Friday, June 24, 2011

Shadow of the Colossus - PlayStation 2 Essentials


Genre: Action-Adventure
Rating: T
Developer: Team Ico
Composer: Kow Otani
Release Date: October 18, 2005
Platforms: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3
Co-op: No
Split-Screen: No
Game Summary: Armed with nothing more than a sword, a nameless hero and his horse travel to a land of forgotten legend. Vast, desolate, and serene, this land holds many secrets, one being sixteen colossi who together have the power to bring mortals back to life.
Wrapped in black cloth a lifeless body lies draped across the forward portion of a horse. With little time to spare, our hero hurries to harness the power of all sixteen colossi and save the woman he loves.



Review: I have never played a game as captivating and immersive as this. Expertly crafted visually, audibly, and aesthetically, Shadow of the Colossus has earned a spot as one of my all time favorite PS2 games, and for that matter, one of my all time favorites on any system.

Shadow of the Colossus is unlike many others. Rather than bombarding its player with hundreds of small battles, henchman, ect. the game only encompasses sixteen boss fights (Don’t get me wrong. You won't feel cheated). Each boss fight is more astonishing and intense than the last. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t say too much. The less you know going into the game, the better it will be. But essentially, each boss fight is a puzzle, and you must somehow find a way to take down each colossus, usually by climbing up them and stabbing them to death.

In-between boss fights are periods of travel where you and your horse explore the desolate and beautiful lands while searching for the next colossus. This time between battles helps to pace the game. As well as this, it gives the player time to appreciate the extraordinary environment created for this game. Lakes, oceans, plains, deserts, and mountains, all finely detailed and sparsely speckled with wildlife, transport the player to a captivating, new world.

The game is an absolute work of art. For the time of its release in 2005 its graphics were practically unparalleled. Even by today's standards it is hard not to marvel at the sheer enormity of the game and the level of detail that was put into its environments, as well as the colossi. Many of the colossi are enormous, towering hundreds of feet above the protagonist and look, sound, and move as if they were so. It is rare for a game to successfully establish monsters with such weight and presence as in the game. I was also amazed at how well your character interacts with the colossi while climbing up them. No matter where your character is situated while climbing, he dangles, trips, and falls in the the exact way you would expect someone to while climbing a three-hundred foot tall giant. Impressive!

To top off the game is a well written score by Kow Otani . His compositions match the game perfectly. The soundtrack includes forty-two different songs, aiding to the mystery of the world and the intensity of each boss fight.
*Kow Otani is a well established japanese composer who has delved in anime, films, and video games; however, he is most famous for scoring such films as Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), Godzilla, Mothra and KIng Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out attack (2001), and Like Asura (2003).

Shadow of the Colossus is phenomenal game. I could go on, but the only way to really understand the greatness that is Shadow of the Colossus is by playing it. Every game enthusiast should play this game!

Positives:
Enticing story
16 great boss fights
Stunning visuals

Negatives:
Sometimes it is difficult to get on you horse?

Score: 10/10

If you like this game you may want to play
1. Ico.(2001)
2. The Last Guardian.(TBA)

These are other games developed by Team Ico.

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