Datura Critic Reviews

Despite the game itself being very short Datura offers a thrilling world with astonishing sound effects and great control mechanics.

Datura is a game, but most of all an experience. Like a boy scout you walk around in a very peaceful forest which is relaxing. But as you walk along you'll discover that this forest might not be as peaceful as you thought. It does depend on your choices how the game will end, but unfortunately Datura is not very clear about that, so it seems to be a very short game, while there actually are more than ten endings to it.

Still, Datura should be celebrated for exploring the immersive, psychological boundaries of video games. Even though it doesn't have a high production value and it's short even for a $9.99 game, its core message is that this is an artform that has the power to have players experience something that other artforms can only dream of.

If this sort of game doesn't sound appealing, no one can blame you. Datura is arty, a tad obtuse, and the clumsy Move controls don't make it any more accessible. For more methodical, curious gamers, we recommend you download Datura, and play it with a DualShock. Moments from the game have a way sticking in your mind, calling you in for a replay.

Despite having this replayability, the two-hour length makes Datura a hard sell at $9.99. Still, I do recommend trying this unusual, unique psychological experience, if only to see what it's all about and to try and figure out what I means to you-even if it is accompanied by overly frustrating, cumbersome controls.

Despite being woefully short and lacking some genuinely challenging puzzles, Datura is still a captivating and unique experience worth checking out.

You get the feeling Datura's elusive narrative and moral ambiguity was intended to be the subject of rampant speculation. If only it were complimented by proper tactile feedback, or if the whole detached hand mechanism managed a legitimate grasp of Datura's nebulous constructs, we'd be talking more about Datura as a great game and less as an atrophied experience.

Datura suffers from some obvious mechanical issues but remains a very interesting and even unique title. It's short, a little too abstract in some ways, and a tad slow at times, but the quest itself, while not exactly memorable, is always intriguing and even oddly relaxing.

A unique and mysterious experience everyone should give a chance. Its short length and the rather limited Move controls keep it from reaching lofty heights.

Datura deserves credit for its refreshing energy and courage to rethink how a game should look and play, but it's difficult to shake the feeling of an extended PlayStation Move demo.

Datura will satisfy those gamers eager and open to new experiences. It is a strange, twisted game, but also a very original one, although only recommended for those wanting to experience something really different that won't necessarily satisfy them.

Every time we solved a puzzle we found ourselves in a totally different locale. Behind the wheel of a car, on a barren surface of ice or right in the middle of an ongoing war. Are they memories? Fantasies? Or is the forest a dream world? And who is that guy with the shotgun?.

Datura only takes you about two hours to complete, which starts off by twenty minutes of yelling at the Move controller and fiddling with the unfortunate control scheme. It is then followed by a stroll through an absurd and amazing world, that will create an experience you won't soon forget. An experience, however, filled with non-challenging puzzles.

Team Plastic's latest effort is a fine, though flawed, experience for what it is – but it isn't a game. Even played the right way, from your heart, Datura will be for most people a slow journey through a quiet wood.

More of an 'interactive experience' than a game but some shortcomings make Datura hard to really sink into.

Just like an oniric experience, new PSN indie's Datura take us in an astonishing journey through beautiful, twisted Lynch, Burton & Poe's forest of different playable experiencies, emotions and sounds. It's a shame that an unfortunate control scheme through PS Move and a really short gameplay ruin what it could've been one of the most surreal and striking games of PlayStation 3.

Undeniably original, but control clumsiness makes this slow-burning curio hard to recommend.

Those with a taste for the unusual will likely enjoy Datura, as it's contemplative and slow and builds surprising tension at times. But ultimately, it's just an interesting yet flawed experiment.

Short and puzzling in more ways than one. A clunky oddity.

It truly is a shame that Datura doesn't have stronger gameplay. In this medium, gameplay is and always will be king, and no matter how awesome everything else is about a title like Datura, if it doesn't control well, you have to question whether it's worth playing at all.