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ballboy's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
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| [February 21, 2008 02:17:08 AM]
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GAMEPLAY:
After my second session I am still impressed with this game. I’ve heard before that this game is the closest thing to a work of art in games and I’d say that’s a fairly accurate description. Every colossus is like a level, and each one has something different. The environments, for one, are unique and beautiful. One “level” is themed around ruins half submerged in a lake. Another takes place in a field of grassy hills. It was a pleasure discovering what was around the next corner.
It wasn’t all good though. For one, it was sometimes confusing as to how to kill the monsters. I realize they are puzzles and the fun is figuring out what to do but once or twice I spent a long time doing something completely wrong. It seems like the game sets up wrong paths, which I can see the benefit of having. It makes the game feel less linear that way, but it did cause me to think I was on the right track and lead me to continue to try doing something I couldn’t because of it. Another thing was that some monsters required you to think of something really strange that most people wouldn’t. For instance, the third monster(spoiler alert!) required you to stand on a metal disk and make it hit the disk with its club, causing its wrist armor to break, allowing you to climb up. I did not think of that at all and kept trying to climb its club and jump over the wrist when it raised the club back up. It was sheer luck I happened to be on a metal disk one of the times it attacked. These are not major flaws, though they do take you out of the mood somewhat. It was important for me to mention the downs to be fair, but I hope I don’t deter anyone for playing this game, I’d definitely recommend it.
DESIGN:
It’s obvious that a great deal of work was put into creating the atmosphere of this game. The appeal of the game comes largely form the curiosity the game instills throughout. The developers designed the game to draw on the player’s desire to explore and discover. Other games do the same but in a different way. Other games give you shiny things to collect, upgrades and points but Shadow of the Colossus does it much more covertly. The game almost seems like it wants you to like without noticing.
Breaking the game into 16 “levels” was a nice touch. I remember playing Ico and feeling like it just went on forever there’s no distinguishable break points aside from save points. Have the game segmented gives you a sense of accomplishment throughout, and makes feel like you are actually progressing.
The developers did a lot of unique and interesting things with this game. The monsters, for example, are bosses, but they’re also levels in themselves. You can get more life and more grip to on to things longer, but for the most part your character stays the same. I think they did this to keep your focus off of the character.
This is a game you recommend to people not because it was really fun but because you feel you it will better them in some way, not that it wasn’t fun. The game clearly tries to touch you on a deeper level than most. All the aspects work together to that end.
The I can see how this kind of thing may not appeal to some people. This game requires you to be drawn in by the atmosphere. If the mood doesn’t grab you, there’s little chance you’ll like this game
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 21st, 2008 at 02:18:59.
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| [February 21, 2008 02:16:07 AM]
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SUMMARY:
Shadow of the Colossus is puzzle/platformer. You run, jump, grab, climb, slash, and shoot. You play a young man who has traveled to a strange land to ask a god to resurrect a girl you brought with you, I assume me loved her. The god tells you it will bring her back to life if you kill 16 monsters that roam the strange land. You have a special magical sword which has the power to kill the monsters. With your loyal horse, you ride off on your quest.
GAMEPLAY:
I’ve played Ico, which is made by the same people as Shadow of the Colossus, and it shares many qualities. The scenery is, as with Ico, very important to the experience. The land is vast and riddled with huge chasms, wide open plains, and ancient structures. It makes you feel tiny and isolated. Also the scant, mysterious story is similar to Ico. All you know is you are trying to bring some girl back to life. You have no idea where you came from, what happened to the girl, or what the land you’ve gone to is. The physical abilities of your character emphasize that you are an average human, which adds to the feeling of being small and insignificant.
The game consists of two main parts: getting to the monster, and killing the monster. The first part you do so by using your sword to reflect light. You hold the sword to the light and beams come off it. Then you turn in any direction and as you move in the direction the monster is in, the beams of light focus to one point. When you are getting close, you’ll come to a place where you have to leave your horse and traverse an obstacle course of ledges, walls, ropes, ladders and so forth. When I reached the first monster, there was a short cutscene showing it walk into view far away. As I ran up to it, it becomes increasingly apparent how gigantic it is. I really enjoyed the sincerely daunting scene as I stood in its shadow, wondering how I could possible kill that.
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ballboy's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 20 February, 2008
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