“Not only is Shadow of the Colossus an absolute must-play experience, but one of the most important games you’ll come across anytime soon”
IGN.com

The game opens with a warrior, with maiden (unconscious) on horseback riding along a very elevated bridge, his destination seeming to be the Aztec-like temple at the bridge’s end. Far, far below him is a vast plain, littered with hills and crevasses, chasms and mountains in the distance. You proceed to the temple, place the maiden upon a pedestal, and begin on what can only be described as experience rather than a game.

There are no ‘enemies’ as such in Shadow of the Colossus. Just sixteen bosses. And when I say bosses, I’m implying objects that probably would look too out of place as a high-rise block of apartments designed by a slightly nutty architect. The basic premise of the game is to seek out each of these skyscrapers with your horse Agro and magical sword and slay them. The crux with the sword is that you can hold it up to the sun, and wherever the light rays being reflected of it converge, lies your next target. The crux with bosses is you have to actually climb them to slay them.

This is where the magic of the game, and the effectiveness of this original concepts lies. No other game actually has this feature of defeating this magnificent creatures, stories high, with only the use of your hands to climb them, and the swords to slay them. Fair enough, they have their ‘magical weak spots’ where plunging the sword into them deals massive damage, but I have not, for a long time, felt the same satisfaction and sense of achievement by playing a computer game, as I have facing these beasts. . The controls are simple, but effective, as the emphasis in the game is the action, much like in ‘God of War’, so the player can become easily accustomed to making his way up these beasts safe in the knowledge that he knows exactly how to do something, if not exactly where to do it. The god-like structures themselves are completely awe-inspiring, and, whilst they may be slow and cumbersome, being made of stone and all, ut they are very much alive: they will attempt to throw you off in methods specific to that body part you are currently tickling them on. Oh, and when you find their ‘magical weak spot’, and hold Square and stab them in the glowing bit, boy do they bleed. Imagine on of those automatic sprinklers, but with red wine. With vinegar and tomatoes.

The atmosphere of the game is also incredible away from battle as well as in it. The game world is beautiful, helped by the ambient soundtrack, and I felt as if, somehow, I had stumbled into a fantasy novel: The world just seemed so complete in terms of the architectue of the land, it doesn’t just seem like it’s been cobbled together using the generating functions of 3D program to fill up the space between the boss fights. The world has character; you begin to appreciate the vast stretches of land you have to traverse to get to each challenge. Also, the game has plenty of ’secret’ paraphenalia as well. I say secret like that, because it’s not exactly hard to find, but you just don’t get told about: such as the ability to slide of the side of your horse’s saddle, and sit there holding a bow and arrow, or killing the white-tailed lizards that littler the land grant’s you new abilities.

The whole game is fantastic, similar in a way to an atheist having a big flashy religious experience, and going ‘Wow. What was that?’. It’s original, like Ico before it, and provides and unique world which is great the explore, alongside the impressive ideas of beating up buildings, and I would definitely recommend it to any game wishing for a little variety in their gaming lives.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

« Review: Kingdom Hearts 2 Review: Neverwinter Nights - Twilight »