11/14/05 >> Shadow of the Colossus (PlayStation 2)
Genre: Adventure
Known only as a Wanderer, the young man sets off on a journey to bring a young maiden back from the dead. He reaches a land where a mysterious being tells him that the only way to save the young girl is to destroy 16 large, hulking beasts that haunt the land. They are only known as Colossi (that being plural for Colossus). The Wanderer sets off with his steed and a sacred sword to defeat these unknown giants. The land where these Colossi reside is a very empty one. Other than the beasts themselves, only small lizards, a few birds, and fish can be seen throughout the land.
There are no enemies besides the large, daunting Colossi that stalk the land. While there may not be much life in the land, the land itself is huge and has many different areas. Besides the deserted plains and deserts that one will first see when roaming around the land in search of the colossi, there are large canyons, lakes and even magnificent waterfalls. Even the ruins of an ancient civilization that will make the gamer think of the Aztecs or the Mayans can be found.
While the land is large, looking for the Colossi is pretty easy, the sword that you wield holds to key to the location of each Colossus. When in broad daylight, the sword shows the direction of the Colossus's lair, by the light that emanates from the sword. When all the beams of light become one, which is where the Colossus’s lair lies.
The Colossi are amazing. Each one the gamer will face is considerably different than the one before it. Other than the humanoid colossi that most have seen in screenshots on the internet, there are flying creatures and even colossi that stay hidden underneath the sand like a large, deadly snake. It is amazing to see these colossi in action, each one acts very differently than the rest. Not all of them have the intent of actually fighting; most you fight are actually unaware that the gamer is actually hunting them until it is too late!
With only a sword, a horse, and a bow, one might think it would be impossible to take down these stone giants. Well, it is not. The Hero's main goal when fighting a colossus is stabbing its vital points which can be anywhere on the colossus's body. Vital points, being pale blue symbols, can only be damaged by the ancient sword you posses. While the bow and arrow may hurt the colossi, it will not kill them. Most vital points are on the colossus's head, so one will need to climb on these beasts in order to reach their weak points. Though, some are harder to defeat than others. Each Colossus has a different strategy, so each fight is vastly different then anything one has fought before. There is one where you will have to climb on the beast’s beard in order to reach his vital point. There is another where you have to wait until the colossus gets tired and rests, giving you the chance to climb the monster’s back.
They will not give up without a fight, however. Once you actually are on the colossus, you have to hang on for dear life since they will try to shake you off. Of course, a grip-meter determines how long one can last on an angry colossus. Every single time the gamer climbs up something or hold onto something, the grip meter slowly decreases.
The only way you can restore it is if you release whatever you’re holding. This makes the game very exciting because the gamer will have to time when to let go of a colossus and still be able to stay where you are. You also cannot climb when a colossus begins to try to shake you off; instead one has to hang on until the creature begins to calm down. If that is not enough, not only does one have to worry about hanging on and making sure you do not fall, but one also have to worry how you can hurt the beast. The sword may be the key to victory, but that does not mean it is easy. The only way you can damage these beasts is if one can find their vital points and damage them. The thing is one obviously cannot attack when the colossus is shaking around wildly because one is too busy hanging on, hoping they will not fall. The sword you own is really used for one basic attack, a charged stab. Short singular stabs are almost useless when it comes down to it so the only real way to damage an enemy is if you charge your sword and let loose a devastating stab.
Along with the sword, one also wields a bow. While this weapon has no real effectiveness against the colossi one will face it is key in certain respects. While the arrow may not be the most damaging, it is a good way for the gamer to make one known to the enemy. The controls for using the bow and arrows are perfect, a cross-hair appears and with it, the gamer can aim a shot wherever you need to. It’s also pretty neat that one has an unlimited amount of arrows, while not true to life, still very fun.
The Wanderer has a horse which in turn can be ridden across the land of Shadow of the Colossus. At first, the horse is a bit tricky to get used to, but once you get into the game, Agro is easy to ride, by using the X button you spur the horse into galloping. The more the gamer spurs Agro, the faster he goes. Arrows can also be fired when riding Agro. There are many times where Agro can be key when fighting certain bosses because of how fast Agro can run. The horse, much like Yorda from ICO can be called upon which makes them follow the gamer. This was a real nice touch because it would suck if Agro just stood in one place once one got off from him. It’s also amazing how much depth the developers put into Agro; there are times where you’ll see him drinking from a lake or even rear when encountering a colossus.
The developers put a lot of nice graphical touches in Shadow of the Colossus, from jets of black blood that comes from places where you have stabbed a colossus to rocks and trees being broken down as a colossus hits them. Even the ground leaves indentations of where a colossus has stomped on. Most of the graphics from the game look much like ICO’s, but a little more touched up. The colossi are very sharp looking and so are most of the areas within Shadow of the Colossus.
Shadow of Colossus has probably one of the best soundtracks ever. It’s also cool how music seems to seep into the game. While just riding around, there isn’t any music, but once you encounter a colossus the music starts. Sometimes the music is kind of haunting and creepy while other times it is very melodic. Then, once one starts climbing the colossus and begins to hurt the beast, another song comes on that just pumps one’s adrenaline. After you kill the colossus, the music becomes somber…then ends as though the music was part of the colossus itself.
I am not one to give games perfect scores, I’m usually pessimistic when it comes to reviewing and I try to find something that’s wrong with a game. This did not happen when I played Shadow of the Colossus. It is perfect. While the game itself is very short, there is a bunch of different modes to try out. You won’t grow tired of this game so easily and it’s easily worth the 40 bucks.
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Game Score: 9.6
Reviewed By: Andrew JA
