Shadow of the Colossus Sony Computer Entertainment Team Ico

Basic Information Exclusive for the PS2 Action/Adventure $19.99

Story The game opens with the main character Wander traveling into the forbidden land on his horse Argo. When he arrives he enters a large shrine in the middle of the forbidden land and takes a body wrapped in cloth from Argo's back, revealing a girl. From an opening in the tall ceiling of the shrine Wander hears the disembodied voice of a mysterious entity known as Dormin. Dormin instructs Wander that he must dispatch 16 Colossi in exchange for the power to resurrect the girl.

Interface The user interface is rather minimal. The health of the current Colossus is displayed at the top left. The health, grip meter, and current weapon of Wander are displayed at the bottom right.

User Role and Gameplay The player takes the role of Wander as he travels, defeating the Colossi. Before fighting a Colossus, Wander must first find them using his magic sword, which shines a beam of sunlight in the direction of the current enemy. Some fights are done with the help of Argo, while others must leave him behind.

Gameplay cont. While each fight is different in some way, the overall goal is always to climb on top of the colossus and stab it in its glowing vital points. The vital points are made visible by Wander's magic sword. Colossi will shake and dive and do anything they can to stop Wander from being able to stab. If his grip runs out, he falls.

Scoring Story - 7/10 Gameplay - 8/10 Music - 10/10 Art - 9/10 Lasting Appeal - 9/10 Overall - 9/10

Music and Sound The music of the game is comprised of orchestra pieces and epic scores. The sound effects are generally well done. Small things like the way hoof beats and footsteps change and echo based on materials and enclosure of the space create an immersive and complete world.

Art and Animation Ruins and the Colossi have a grand sense of scale and really feel large and intricately carved. The way each Colossus moves whether it be large, small, bipedal, serpentine, flying, etc. seems natural to its form. Wander's animations help to reinforce him as a character. He isn't a hero or well trained but his determination is seen in his every move. When a Colossus casts him aside you can see the pain and overwhelming power that he is up against but he still tries to get back up. His sword attacks are sloppy and exaggerated and not the moves of someone skilled with swords. This helps to foreshadow that the sword isn't his.

Review The game brings a very interesting concept to the table with its boss-only play style. Interesting mixes of puzzles and fighting make each Colossus interesting and fun to engage. With all of the Colossi having different strategies and difficulty levels the game could often become frustrating when a Colossus clashed with the play style of the character. Its main competitor was probably the Zelda franchise. I think Shadow of the Colossus did a fine job of digging out their own part of the Action/Adventure genre and gave PS2 owners a proper alternative to the Nintendo exclusive, Zelda. While I wouldn't say that it is “better” than Zelda, people who don't like dungeon crawling and backtracking were provided an enjoyable alternative. The game was meant to be played by people in their teens and older interested in Action/Adventure games on the PS2. Due to blood and a bleak atmosphere it is also possible that the game creators had males in mind.

Summary Strengths Solid and well thought out animations. Each Colossus requires a different strategy to defeat. Interesting boss fight only concept. Lasting appeal though time attacks, collectables, and difficulty modes. Weaknesses Navigation system doesn't work in low/no sunlight and valleys tend to double as mazes. Some of the smaller Colossi have too short of a delay between shake off animations. Long periods where you can't even get off small stabs.