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minaharker's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
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| [September 8, 2009 10:44:46 PM]
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GAMEPLAY
After playing Shadow of the Colossus for a few hours, I've found that over half my time has been spent exploring the world rather than battling the Colossi. If the game was any less gorgeous, or any less expansive, this would be very boring. But Shadow of the Colossi keeps the world map varied while still retaining cohesion. It's not like some other games in which there is a volcanic area and then a snowy area. There are canyons and an ocean and mountains, and yet with the same color tone and similar plant life, it all feels like the same world.
The game continues to make me quite sad; every time a Colossi dies, you see its statue crumble, and then a bright pillar of light cuts across the sky, reminding the player, "Yes, yes you killed it! Right here!" And that pillar of light just stays there for the rest of the game. Usually, when you beat a huge monster, a game should make you feel accomplished for doing so. I don't feel accomplished at all!
DESIGN
Shadow of the Colossus, with its huge world map and huge monsters, does a very good job of making the player feel very small and very alone. The player is truly at the end of the world. This loneliness leads to the player to become very attached to Wander's horse, Agro. I personally fretted quite a bit when I'd whistle and Agro took a little too long to respond. My brother told me that he managed to kill his horse, and when he found her lying dead in the middle of the wasteland, he almost cried. Luckily that hasn't happened to me yet, but that just makes me worry about leaving Agro alone for too long!
One thing that did strike me as odd: there is no background music in the game when you are not fighting a Colossus. This may tie into the unsettling silence and the feeling of being alone, but some gentle background music would have been nice. That is my one minor complaint on an otherwise spectacular game.
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| [September 6, 2009 06:52:49 PM]
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SUMMARY
In Shadow of the Colossus, the player controls Wander, a young man who must defeat sixteen roaming monsters (Colossi) in order to bring his lover back from the dead. The Colossi are, well, COLOSSAL, and defeating them takes both platforming and puzzle-solving skills.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay in Shadow of the Colossus is quite satisfying. I love just hopping onto my horse and galloping around the gorgeous world map. The controls are simple and pretty intuitive, allowing me to focus on puzzle-solving. Battling a Colossus is especially quite fun, since the player must have good timing and a sharp mind to take the monster down. There's a lot of trial and error involved, and a LOT of falling off the Colossus, but that just makes the experience more satisfying in the end.
So far, playing this game makes me feel...well, quite sad! The game begins on a morose note; the open cutscene includes Wander laying his dead woman on a slab. But what really gets me? Killing the Colossi. When battling the first Colossus, I was getting more and more irritated every time he shook me off his back. That's when I thought, "All right, time for you to die." But when I finally killed him, there was black blood spewing everywhere, the howling of pain, and then a long cutscene of his death...and it's all very sad!
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