ICO

"There is beauty within silence....."

Beauty. Absolute beauty. I could ramble on and on about the sheer beauty of this game, but since I'm doing a review here, I'll let some poor soul listen to my sleep-inducing blabber later. Anyway, Ico's the title of this game, and it's also the name of the games lead protagonist. He's a young lad who just so happens to have horns, and because of that his village has him locked up in an abandoned castle high above (and I mean HIGH) a lake. Upon being imprisoned, he soon escapes his sarcophagus-like cage, and finds out the castle isn't as abandoned as everyone thinks. He would later find a young and mysterious girl named Yorda, and here the journey of these to young ones begin...

Graphics: 10/10

This must be the first game on the PS2 that proves that sheer pixel count and deep color pallete aren't the only things that give gamers a visual treat. There is still that other thing called.... design. Once you start, take a good look at the castle. Then take a look at everything else. It is pure artistic beauty. The entire castle is immensely huge and designed with an imagination that rivals the classic medievil castles of Europe. The walls are crubling, the bridges are broken and the passages are all caved in. It looks so incredibely real that you'd think you were taking a filmed tour of a real castle. And it's all backed up by a nice resolution that doesn't fail to please eye. Plus the character graphics look simply great. Each of the relatively few characters are very unique, from the horned Ico to the pale-grey Yorda.

And don't forget that fog. The fog gives this an authentic feel of age and mystery, keeping you in the mood to explore all the mysteries found within the castle. The water too is impressive. They don't just reflect the surroundings, they actually FLOW! The awe-inspiring environments are the ones that set the mood of the story.

Gameplay: 9/10

This offers challenging puzzles with rather simplistic combat. The puzzles consist mostly of pushing blocks and jumping and hanging. They will require proper timing and thinking, but nothing that will really have you thinking for long periods of time. Expect to encounter a lot of them, as the game is littered with puzzles.

As for combat... well it's a practical minimal. First off, the is no life bar (a mostly unheard of concept in Action/Puzzle games), and fighting consists of swinging your weapon around taking out those shadows that come in from holes in the ground to take Yorda off to somewhere unpleasant. The only way to die in this game is by either taking a nasty fall or Yorda gets carried off. If she does get carried away, Ico turns to stone. Also, certain puzzles may require you to leave Yorda for a while, and doing so will run the risk of baddies appearing in her room and take her away. Make sure to do things quick and get back to her ASAP.

Unlike other games, Yorda isn't a girl who will always follow you around. You must TAKE her around. Press and hold the R1 button to hold her hand and take her out of the castle. If she gets far, use it also to get her to come, jump over gaps etc. However, her AI is superb, and she won't do things if it'll obviously take her to her doom. Sometimes she'll hesitate, and at some refuse outright. If she does, you may need to find some other way for her.

Control: 10/10

Nothing much to say here. The controls are spot on and you should have no fear of accidentaly running off the side. Your moves are pretty much basic. It's just walk/run, attack, jump, move object and call/hold hand. They are tight and responsive and will pose no problem. Plus the camera will almost always give you the best angle, so don't worry about not seeing where you need to go.

Sound: 10/10

There is beauty within silence, as said in my intro. There is hardly any music in this game. You can easily count the tracks with one hand. Not that it's bad, in honesty it's not needed at all. This is the first game I've ever played that never relied on music to fill the environment and mood. It is greatly replaced by the graphics and sound. Subtle sound effects like clangs, footsteps and rustling leaves all add to the atmosphere of a huge castle. However anyone looking for magical melodies will definitely be dissapointed. You can say I gave it a 10 for the lack of music, but it's their decision to minimize music and use other effects and sound that makes it really deserve that score. The voice acting is done by Japanese voice actors (Seiyuus in their language), and with a untranslatable language the voice acting is near flawless.

Emotion Factor: 10++/10

''I hold her hand gently as we walk together. Outside the sun shines through cracks in these barren walls onto our dirtied faces. Despite the heat of the sun, this old castle gives me a sense of chillness in my bones. I look at her face. She looks at mine. We've been travelling for hours, and still no sign of the exit we so desperately seek. She was so cruelly imprisoned in this castle, just like me. But I'm not giving up. I can't. If I do, there will be no escape for us. She was the girl in my dreams when I got here. So lonely. So fragile. She was alone in that sordid cage, just waiting for time to eat her away. I'm not letting her rot away in this wretched place.''

''Now we stand alone on a platform, looking at the great outdoors. They seem so close, but are yet so far. We've only been together for a while, but with every step I take I am even more determined to find a way out of this place. Still, even now that... that 'thing' that calls itself her mother is hounding us. She looks at us through these old walls this very moment, I can feel it. But I'm not letting that get me down. We must get out, we must!''

''I look ate her again. She smiles at me. That smile.... that's all I'll ever need to get me going through all of this.''

It's quite hard, but that's how I sum up the emotion factor of this game. It's so personal and endearing that no real words can describe it. In essence, the game uses very little words to describe the emotion between Ico and Yorda. Simply speaking, one doesn't need words to express true emotion.

I would really urge you to buy it now. Games of this size and uniqueness are ridiculously rare. You may never chance upon a game like this in you whole life ever again. Get it while it's still in print!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/02, Updated 12/02/02