bad thing, especially not in the case of Journey, while it may not have much of a storyline (though it does tell a tale about what happened through beautiful rendered cut scenes, these are brief and have no dialog) it makes up for it through it's experience alone.
This is why Journey is such a hard game to pin down, there isn't really a way to describe it or explain it, you have to experience it to truly understand and appreciate it (like a lot of things in life). But basically what I can say is your journey is based around reaching a tower in the distance, you don't really understand the purpose of this tower but you have a belief it must be there for a reason, so with that you set off on your journey across the desert (though the environment does change later). As you make your way you get to marvel at all the beauty in the game, the way the sand shifts in the wind, the way you sing and churp, the beautiful music and art direction that surrounds you, these will be the things you remember from this game and will be the reason you return to this game.
Along the way you also meet other players who can help you out on your Journey, this is where the co-op experience comes in and it's handled uniquely. There are no PS3 gamer tags above the players, there is no voice chat, the only communication you have between you is the music and churps you make by pressing the circle button. Sounds odd but it actually works out great and makes the experience oddly more memorable. Aside from that you can do other things like recharging each others scarfs that let you fly and work together to solve some puzzles and find some secrets.
Though Journey does have a few downsides, the game is short. It will last you about 2 or 3 hours, it's also a little over priced at 15$, 10$ would have been a more sensible price for this game. Also the game doesn't really have any "challenge" to it, at least not in the traditional sense, and there are only a few enemies but they can't really kill you. Still these problems don't really hurt the core experience of Journey, which is a beautiful game and something you don't want to miss out on.
Final Verdict:
The short length and steep price might scare you a little, but if your willing to look past all that (which you should) then Journey is an experience you'll love and remember.
Journey get's a 4/5
