Shadow of the Colossus

"I would do anything for love...but I wouldn't do that"

By now you've probably have heard endless and justifiable praise for a little game called ICO. Those who have played it claim it is the very definition of art for a video game, and I would tend to agree with them. ICO combined beautiful scenery and images with some remarkable ambiance to add to a nice, small, and memorable adventure. ICO moved many people with its design and beauty that the developers have once again brought majestically to this creation.

The first thing you'll notice when you start are the wondrous sights the game presents for you. Dreamlike and illustrious, they make the world your character lives in mesmerizing to gaze upon. I was in utter awe at the landscapes depicted within the game. From your central shrine, which acts as a hub, you can see enormous foreshadowing horizons of mountains, deserts, lakes, and bridges. As you approach these backgrounds of beauty, more details come to light such as sunlight piercing through the top of dark forest, and beautiful waterfalls showering whatever may be below. When those features inhabit a cave environment, the design warrants a longer gaze than necessary. I did spend a lot of time just looking around and taking in the sights. From the lush green environments to the broken vacated ruins lying about, to even the violent geyser spewing desert harshness, the game is truly stunning and left with mostly only their sounds for you to listen to.

However, getting to these fantastic places does take a toll on the game itself, because pop-in does plague the game. However, when what you eventually get to is so striking, so imaginative, and so inviting to the overall experience, the rough journey and toll is merely the unfortunate required means to do so. And what you constantly arrive to is not just brilliant surroundings, but the creatures that inhabit them. I have yet to mention your tragic foes that are the Colossi.

These mostly stunningly large creatures are animated and showcased with such care and grandeur, you will know this is where the developers really wanted to make your jaw drop and etch into your mind their mastery. A fantastic mix of granite and animal, the Colossi lumber, swim, and sometimes fly about, anticipating the battle of their lives and for them. Most of the creatures are channelled from animals, and the final one is simply awe inspiring to witness and battle. It's your task to take on and down these magnificent creatures so your cursed and dead love can come back into existence. Doing so, of course, is no easy feat, and as stories have told us before, very unwise.

You must first raise one of your two given weapons, your sword, into the sunlight so it can point the way with it's beam of revelation to the resting spot of the doomed creature. Next, you must get there. By mounting your loyal steed, Agro, you have to traverse one, or many different landscapes to eventually get to your destination. Not since Link mounted Epona has travelling by horse been so rewarding, as some Colossi can be far, far away. Guiding Agro is easy and very responsive, as you could simply keep a button held down and he does what comes naturally. He truly is a companion that you will care about, especially late in the game.

When you do come to your destination, you're treated to a cut-scene of an awakening or emerging Colossus ready to say "Hi" (or is that "bye?") as it defends its life for a rather selfish cause. The environmental ambiance soon gives way to a track sampling Kow Otani's beautifully composed soundtrack – that of battle – as the ground shakes...and the battle begins.

Each of the beasts must be brought down with tactics, and doing so is incredibly involving. Every Colossus has a puzzle-type element to them that must be exploited to allow yourself to climb it and plunge your sword into its weak spot. After once again shining your sword's beam toward the beast, this time revealing the spot that can sometimes move to different parts of its body, you then have to figure out how to reach the many areas the killing wound may appear. You may have to shoot the underside of its feet to have it crouch with your second weapon, the bow and arrow, so as to be able to climb, or you may have to trick the beast into shattering a pillar like attachment that also shatters some granite armor exposing some fur that will aid in your scaling to the weak spot.

By far the most thrilling aspect of battling the creatures is actually scaling them. It can sometimes involve jumping from one part of the body to another, or even moving from one side all the way to the other side. Imagine leaping onto a huge airborne creature as it flies through the air and tries to shake you off its body while trying to do this. The game doesn't slowdown, nor offer graphical glitches here, and the battle becomes a sight to see. I won't spoil any more methods of battle, but you have to experience these battles to really appreciate them.

While the battles are breathtaking, it may take a while to complete the struggle, as you can get knocked off the creature's body while in the middle of it. This can happen if your strength meter diminishes, or if the somewhat cumbersome controls interfere in your task. The struggle to hold on and not get tossed off like a flea on a dog's back can sometimes be troublesome. I would have to say of all the skills in need of remembering, holding on and mastering how long to allow the tension in your strength meter to build up is he most important. Doing so will insure that your thrust into the creature's weak spot will be a powerful one, allowing for the killing of the beast in far less time. Once you do master the mechanics of battle, the fighting becomes more predictable and easier to maintain. You can even map buttons to your liking for more ease of weapon use and battling.

Unfortunately, even if you master these skills and the control of them, the bothersome camera will impair you in some fashion. It shifts too much for liking, not doing enough to keep you, while on the Colossus, focused. There is no zoom out camera – only zoom in – so you can't see your entire surrounding. This can sometimes lead to frustrating moments when the Colossus is thrashing violently about and you simply want to get your bearing.

The camera I found was the sole damning fault that tends to taint the game. There was another fault, but looking at the entire game from the ending I forgave it, as I will explain. You see, the game is rather linear and barren, as you must move from one Colossus to the next with no enemies, or puzzles about (the Colossi are the puzzles). As I played, I was concerned the developers tried to apply much of what they did for ICO to this rather large and sprawling world. It worked greatly in a castle environment, but here? I can sincerely say, my worries were dispelled.

Without hopefully giving too much away, the land of the Colossi is a cursed one, sealed off from the rest of civilization (as you can see in the ruins I mentioned lying about). I won't say anything further, but the ending will answer a lot of questions, and for myself, ranks up there with the likes of memorable finales such as the SuperNES's Final Fantasy III, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in offering an absolute stunning send off and ending to a wondrous adventure (with a moment or two of touching scenes).

The shortcomings are not colossal to the overall game, and are definitely forgivable given the minor grievances they give to experience this work of memorable and fantastic brilliance. This game truly embarrasses those developers who would rather continuously churn out dozens of licensed, hyped, rushed, and on-the-bandwagon garbage in place of one well crafted piece of gaming art. Games like this don't come around often enough, and when they do they deserve reverence and support. I would greatly recommend this game, along with ICO, to anyone looking for more in their gaming than just the tired standard that tends to plague many games, for they are two artistically and carefully developed wonders that await your gaming soul.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/23/05, Updated 12/01/08

Game Release: Shadow of the Colossus (US, 10/18/05)