Shadow of the Colossus
Writen by Leroy on Sunday, 26 of February , 2006 at 3:40 am, ,
After the cult classic ICO had arrived, it left gamers with a different outlook on games, seeing them not just as a simple videogame, but as interactive art. It was the critics’ darling (including me) and one of the most enchanting and beautiful games to ever grace the consoles.
Now Fumito Ueda is back with what could only be described as a spiritual sequel to ICO.
The main protagonist of Shadow of the Colossus has no name but will be called the Wanderer from now on. Wanderer has under instruction from an ominous voice to go out, find, and slay 16 colossi in order to revive a girl for reasons unknown. With only a sword, bow the clothes on his back and with his irrefutable love for this girl, he sets out to accomplish this daunting task.
The idea of SotC is going to cause quite a few people to turn and run away from this, as the concept sounds quite empty. Depending on how you look at the game, and what it has to offer will be vital to whether or not you hate, or love this game. You are instructed to go out, and with the help of your trusty steed and magical sword (that will pin point the area where you should be heading by holding it up to the sunlight), you will first find the Colossi, then you must figure out how to get its weak spot, then the small matter of killing it. You are then attacked by black smoke and returned to the temple, rinse, lather and repeat. But if you only see the game from that point of view and nothing more, I can only feel sorry for you as you are missing the point, the rush of emotions you will experience while battling these behemoths is unlike you ever seen. Try and find another game that does what this does and you will fail, and only more reason to appreciate what you are playing.
On to the main characters of this whole shebang, the star themselves the Colossi, and this is where you begin to realize what you are playing is something special. Every single one of these gargantuan structures is unique in its own way, you will be hard pressed to not at least love most of them, making slaying them a stressful ordeal. Each Colossus, are like a giant mobile puzzle, each requiring different strategies in order to scale them. And it’s not just a simple case of, the further you go the bigger they get, the Colossi come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
However, these beasts aren’t simply going to bend over and let you stab them to death, some Colossi are a lot more restrained then others, choosing to ignore until provoked, or to simply try and defend themselves. Others won’t take kindly to your intrusion of their personal space and will make it their top priority to crush you into tiny pieces. It adds great flavor to battles and by the end of it you will have personal favorites. Take my favorite, number 13, in my honest opinion it is the finest moment in gaming history and number 12, I would happily stand there for another hour stabbing it to a slow and agonizing death.
With all the positives in Shadow of the Colossus, it has its problems. Take the camera for instance, the majority of the time you will find yourself having to battle the camera while trying to avoid the crushing blows of your enemy simultaneously. When you finally win the battle, it will leave you completely drained of energy. The camera of course is only trying to help and only has the best intentions, it will always attempt to give you the best perspective of the battle, which yes looks stunning but isn’t really helpful from a gameplay point of view and will usually end in you falling and having to start from scratch.
The frame rate is very choppy although it never actually affects your progress, and there are also some graphical glitches. But putting those little niggles aside and you have a visually stunning game. The landscapes in this massive game world will leave you wide mouthed in sheer amazement. A lot of the times, you will get lost looking for your next Colossus usually due to a lack of concentration, as you stare in awe at the sights around you. There are a variety of areas to explore and each will have their own special place in your mind. From forests, raging waterfalls, towering cliff sides, serene beaches your eyes are consistently treated in Shadow of the Colossus.
While not perfect, allow me to introduce you to the music, the one undeniably perfect part of SotC. Simply stunning doesn’t do it justice and sets the new benchmark for in game music, every song perfectly capturing the heat of the battle as it bellows in every kind of pitch and note immersing you in the titanic struggle, then slowing down as the clash comes to an end, leaving you with the aftermath and letting you feel the guilt of what you’ve done. Sure you will hear some of the songs again and again, but as you reach for the heavens, it won’t matter. The negatives are completely obliterated by the positives.
ICO managed to compel gamers with its simplistic Gameplay, unique visual style and heart-warming storyline. It managed to tug the heartstrings leaving all that played ICO emotionally touched like never before. Anyone who played ICO will always look back with fond memories. Shadow of the Colossus has achieved this with incredible ease while taking an entirely new path; this can only be praise for the fantastically gifted development team that can’t do no wrong.
With the ps2 on its last limb, Shadow of the Colossus is a prime showcase for why maybe; next gen isn’t quite needed yet. With all the daunting next gen titles flooding out and flexing their muscles, Shadow of the Colossus stands sound and elegant.
A Colossal achievement, pun absolutely intended.
[9]
Category: Videogames
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