Shadow of the Colossus

THE BAD:
Short
Framerate at an all-time slowdown.
Controls aren't 100% responsive
The camera
Tedious

SUMMARY:
This game is one of those games that are very, very good with a few minor problems. But it has one thing that makes this game so good it hurts.

Realism

Not too many games have this now that they are going towards mutation, Keyblades and all this power shit going around games these days. Shadow of the Colossus does not have those 3 just mentioned. No, it's real. Well, not that real. Since when was the last time some giant stone animals attacked us? Another non-realistic thing is the fact that the voice can revive the dead. Like, what the hell? No one can do that in real life. The last non-real thing is the fact that if you get smushed by one of the Colossi, you get badly hurt. In real life, you'd die. They're that freaking huge! Other than that, the graphics are quite realistic, the story is sort of realistic and combat is very, very realistic.

Onto the story, you're a nameless traveler (his name is Wander) who has to save his dead girl and some voice can ressurect her, but Wander has to kill the 16 Colossi so that the voice can ressurect the girl. The girl has been dead for some time and Wander had carried her around with his horse, Argo, and they eventually stop at a temple where the voice is. The 16 Colossi are huge giants. And by huge, I mean about as big as all of Australia, and some voice puts you up against these guys? It's joking, right? Well, no, it isn't. Anyway, there isn't much of a story, and it's the same thing. Find the Colossi and kill it, repeat that 15 times and then you can ressurect your girl. But remember that all stories don't need to be long and complicated. Remember Final Fantasy X? That got me in circles with all the plot twists and such. And don't get me started on Tales of Symphonia. At least with this game, the story is quite original, well thought out and simplistic. There's hardly a plot twist as you have to kill 16 giants.

The Colossi will probably be the hardest boss battles you've ever thought (excluding all the ones from Ninja Gaiden and any other non-gun related game). First, you have to find them. Next, you need to find their weaknesses. Thirdly, you need to climb up to them. And finally, you need to stab them there. But who said it was that easy? Be prepared to take a while to kill the Colossi, especially when your sword can't detect their weaknesses. Make sure your R1 button is working, because you'll need it to climb up to the runes on their bodies. You just need to climb up on their hairs or any ledges they have on some body parts as the Colossi are made of stone. If they were made of flesh, this game would be too hard for the newbies (ie. me) to the genre. As for climbing, it has a limit. If the circle goes too small, you will fall, so don't hold on to R1 for too long. This adds to the realism.

Speaking of realism, check the graphics out! No longer are we disspointed with the cel-shading of X-Men Legends II: Rise of Aplocalypse, or the fake-realism of Tekken 5. This game has graphics better than that of God of War. I mean, when was the last time the movements were fluid, not linear? While Wander actually looks like he's turning, in games like Dragon Quest VIII, if you make a sharp turn, you don't 'turn', you simply just go that direction, no realism what-so-ever. As for the landscape, who can argue about them looking greater than all of the landscapes from other games? Probably Square-Enix, otherwise, no one. But whatever you do, DON'T PLAY THIS ON A SMALL TV! If you have a big TV, hell, a plasma screen, the graphics will be more enjoyable. On a small TV, forget it. Oh, and this game loves to pull a lot of slow-downs on you. Why? The PS2 is about 6 frickin years old, and this is suited for something like the 720 or maybe a very well designed 360. But since PS2 is one to not take good graphics very well, this will turn gamers away and will proably await a 360 release which will not happen. Sorry to say, but this should be on the 360 as well. Then it wouldn't slow down as much. But there's still some good. The Colossi are all pale but they are still as good looking as Wander, Agor and the landscape. But, yeah, how does the PS2 manage to support this again? By slowing the whole freaking game down, that's how.

And to add that on, how about we make some easy to remember controls respond as fast as a snail? The controls aren't very responsive. And by that, I mean it'll take a fair bit to stab the Colossi. Also, slightly letting go of R1 and suddenly falling is probably the speed of light reaction, yet when we want to kick some ass, it's suddenly snail-reaction.

Has anyone tried looking at the game's camera? Or trying to get the feel? Holding L1 will get you to look at the Colossi, and the right analogue stick is for the freely camera control. Unlike many gamers, the freely camera control is not my favoute way of looking for weak points and hit it to hell. Unless I'm behind the Colossi and the camera is just in front of the Colossi, on the other side of me, I'm against the freely controled camera. Well, for this game anyway. The right analogue stick is super responsive and, in most cases, will screw you up when trying to find some hair/ledges to climb. Holding L1 doesn't do any better. I don't go for either controls, but it's your choice. As far as the L1 goes, it's even worse and you might as well either trust the right analogue stick or neither.

I quite like the musical score though. When you're around the field, it's just some music that's not memorable. When fighting a Colossi, it's quite... OW! MY EARS! Nah, it's not bad, it's quite good. Just don't turn up the volume, they want to get the message to you that you're going to die to a giant about a million times bigger than you. You barely reach their ankles! And when the Colossi die, the music is the sad kind. I mean, what did it do to you? Why doesn't the voice bother to kick it's ass instead? You didn't need to harm it for the soul of your girl. Well, technically, you did, but these are probably the only 16 giants in the world. I wonder if that's the reason we don't have them anymore. Meh... The music is quite emotional too. When you're out on the field, it's the boring music. When you're in the temple, it's the... something music. When you're fighting the Colossi, it's the exciting kind. When you kill a Colossi, it's the sad kind. It's not too emotional, but this would actually be a game for emo kids. Not really, the Emos would probably pretend to be the Colossi when they hear the incredibally sad music or pretend to be Wander when they get their asses owned by the Colossi. At any rate, the music is good. Oh, and no voices, so that's a good thing because there, there's no/rarely any cutscenes.

As far as anything else goes, nada. Wander wants to save his girl for Christ sake, why do you people always expect more to do? It's too common. The girl comes first, so sidequests are a miss. Actually, all you're doing is killing the Colossi to ressurect your girl. There's no side enemies (other than birds, insects and the like that are real) so that can turn some people off. But here's the thing. The Colossi are quite different from one-another. For one thing, the first 2 are giants with fur and feet, wheras the next one has a sword sort of thing and doesn't just rely on banging the floor to bits, and the one after is a horse headed scorpion Agor is scared of, and the Colossi just keep varying I guess.

How many times did I mention Agor? He's useful! He does what he's told. When you press X and call for Agor, he comes. Agor is a black horse (and no, I'm not being racist, he's literally black. Hex Code #000000) with a saddle. All you get to do with Agor is get from the temple to the Colossi. And to help, you have your sword which must be in sunlight to help you locate each and every Colossi. Sometimes, you're not in sunlight so it'll be hard to locate the Colossi, but most of the time in that situation, you'll be pretty close to it. And you even get to look for them on the beautiful landscape too! However, if you don't like adventuring to look for the Colossi, then re-think that and rent this game, just to see how bad it is. It's not half-bad actually. At least it's possible to find them. How? Your sword! And you even get Agor, the horse, to help you get to the Colossi much faster. If you like adventuring, why not buy this game already!?

I think I've explained all there is to explain without spoiling too much, but there's 2 things left to do.


Breakdown:

Gameplay: 4
It's very original trying to climb up to the Colossi and get him where he's weak the most. The only problem is how tedious this gets. How tedious? The climbing meter adds to realism, but gets really annoying considering that the Colossi love shaking their asses to get you off. Another tedious thing is the camera, otherwise, this has very, very good gameplay.

Control: 4
Sluggish at times, otherwise, quite realistic.

Story: 4
It's simple, but emotional, romantic and has some action in it. I mean, come on, you're saving your girl from death by killing 16 huge giants! The ending is really good too. However, lack of more people lowered this down. Otherwise, it'd be better.

Graphics: 5
Quite good for a PS2 game. It's very, very detailed and not a scatch on it.

Sound: 4
If it wasn't for the fact that there were absolutely no voices (other than the voice), it'd get a 5. The music was to die for and suited the parts of Shadow of the Colossus.

Lifespan: 4
Clocking at around the 12 hour mark, this game does feel unfinished, but I'd like someone to make a PS2 game with graphics better than that and longer than 40 hours (or longer than Xenosaga Ep 2, then you can bitch to these guys all you want, but until then, stop bitching). There's also a hard mode when you finish the game, and if you had fun the first time, this'd be good for a challenge.

Funfactor: 5
"But there wasn't any gore, F words or nudity" Oh, shut the hell up you stupid noob. Go play God of War or Halo 2, that'll keep you busy while use 'real' gamers have fun with this game. Seriously, though, this is the 2nd game that didn't have too much of the red stuff, the bad words or the nekkid peoples that was, in my opinion, very enjoyable. The tedious bits were annoying, but judging how fun it is to find out where the Colossi are weak and the fact that this game wasn't even close to any symptoms of the 'coolness' plague, and this deserved a 5.


Bottom Line:

When was the last time a game like this hit the stores? Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time? No, too long. Umm... I give up. Oh, no, Kingdom Hearts? Not really. This is the sort of game that comes every few years, not from God himself, but more from a good game developing group.

This is like a true piece of art but a few strokes went wonky, making this game a 4.7/5.0. If you have a PS2, play this game! It won't waste any of your time.

THE BAD:
-Camera

-Only the 16 colossi to fight

-Fairly short

SUMMARY:
When a friend of mine told me to buy this game, I was a bit skeptical, as I've never been a big fan of this type of game. But now, I'm glad I did. It is by far one of the best games I have played in a long while.

The first thing I noticed was how huge the environment was. It's completely stunning. The visuals are excellent, some of the best I've seen. It's very immersive and really got me into the game. One important factor is the music. It seems very appropriate and changes based on what's going on.

The most important part of the game are the battles with the colossi. These are very exciting and sometimes lengthy (in a good way). Most of them are massive, slow creatures but there are a few exceptions. But they are all intense and extremely fun.

The character controls are very good. Sometimes they controls aren't 100% responsive, but I don't believe it takes away from the game at all. Also, the character's motions are superb. The way he is thrown about by the colossi, or flipping through the air is really cool and different.

There are only a few things I dislike about the game. One of them is the camera. Sometimes it can get frustrating. For example often you will be facing the sun and get a massive glare across the screen that seems difficult to get out of. Also the character's position on the screen can sometimes annoy. But overall, once you get used to the controls and the way the game works, it's not a big deal.

The only other problem I had is that there are no other things to fight or kill besides the colossi other than some lizards and birds (which can be fun to kill actually). I feel there could have been a few enemies, perhaps mini-colossi.

All in all I found this game a great change of pace from some other games I've been playing. It is a pretty short game, but there is still some replay value in it. I think the average gamer would be happy with just renting it though, but I am glad that I purchased it and it is now part of my collection.

My Rating:
Atmosphere - 9/10
Gameplay - 9/10
Visuals - 9.5/10
Sound - 8/10
Fun - 9/10
Replay value - 7/10
Overall - 8.6/10

THE BAD:
- Problematic framerate that constantly chugs in a futile attempt to keep up.

- Camera works against you at times.

- Sluggish controls.

- Short length.

SUMMARY:
What transpires when you toss common gaming conventions to the wind and create an entirely unique adventure game that blows the doors off the adventure gaming genre?

Magic.

Shadow of the Colossus does just this, and the adventure genre has a new standard of epic magnitude. Where most action/adventure titles struggle to define themselves through the rehashing or flat-out barrowing of existing gaming conventions, SoC places its stake in a gaming style all its own and expands it to the fullest of its potential. Avoiding that unfinished feeling that plague other titles, the game feels polished in almost every aspect and delivers an unforgettable experience for the ages.

You play as an unnamed warrior (well actually his name is Wander but the game doesn't really tell you) that travels to a sealed and forbidden land in the hopes of speaking with a spirit named "Dormin" who is said to have the ability to control the spirits of the dead. You wish to restore the lost soul of a girl that has been sacrificed for unspecified reasons, and so you begin your quest to slay the 16 colossi as per the request of Dormin.

Right from the beginning, the game shows off its astounding graphics and art style. Light bloom and filtering effects create a distinct visual direction that emphasizes the beautiful and vast landscape. The heavenly sunlight pours from the azure sky and blankets the capacious fields of green in a celestial aura as clouds kiss the peaks of mountains in the distance. Birds flutter through the sky as the game’s incredible orchestral score heightens the sense of wonderment and awe, fitting the game’s visuals flawlessly.

In terms of presentation, Shadow of the Colossus is a titanic contender, overcoming nearly all games and movies in recent memory. I can’t emphasize enough how astonishing and spectacular it is to simply traverse the environment. Actually fighting the colossi borders on sensory overload, employing a cavalcade of bewildering special effects that not only draw you into the environment and situation, but emphasize the enormous scale of the colossi in comparison to you. You really feel like you’re climbing onto the back of a 6-story stone behemoth as it swings wildly in attempt to fling you off. The sound track plays its role spotlessly by springing overwhelming orchestral scores that heighten alarm when a colossus attacks. Encouraging trumpets sing loudly to commend you when you finally land yourself onto the back of the colossus, cascading into sorrowful violins when the beast falls after you’ve plunged your sword into its vitals.

Unfortunately, all of this sensorial bliss takes its toll on the aging PS2 hardware. Graphical slowdown is not only present in the game, but there’s rarely a moment where it’s not apparent on the screen. Alas, it’s a tragedy indeed that the game could have benefited so much from nothing more than a solid framerate. The game’s constant chugging makes it difficult to navigate the environment, and the camera’s prerogative is to capture the game world in a more cinematic way rather a more practical one, on occasion seeming to have no interest in helping you whatsoever. These two factors combined with somewhat sluggish controls can make for some frustrating moments of “COME ON DAMMIT” when you need to make hurried decisions and movements.

Though, it’s fairly understandable that the controls might not be super responsive; the game seeks to create amazingly fluent and realistic character animations, and succeeds at doing so with resounding results. Wander’s animations rival (and in many ways, outperform) that of The Prince in the Prince of Persia games (revered for their fluent and realistic character animations). Every movement feels precisely done and fit for the situation. Getting knocked off your feet and quickly picking yourself up into a dash bears no breaks in fluency. Standing on a colossus and getting knocked back and forced to hang on to its hair while getting tossed and spun around like a flea looks and feels so realistic. Unlike most action games where you’ll be seeing the same animations over and over again (get knocked down in the same fashion and get back up in the same fashion, jump and grab a ledge the same way, etc.), Wander’s animations are always so dynamic and never repetitive that it draws you into the experience even more.

The mainstay of the game’s controls is Wander’s climbing ability. Much of the game involves holding down the R1 button to grab onto things and climb them. Most of the colossi battles involve exploiting weaknesses to give you the chance to grab onto a part of their body and make your way to their weak point(s). Just getting the opportunity to get on the colossi involves some strategy and brainstorming while trying to avoid getting squashed. All colossi are defeated the same way (by jabbing your sword into the glowing runes on their bodies until they die) but getting to the runes is different for each colossus (not mentioning the struggle of holding on until you get the opportunity to stab with your sword while the monster thrashes around) It’s amazing, but the developers have created a unique experience for each colossus. Few colossi resemble each other, and thus require different techniques for defeating them. Some colossi resemble men in their appearance, one like a gigantic eel, another like a hawk, another like an armored lizard, and many more. The wondrous and horrifying appearance of each colossus forces you to admire them before ultimately murdering them. Watching them groan and stumble over in a dance of death is somewhat depressing, but the thrill of victory is powerful indeed. The masses of earth and rock that the colossi are capable of stirring with their weight is truly impressive and realistic, creating the feeling that you’re about to be buried in a blanket of dirt while nimbly avoiding their earth-shaking footsteps.

Speaking of immersion, there are few other games that can rival SoC’s environmental ambience. No detail has been skipped in fleshing out every inch of the extensive landscape. Galloping over sun-drenched prairies as birds soar at your back creates almost a sense of nostalgia of lost youth. Traveling into a narrow canyon results in the echoing of your horse’s hooves and an uneasy darkness from the cliff-faces blocking the sun while a strong wind sweeps past your ears. Forests inspire awe and wonder, with the sun filtering down from the treetops in beams of ethereal light. Ruins of a forgotten civilization arouse mystery as the landscape is littered with unknown structures of crumbling stone. There’s just so much to see and explore in the environment that you can spend hours away from your true objective of defeating the colossi. This is an adventure fan’s dream come true.

What may throw many gamers off is the lack of any minor enemies to fight. You’re armed with a sword and a bow, but aside from the occasional lizard, turtle, or bird, you’ll only be using them on the colossi. This is where the game enters the “like it or hate it” zone. The environments are so vast, that you’ll be spending a lot of time just riding on your horse from point A to point B. If you absolutely love adventure and the art direction of the game, this isn’t going to be a problem for you (in fact, it’ll be just one of the game’s pluses). Pure action fans that just want to run around and blow things up will get bored fast. So dare I say that SoC is for… sophisticated gamers?

I find it hard to believe that there are gamers that could glance at the game’s visuals and art style and not be impressed, if not drawn into its beauty. The story (although short), is wonderful fantasy. While most of the story is unraveled in the beginning and end of the game, what’s there is truly amazing. Part of its brilliance is how it manages to do so much in such a short amount of time.


Breakdown:


Gameplay: 5. Few games on the market today can claim that they’re entirely unique, but Shadow of the Colossus deserves every ounce of the title. Inspiring awe at nearly every moment, the game furthers the argument that gaming is art.

Control: 4. Can be sluggish and therefore frustrating, but character animations are so fluent and realistic that they’re more than deserving of praise. The climbing dynamics are intuitive, realistic, and most of all unique.

Story: 4. The game utilizes every convention of a good story: mystery, love, tragedy, conflict, and fantasy. The result is a truly memorable and moving experience of the overcoming of seemingly impossible obstacles. The ending is phenomenal, avoiding disappointment in all facets and simply must be experienced to feel its impact.

Graphics: 5. An art direction that is entirely unique and captivating. Little can be said that is flattering enough. Astonishing.

Sound: 5. Environmental immersion is a difficult proposition, but SoC pulls it off with impeccable detail. Not only is the orchestral sound track mesmerizing, but every sound that rings from the environment just feels so right, straight down to the grunts of your little character as he desperately tries to hang on to a wild colossus.

Lifespan: 4. The game is fairly short, rounding out to about 10 hours but there’s absolutely no disappointment or feelings of the game being unfinished. The battles with the colossi are a draining and satisfying experience, and the environment is so massive that exploring its entirety would take dozens of hours. After beating the game you can unlock Hard Mode, and there’s also numerous unlockable items up for grabs.

FunFactor: 5. Shadow of the Colossus is a wonderful breath of fresh air for gamers who have seen it all and played it all. No sexuality, no uberviolence, no adult themes, and no clichéd themes to speak of. The game strives for brilliance and achieves it in almost every respect. Gamers with short attention spans and immature bloodlusts should look elsewhere, but those of us who love original game ideas and truly fantastic art directions need not look further.

Lasting Impression (Independent Score): 5. A numerical score cannot accurately classify this game. When it's all said and done, SoC is just artistic brilliance compressed onto a CD. Finishing this title makes you feel enriched. A very rare attribute of game design.



Bottom line:

Shadow of the Colossus is the kind of game that only comes around once every few years. Very few titles defy the ordinary in such a thorough and satisfying way as this one does. It’s doubtful that it will ever reach a reasonably popular status, but the lucky gamers that hear of its existence and give it a play will remember it forever.

This is a masterpiece of game design, but a few minor scratches on the surface bring it down to a 4.6 out of 5. If you have a PS2, you must play this game.

THE BAD:
*a bit short
*only boss fights (nothing else save looking for lizards and fruit)
*entire game is in japanese (read lots of subtitles)
*While the controls are relatively smooth, they can get frusterating
*not for everyone

SUMMARY:
Few games innovate their genres. Many games have you repeatedly plowing through waves of goons and blowing away a boss with a gun. Shadow of the Colossus, on the other hand, is a nice breath of fresh air. You play as The Wanderer, a boy with only intentions of resurrecting his dead love, and is given an offer by a Dark God to destroy 16 colossi, which will somehow accomplish the task. And so, you set out to defeat these beasts. You get on your horse, Agro and set off. You stick your sword in the air to determine the monster's location (by a beam of light). You follow until you reach a cliff. You go through some pretty easy platforming until you reach... it.
Needless to say, I was stunned when I saw the first one - the size of the Sears building!
So then you try to defeat it. you fire a few arrows, maybe even run up to it and try to slice its foot to cause damage. But all of your efforts prove futile until you try climbing the hairy thing. It takes a while, and you may scream in frustration as you repeatedly fall from his back. Eventually, however, you reach his head to find a glowing symbol on the top of his head (a weak point) so you stab it. Next thing you know, the big guy gets angry and tries to shake you off like a real animal would. You persevere, stabbing and holding on until it finally perishes.
As the beast crumbles, a sad, melodic song fills the air and you almost feel like crying as the majestic creature fades to darkness. Then, black tendrils shoot out and ensnare our young hero...
Congratulations, you just made it through the easiest part of the game!
This game has so much to offer as you travel from colossus to colossus on the back of your trusty steed. And when the ending plays through, you may be a little shocked (to put it lightly)
However, you might not like it completely, so rent it first to at least experience this gem. It may end up being a purchase!