ICO

"ICO or Video gaming art?"

Buried somewhere beneath the games that gamedom forgot sits ICO - a uniquely beautiful puzzler made by Sony's internal team. It is a shame that this game has gone unnoticed by most gamers because it truly provides the player with a deeply satisfying experience. But, sadly that's what happens when there is almost no financial backing for an advertising campaign.

The game begins with the legend that every few generations, a ''curse'' befalls a town and a child is born with horns protruding from his skull. The town enters a state of quiet panic and suspicion, blaming all of the town's misfortunes on the child with horns. If a crop fails or illness strikes, it is the child's fault. Finally, when the young hero, Ico, turns twelve, he is whisked away by soldiers to a mammoth castle so the townspeople, believing the curse to be gone, can live their lives without fear or worry.

The opening cinema of the game shows a forest and horse hooves rumbling through it. Soldiers bring the young Ico to the giant castle, as we see only a glimpse of its immensity. Ico, still alive, is placed in a tomb and left to die. But a fated dream of an ethereal princess stirs Ico's emotions, and he escapes his entombment. In the next room, Ico finds Yorda, who is in a cage. When he frees her, shadow spirits rise from the ground and attempt to Yorda away. Ico beats them away with a stick, yes a stick, and vows to protect Yorda and escape from the castle prison.

The graphics in the title, though not visually mind-blowing the moment you see them, are superb. The attention to detail is phenomenal - Ico and Yorda are exquisitely detailed, from clothes and hair that blow in the breeze to tiny facial and bodily movement, such as Ico brushing himself off after falling down. The facial expressions of the characters actually convey emotion, too. Through this, and other little details, the gamer feels a bond between the characters. Ico must take Yorda with him throughout the game, most of the time by the hand. And each movement is meticulously rendered - the subtle tug that Ico gives Yorda as he pulls her along, Yorda's quickening of steps as he does so. Even when Ico must pull Yorda up from a ledge (and there's plenty of that), the gamer is treated to Ico actually tugging with all his might and Yorda scrambling to get her footing.

But the main focus of the game (at least on the visual surface) is the sheer splendor and grandeur of the castle itself. The castle is larger than anything you can imagine (okay, well maybe not that big - but you get the idea). Sometimes the player is tempted to stop during the game, and just take a break, gazing off the edge of the castle at the clouds, ocean, and other areas of the castle - just because it is so pleasing to the eye. Mist hovers around the castle; sun gleams in from above, through windows caves. And the best part is that it looks real - or as real as a video game can get. The graphics, though extremely polished, are subdued - no bright flashy colors. And Ico and Yorda actually blend into their environments. There is something to said for this.

So what about the game, huh? Tell me about the gameplay! Well, it's a puzzle game, and every brick, box, torch, chain, rope, staircase, bridge, and just about anything else you can think of is a piece in the giant puzzle. The objective of the game is to move from area to area, gradually making your way through almost the entire castle. However, to do this, you need Yorda - whose mystical powers can open things called Idol Gates that block your path. So, you must clear a path to the Idol Gates in each area. But wait - there's more! Yorda, sadly, cannot do everything you can do, and can't go everywhere that Ico can, so the gamer must also clear a path for Yorda to take. And this sometimes involves backtracking to neighboring areas of the castle to find that one special box that you need to solve the puzzle. But don't leave Yorda alone for too long because shadow spirits might spawn and take her away. If this happens, it's game over, man! Sometimes, the shadows will spawn just because they feel like it, and you must fend them off with a stick or a sword. Keeps it interesting . . .

So, the puzzles, though not extremely difficult, don't insult your intelligence either. Great amounts of effort were given to make the puzzles logical - what would you do if you were really there? When you want to save your game, you must find a couch (of all things) and sit down - but you must wait for Yorda to sit down as well. Once Yorda takes a seat on the couch, she takes Ico's hand in hers, and you are allowed to save your game.

The music of Ico is more ambience than an actual soundtrack. With the occasional chord or wispy tone here and there, the game focuses more on the ambience of the castle - the wind, breeze, birds. Sometimes, you can hear the faint sound of water flowing down a creek, or the rumble of a waterfall. If you're into that sort of thing, it adds immensely to the experience. Now, some will complain about the lack of background music, but the programmers opted to take the sound in a different direction with the more realistic approach. What music the game actually has, fits the atmosphere perfectly.

The plotline of ICO is fairly straightforward and incredibly simple. And this is not to its detriment. Ico and Yorda must escape from the castle - that's all you really need to know. ICO is said to be more of an experience than a story, with the total dialogue in the game amounting to maybe the length of a page. However, the story needs nothing more. The real story is conveyed in the subtleties of interaction between Ico and Yorda - how they respond to each other - how they softly lean on each other, asleep on the couch. Most gamers will feel a bond between those two that drives the heart of the game.

The controls of Ico make full use of the Playstation 2 controller. The left analog stick controls Ico, while the right analog stick controls the camera view, giving the player a 270 degree view of the area. Gamers can zoom in on points of interest and manipulate just about anything in an area. Most of the time, you will have to manipulate everything to solve the puzzle. And, if it looks like you can climb somewhere - you most likely can. You must jump, climb and move objects all over the place. Sometimes, though, the controls seem a tad bit sluggish, transforming that one special rope that you need to cut into your worst nightmare. Aside from the occasional head-scratching moment, the controls are nearly flawless.

In terms of the replayability factor, the game doesn't offer too much. But if you want to re-experience the magic and grandeur (as I do often), play through it again. The Japanese and especially European PAL versions of the game offer a few little secret tidbits on your second and third times through.

Ico must do everything he can to escape his prison and save Yorda. But can he figure out how to do it? In an era where gut-blowing eye candy and violence-drenched insanity dominate the gaming world, ICO brings a touch of quiet calm and strange beauty to those who are willing to embrace it. ICO takes you on journey that rewards you in more ways than one and provides an adventure no one will soon forget.

- Fable12 ~8-)

GRAPHICS: 9
GAMEPLAY: 8
MUSIC: 7
STORY/PLOT: 7
CAFFEINE BUZZ (or FUN FACTOR): 10
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Total: 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/02, Updated 06/16/02