Mr Durand Pierre
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Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus is unlike any other game you've ever played. The gimmick being advertised is the record breaking size of the colossi, but the real gimmick is the fact that the only fighting in the game is with the bosses, (though they're not really "bosses" since there are no smaller minions to look up to them). This was a ballsy move on the developer's part, as it's the only game in history I can think of that does this, but it also shows a lot of confidence in its minimalist approach. And by golly, it works!
Fighting off hordes of smaller enemies would only slow down the pacing of the game and get in the way. After playing Shadow, I've fallen in love with this idea so much that I can easily imagine other types of games adapting to it. Like a boss only Metroid game, or boss only Zelda.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The gameplay is a mixture of puzzle-solving, action, and adventuring (i.e. exploration). At the outset of the game you’re given a horse, sword, and bow & arrow, and you must track down the 16 colossi and kill them in hopes of reviving your dead beloved. Your sword is kind of magical and reflects sunlight to point you in the direction of the next colossi (yes, the game is pretty linear like this), so you simply must follow it, which can sometimes involve exploring to find a way to where you have to go.
But the real meat of the game is actually fighting these 16 giants. Contrary to how it may sound, this really is more of a puzzle game than an action game. Which is not to say that the battles aren’t frantic. Because they can be, especially once you start climbing a colossus. They’ll shake and try to knock you off, and the climbing mechanic in the game is near perfect. You can hold onto a colossus’s fur with the R1 button, but your grab meter decreases as you hold. But if you let go for a second your meter recharges much much faster than it drains. So when a colossus tries shaking you off its wing, alternating between grabbing and healing can be plenty exciting.
But with most colossi, the difficulty comes from figuring out how to climb onto them in the first place. Each one is like its own puzzle. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that though Shadow is more of an action game than Ico, Shadow still has even harder puzzles. Some battles will even feature multiple actions just to get onto the colossi. And no two are alike. The sheer variety of these colossi is amazing. I said before that this is mostly a puzzle game, and it’s worth noting that most colossi are rather peaceful and won’t put up much of a fight unless you’re climbing them. (The exceptions usually being the smaller colossi who make up for their size with their feistiness.) While this may disappoint action junkies, this really helps blend the action and puzzle solving really well, since you won’t be attacked too much while you’re trying to figure stuff out.
One thing that really took me by surprise is how great the story is. The plot is beautifully simple. While the basic premise is just slaying giants to rescue a damsel in distress, there’s a lot more to it without ever seeming overly complicated or contrived. For example, we’re told right at the beginning that slaying the colossi will not necessarily bring your beloved back. This, crossed with the fact that many of the colossi are portrayed sympathetically, really make you cast doubt upon your ambiguous quest. The game features very few characters and hardly any dialogue or long cutscenes, and yet manages to do so much with so little. As soon as I beat the game I started looking up different interpretations of the ending. The writing is so open-ended that I’ve heard multiple theories that all make sense. Without giving anything away, I’ll say that the universe depicted in Shadows may or may not tie into Ico, and while they don’t necessarily tie into each other, they may, adding a whole new level of depth to this saga. But you need not have played Ico to appreciate this beauty of Shadows.
And speaking of beauty, the game really is a sight for sore eyes. The art direction is amazing and manages to do so much with so little. There are very few man-made structures in the game, but the plains, deserts, caves, etc, all look great. Adding to this is the superb soundtrack. Some of the best music I’ve ever heard in a game.
But no game is perfect, and Shadows does have some flaws, some of which are pretty noticeable. The worst problems with the game are purely technical. The framerate, while playable, still leaves something to be desired. There are a few other graphical glitches, like backgrounds popping into existence, pixilation, and I’ve even heard reports of your character turning invisible! I also had the game lock up on me once (luckily not into the heat of battle).
The other problem with the game is that it’s slightly marred by an awkward control scheme. While the climbing mechanic is great, jumping can feel a bit awkward, and your horse can be a pain to control. You don’t have much control over his speed, and when he runs into something he’ll come to a dead stop and it takes awhile to turn him around. It rarely hurts that much during colossi fights, but it can be annoying navigating around trees.
The only other issue I had with the game is a fairly minor one; Considering how great the puzzles are regarding the colossi, it’s disappointing that getting to them is so straightforward. Sometimes you’ll have to run around something like a mountain range, or canyon, to reach your destination, but there aren’t any real puzzles getting to where you have to go. But how cool would it have been to have some Ico-like puzzles just getting from place to place? Like shooting a rope to drop a draw-bridge, or something like that. As it is, the exploration is more along the lines of getting from place to place in Jak 3. It’s not bad per se, and it helps with the atmosphere a lot, but it is sort of a missed opportunity.
Though marred by a few technical issues, Shadow of the Colossus is certainly a work of art. Those expecting a button twitching action game will be disappointed, but for those expecting a creative, beautiful, thought provoking puzzle game will not be disappointed.
Pros:
-Great puzzles
-Climbing the colossi is great
-Visually amazing
-Great soundtrack
-Emotionally engaging (the ending is killer)
Cons:
-Framerate and other minor tech flaws
-somewhat awkward camera/controls
-open environments are a missed opportunity
Overall 9.3 (out of 10)
Note: I’ve beaten the game once on normal. I haven’t tried hard mode, or time-attack yet, so I’m curious to see how well replay value holds up. The single player quest took about 11 hours, so replay value is important. I may change my score higher or lower later depending on this.
Shadow of the Colossus is unlike any other game you've ever played. The gimmick being advertised is the record breaking size of the colossi, but the real gimmick is the fact that the only fighting in the game is with the bosses, (though they're not really "bosses" since there are no smaller minions to look up to them). This was a ballsy move on the developer's part, as it's the only game in history I can think of that does this, but it also shows a lot of confidence in its minimalist approach. And by golly, it works!
Fighting off hordes of smaller enemies would only slow down the pacing of the game and get in the way. After playing Shadow, I've fallen in love with this idea so much that I can easily imagine other types of games adapting to it. Like a boss only Metroid game, or boss only Zelda.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The gameplay is a mixture of puzzle-solving, action, and adventuring (i.e. exploration). At the outset of the game you’re given a horse, sword, and bow & arrow, and you must track down the 16 colossi and kill them in hopes of reviving your dead beloved. Your sword is kind of magical and reflects sunlight to point you in the direction of the next colossi (yes, the game is pretty linear like this), so you simply must follow it, which can sometimes involve exploring to find a way to where you have to go.
But the real meat of the game is actually fighting these 16 giants. Contrary to how it may sound, this really is more of a puzzle game than an action game. Which is not to say that the battles aren’t frantic. Because they can be, especially once you start climbing a colossus. They’ll shake and try to knock you off, and the climbing mechanic in the game is near perfect. You can hold onto a colossus’s fur with the R1 button, but your grab meter decreases as you hold. But if you let go for a second your meter recharges much much faster than it drains. So when a colossus tries shaking you off its wing, alternating between grabbing and healing can be plenty exciting.
But with most colossi, the difficulty comes from figuring out how to climb onto them in the first place. Each one is like its own puzzle. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that though Shadow is more of an action game than Ico, Shadow still has even harder puzzles. Some battles will even feature multiple actions just to get onto the colossi. And no two are alike. The sheer variety of these colossi is amazing. I said before that this is mostly a puzzle game, and it’s worth noting that most colossi are rather peaceful and won’t put up much of a fight unless you’re climbing them. (The exceptions usually being the smaller colossi who make up for their size with their feistiness.) While this may disappoint action junkies, this really helps blend the action and puzzle solving really well, since you won’t be attacked too much while you’re trying to figure stuff out.
One thing that really took me by surprise is how great the story is. The plot is beautifully simple. While the basic premise is just slaying giants to rescue a damsel in distress, there’s a lot more to it without ever seeming overly complicated or contrived. For example, we’re told right at the beginning that slaying the colossi will not necessarily bring your beloved back. This, crossed with the fact that many of the colossi are portrayed sympathetically, really make you cast doubt upon your ambiguous quest. The game features very few characters and hardly any dialogue or long cutscenes, and yet manages to do so much with so little. As soon as I beat the game I started looking up different interpretations of the ending. The writing is so open-ended that I’ve heard multiple theories that all make sense. Without giving anything away, I’ll say that the universe depicted in Shadows may or may not tie into Ico, and while they don’t necessarily tie into each other, they may, adding a whole new level of depth to this saga. But you need not have played Ico to appreciate this beauty of Shadows.
And speaking of beauty, the game really is a sight for sore eyes. The art direction is amazing and manages to do so much with so little. There are very few man-made structures in the game, but the plains, deserts, caves, etc, all look great. Adding to this is the superb soundtrack. Some of the best music I’ve ever heard in a game.
But no game is perfect, and Shadows does have some flaws, some of which are pretty noticeable. The worst problems with the game are purely technical. The framerate, while playable, still leaves something to be desired. There are a few other graphical glitches, like backgrounds popping into existence, pixilation, and I’ve even heard reports of your character turning invisible! I also had the game lock up on me once (luckily not into the heat of battle).
The other problem with the game is that it’s slightly marred by an awkward control scheme. While the climbing mechanic is great, jumping can feel a bit awkward, and your horse can be a pain to control. You don’t have much control over his speed, and when he runs into something he’ll come to a dead stop and it takes awhile to turn him around. It rarely hurts that much during colossi fights, but it can be annoying navigating around trees.
The only other issue I had with the game is a fairly minor one; Considering how great the puzzles are regarding the colossi, it’s disappointing that getting to them is so straightforward. Sometimes you’ll have to run around something like a mountain range, or canyon, to reach your destination, but there aren’t any real puzzles getting to where you have to go. But how cool would it have been to have some Ico-like puzzles just getting from place to place? Like shooting a rope to drop a draw-bridge, or something like that. As it is, the exploration is more along the lines of getting from place to place in Jak 3. It’s not bad per se, and it helps with the atmosphere a lot, but it is sort of a missed opportunity.
Though marred by a few technical issues, Shadow of the Colossus is certainly a work of art. Those expecting a button twitching action game will be disappointed, but for those expecting a creative, beautiful, thought provoking puzzle game will not be disappointed.
Pros:
-Great puzzles
-Climbing the colossi is great
-Visually amazing
-Great soundtrack
-Emotionally engaging (the ending is killer)
Cons:
-Framerate and other minor tech flaws
-somewhat awkward camera/controls
-open environments are a missed opportunity
Overall 9.3 (out of 10)
Note: I’ve beaten the game once on normal. I haven’t tried hard mode, or time-attack yet, so I’m curious to see how well replay value holds up. The single player quest took about 11 hours, so replay value is important. I may change my score higher or lower later depending on this.
