Colossus of an undertaking

Rarely do games truly captivate my attention, and I mean to the point where I put off work and homework just to play them. Thanks to Shadows of the Colossus, a recent release to the PS2, I am now behind on three days worth of reading for school. Shadows was created by the same team at Sony Entertainment Co. that brought us Ico, an RPG that brought together fantastic scenery with rewarding game play and a fantastic soundtrack. Shadows has done Sony proud. Once again these creators have designed massive environments, awesome freedoms with your character movement, and an incredible soundtrack that truly helps motivate your characters victory.

The basic premise of the game is that you arrive in this long lost place, a place that has special powers to heal the dead. You travel on horseback with the body of a dead girl; whose relation to you is unclear but it can be assumed was the love of your life. The deity that has the power to bring her soul back to her cold body calls upon you in return to remove the idols that have been built in its sanctuary. The only way to do this, is to defeat “colossi”, animal representations of the idols themselves. With the Holy Sword, a bow and arrow, and your horse, you are off to defeat 16 of these monsters to save your lovers soul.

The world in which you travel is like some forsaken island off the coast of Costa Rica [spared no expense]. You learn to master the movements of both you and your horse Aero fairly quickly, not out of goofy tutorials, but out of sheer necessity. The vast spaces allow you to roam freely, learning how to maneuver the horse fast and efficiently when warranted, and also operate the camera, as it is almost completely manual. [Even cinematic cut scenes give you the option of changing the camera views] The colossi are literally hundreds of times larger than you, but your size is something that will eventually work towards your advantage. There are several “vitals”, big blue Celtic looking symbols, which must be stabbed in order for you to defeat the monster, but there is no one-way to reach them, although some prove easier than others. Every monster is equipped with armor that is fair game in terms of trying to traverse up or along it. In fact, sometimes it’s not about how well you climb up but how great you can fall down. They are often covered in strategic places with fur that is easily held on to if a piece of armor is not within reach. On average, every monster takes a good 30-45 minutes to climb up, that is if you can figure out the puzzle to get on it in the first place. And if that hasn’t peeked your curiosity enough to rent it, then perhaps the soundtrack will. It is expertly composed and wonderfully full like the epic soundtrack of Lord of the Rings.

All in all, this game is a total experience. It’s perhaps not a game for someone who loves repeats of the same storylines, or is used to and likes a certain way of playing an RPG. It appeals to the Heart of Darkness and Abe’s Odyssey in me, and I’m sure it will entice anyone who is curious about true innovation in game play or anyone who is simply looking for something that hasn’t been before.

All images taken from the IGN website which can be found here