Shadow of the Colossus

If you are someone who consider ourselves to be intelligent then buy and cherish this game... and then convert others to try it as well of course (especially if they are your average gamer who plays nothing but shooters and "cool" games).

My favourite Playstation 2 game along with Ico and Metal Gear Solid 3.


Awesome   December 26, 2005
 5 out of 8 found this review helpful

I bought this game a few days ago and I have to say.
I was amazed at how great the visuals where, for being a ps2 game the enviornment is breath taking.
Game play is great, it does get a bit lonely at times, but the battles make up for it.
If you're a fan of puzzles and riddles, then this game is a must.


Pure art   December 23, 2005
 21 out of 23 found this review helpful

Games are rarely considered art. It's pretty easy to see why. A majority of games consist of shooting bullets at bad guys. While some of them are fun, very few can be seen as artistic masterpieces. Ico was a beatiful artistic game. The beauty of the game and the environments was what kept me hooked. Now that Shadow of the Colossus is out, we almost have a follow-up to Ico. While the gameplay certainly is aiming a bit more to the mass, it did not loose its artistic side one bit.

The battles are 500x more interesing than those in Ico, but they are fewer. If you are reading this, you probably know that there are 16 epic battles, which consist of killing colossi. A colossus is a giant living fortress (well,most of them are giant). While killing them is extremely fun, watching them is as jawdropping. Some of them are HUGE (especially the last colossus. Imagine Saruman's tower in LoTR, but with arms and shooting energy balls at you).
The evironments, while not very interactive (still,you can kill small lizards), will make you wet your pants. Not only are they grandiose, but they are also extremly beautiful. The level with multiple geysers in a field must be seen to be believed. It is very surprising to see that the PS2 can render graphics that good.
Another thing to add to the artistic part of the game is the feeling of being lonely. The only living things except you and the colossi are your horse Agro, a dead woman, birds and lizards.

As superb as it looks and as good as it plays, it is sometimes hard not to forget that it is only a game. Unfortunately, there are some elements that make the player return to reality. First, the framerate gets pretty low in busy situations. It is pretty easy to get past that though. And what's with the HUD? Ico didn't have any HUD, and the immersion was total. they should have used the controller's rumble feature to say how much grip you have left. Like if you're at 10 seconds from falling, the controller starts to rumble harder and harder. That would've been brilliant. Anyway, I think I'm being kind of picky here. Oh and also, the game is short. Not Genji-short,but still short. I personnally finished it in 9 hours.

Anyway, it's an easy 5/5. I've got nothing more to add.

P.S.: Claiming to see a videogame as a form of art is not pretentious, it's only a matter of taste.