Platform: PlayStation 3

Genre: Interactive Art

Number of Players: 1

Support: HD 720p
PlayStation Eye Required

I really have enjoyed the fact that since Eye of Judgment was released, there have been some really unique download opportunities via the PlayStation Network Store that aren’t necessarily something that you would call a game. This was first seen with the release of flOw, a title that is labeled as a piece of interactive art, but now art has been taken to a new level thanks to the PlayStation Eye. If you ever wondered why it was that stores carried the camera apart from the Eye of Judgment, this is one of the many reasons that will explain why.

Mesmerize: Distort is yet another piece of interactive art and you absolutely will need to have the PS3 Eye in order to utilize this title. The downloads that specifically use this product won’t allow you to begin play, or manipulation is this case, without it. What Mesmerize: Distort is would be something that is akin to a screensaver, at least to some extent, but not necessarily along the lines of Aquatopia which would still function without you needing to interact at all. Mesmerize is art first and foremost, but in this case, it is you who are the art or at the very least, create it.

There are a number of different visual effects that you can manipulate and if you’re not happy with one of them, you can even delete them. You will notice on the initial menu there is a random option that will select from your current catalog of effects, but you are more than welcome to use whichever one you would like. The overall idea behind Mesmerize is extremely basic as you simply move your body; hands really seem to work the best, to manipulate the effects on screen. Some of these are ever-present and your interaction will change them while others only appear as you move, but as simple as it may be, it can be a rather entrancing feature for the PS3 and one that I’m certain some who are studying alternative horticulture will spend hours engrossed in.

The Fallout visual fills the screen with a series of colored cubes. By moving, pushing your hand in a forward motion, and just about anything else you can possibly dream up, the cube will light up even further and then fall away, then reappear a few moments later. Blurmotion allow you to move your hands and they will be followed by a tracer effect while a light fog fills the screen. Both of these elements periodically change colors to provide a nice visual effect. The Flora effect I personally think is one of the best with this set of effects. It is somewhat similar to Blurmotion, but the tracers now become plants and by clapping your hands or making any sound, the buds will sprout into plants. Genepool fills the screen with what looks like digital cells. As you move your hands, it will clear them out of the screen and if you clap your hands, they all are replaced. The final visual is pincushion. This is much like Fallout, but you will see everything in the room that you have the Eye set up, so it’s something of a distorted picture. As you move around, the “pins” will move along with you, and like many of the effects, this visual will rotate through a series of different colors. You can also adjust the ambient noises and music via the pause menu or exit to the main screen from here to choose a new effect.

Finding screenshots for this particular title isn’t exactly an easy thing, and so in this rare game review, we haven’t included any. Even if we did, it really doesn’t give you an idea of exactly what the title does, so instead I recommend a visit to youtube as there are plenty of well put together videos that show the title in action.

Mesmerize: Distort does have a tendency to grow a little stale after a while, but keep in mind that it’s meant to be interactive art and not a game that you’ll sit and play for hours on end, unless of course you’re in the right frame of mind. This is the type of thing that I think would work well at someplace like Sony Style, set up as a part of a front television to attract people’s attentions and bring them in to find out more about this curious thing in the front window, but that’s not to say it’s only for that purpose. Mesmerize: Distort can be a lot of fun as well, at least for a short time, and shows that developers are thinking of some very interesting future possibilities with the PS3 as well as the new Eye, and this is merely a sample of what the future holds.

-mike-