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The ICO team strikes again. Shadow of the Colossus isn’t the highly anticipated sequel to ICO, but is developed from the same team that developed the critically acclaimed game of a few years back. While the game isn’t a sequel, it shares many similarities in style with ICO, providing an instantly comfortable atmosphere for fans of that game. Others will simply take delight in the top-notch gameplay that the game also provides.
Shadow of the Colossus doesn’t bother to detail the story too much for you. In the beginning, you don’t know too much about what is going on; you’re simply told that you’re a young man who has to restore the health of someone who he deeply loved. We are given further details about the young man or who the girl us. We are told that you’ll have to destroy 16 colossi that roam the land to restore her health. With that in mind, you set out to accomplish this task. Though you play as a principal character, by the end of the adventure you begin to wonder if he is really the hero. You’re essentially destroying these colossi to accomplish your own goal. Most of them are actually curious to see you and only a few will attack you before you attack them.
The core gameplay is a series of huge boss fights. The game doesn’t introduce smaller enemies along the way which is commendable since it just makes the boss fights all the more exciting. While we would have appreciated a longer game, we wouldn’t have wanted it to be filler experience. Everything in the game now adds to make it a better game. To accomplish the task, you’ll leave the temple, find the colossus, and kill it. After each kill, you’re transported back to the temple where you’ll set out to get the next one. Getting there isn’t particularly difficult either. You’re only armed with your hose, a sword, and a bow and arrow. The sword acts like a virtual compass, coming into focus if you point it in the right direction. Getting to your destination often involves simply running in the right direction though sometimes you’ll have to complete some light platforming as you get through obstacles like canyons. The game is narrow in scope but fulfilling nonetheless.
The battles are where Shadow of the Colossus really shines. A bulk of the entertainment factor from the game comes from figuring out how to defeat these massive creatures, each of which has a very specific and unique way to do so. You’ll have to make good use of your limited weapons and the environment to figure out where the monster’s weak point is. These battles are quite epic and very frantic since you’ll not only have to identify the weak zone but also strike it there. To do this, you’ll often have to climb up the colossi themselves and try to hit it before it throws you off. Though physics tells us that it is nearly impossible to survive a several-hundred feet fall, the game’s character does so with ease, taking only a bit of damage for the fall. Some of the colossi reach skyscraper heights, though some of the “smaller” ones are only house sized. It is breathtaking to see these massive creatures tower around, and since each one is unique you’ll get a wildly different experience from each of them.
Shadow of the Colossus manages to maintain the same artistic flair that was so prevalent in ICO. There are distinct similarities in the overall look of the game, but more specifically in the characters and architecture of the game. The developers were very careful to flawlessly design the environments they meant to create, meaning that all of the different types from caverns to lakes to deserts look excellent. Aside from excellent character models, all of the different characters animate very well. You’ll notice that the horse moves around with uncanny realism and the impact of the colossi moving around. Technologically, it is impressive that the game never loads and that it supports progressive scan and widescreen modes. Unfortunately, some other technological elements don’t behave quite as well. The frame rate is pretty stable throughout most of the game but falls when there are enemies on screen which is a bit disappointing.
The game’s aural presentation is equally splendid. The voice acting is amazing; it often times uses a fictional language that enhances the game’s dreamy atmosphere. The sound effects are excellent, most notably the top-notch ambient effects from water and the wind bristling by. The soundtrack is a very powerful and dynamic orchestral score that picks up when the action picks up.
Shadow of the Colossus is definitely recommended for the PlayStation 2. It is one of the system’s finer games, and one of the games that makes a good argument for counting videogames as a proper source of art. The game is of adequate length—about 12 hours—but offers excellent gameplay throughout. Fans of ICO will undoubtedly want it, though the presentation alone may make it an interesting purchase for others. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 22, 2005
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