Post by Lord Loss on Mar 17, 2009 16:16:55 GMT -5
Shadow of the Colossus
Released February 16th, 2006.
PEGI Rating: 12+
Wow. Just wow.
This is one of, probably the best game I have ever played, and I'm not saying that lightly. Everything about it is simply top-notch, and do you know the best thing? It's played on the PS2. None of your fancy, next-gen 'look-at-me-I've-got-a-pixel-shader' consoles here.
Despite this, the graphics are some of the best I've ever seen. When it was first released, it used previously unseen techniques - subtle lighting, water marks and such like.
Also, when you load up the game, you have a choice between two slightly different viewing modes - 50 HRz or 60 Hrz. I use 50 HRz on a small, crappy TV, and you know what? It still looks great.
O.K, I'll move on from the fanboy stuff and describe some more of the game. It focuses on killing 16 Colossi - giant, mythical beats that roam the land. They're part animal, part rock and part architecture. They come in all shapes and sizes (ranging from something the size of a Skyscraper to one just a few times larger than yourself_. And it feels nothing short of amazing. In how many other games do you do nothing but kill huge, towering creatures, armed with nothing but a slightly magical sword (the only helpful thing it does is point towards the colossus's lair) and a bow? In fact, you keep these simple, primitive weapons for the whole game. There's no upgrading or 'leveling up', and it's all the better for that. You get better purely thanks to the players skill.
I said they were big.
Getting to the Colossi is rarely a major issue. You get on your horse, Agro (who happens to be a pain to control) shine your sword to work out which direction to go in and you ride off. Occaisionly, you'll have to work out a way around some mountains, or a canyon, but that isn't normally too difficult. Oh, did I mention the landscape looks superb and there are no loading times between areas? It all flows seemlessly.
Once you actually get to the Colossus, you'll need to work out the way to kill it. The 16 are all completely different, and each needs a completely different strategy. For exaple, for Colossus 1, you need to jump on it's calf, stab it so it trips, all the while holding down R1 to grip on. Unfortunately, holding R1 drains your stamina circle, and if it shrinks completely you'll fall.
Anyway, you stab its calf, it trips, you jump up to its back, climb up to the head (where the weakspot is) and stab repeatedly. Try doing that on the 2nd, and you'll end up as a smear on the ground, seeing's as it has 4 legs, metal armour on it's calves and will do it's best to squash you with it's hooves.
There is a hint of a plot, which only really comes to fruition at the end. You arrive in a distant land, carrying a female of roughly the same age. Is she wife? Is she your sister? Is she dead, or merely injured? Anway, a spectral, God-like presense at the top of the shrine tells you that the only way to recover her is to kill the 16 Colossi that roam the land and transfer their power. This, however, does raise some moral issues. Is it right to kill these creatures, that are often peaceful, non-agressive and maybe even sentient just to heal one person? In fact, I felt really guilty as I made Colossus 4 crumble to the ground. It had just been sitting in some green, lovely fields, then this tiny creature had come along and killed it. Where's the justice in that?
The game is, however, a little on the short side, reaching less than 10 hours play time. But maybe it's better that way - you get to savour the small amount that you have.
In conclusion, then, this is a simply superb game, and I can't reccommend it highly enough. There are even rumours of a sort-of sequal, set in the same universe...
Can't wait.
Score: 95%