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BRI-3PO's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
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| [January 25, 2008 10:35:53 PM]
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GAMEPLAY
As I continue pursuing the colossi, no more of the story has been revealed. It is a mysterious plot that continually peaks my curiosity to play. Each colossus becomes successively harder to defeat. It takes more than just climbing and stabbing as I progress. With each new colossus, you must utilize more resources, such as Agro and the environment. This difference began aorund the third colossus: you must climb a spiraling tower in the middle of the sea to reach him, and in order to climb the beast, you must get him to strike a stone platform so his armor is weakened. This reveals hairy areas for Wander to clutch.
In later colossus battles, Agro is also key to defeating the giant. You must stand on top of his saddle and aim at the colossus' weak points with your bow and arrows, while remaining balanced on Agro's back. That way, you can keep up with the colossus and strike his weak spots.
The mysterious storyline keeps me excited to play every time, hoping for a new plot twist. Although nothing significant has happened, other than every time a colossus is defeated, Wander's skin pales and the woman's skin glows brighter, it isn't as if the game is stuck in a rut. Each colossus provides a unique lair and enviornment with which to work, and a new challenge.
DESIGN
SotC has an interesting design. Put into laymen's terms, it sounds rather mundane: no character interaction, no separate "levels," no other playable lands, and no immediate reward system. Sounds boring. However, SotC instead transforms these aspects into a simple, goal-oriented game without excess confusion. It provides for a quick, challenging, and direct game: defeat shadows. This way, maybe you, as the player, will learn more of the mysterious story plot.
The space within its gaming world is enormous and free of confinement. I could ride Agro around the map for hours and be satisfied looking at the gorgeous light rays, clouds, and scenery of the game. The colossus almost seem to be part of the scenery. Each colossus is more terrible and beautiful than the one before it. These open spaces are also difficult at times, since it is easy to get lost or barred by mountains.
The game's realism is also striking. One realistic element is the movement of Wander and Agro. Wander's moves are not fluid, but awkward and humanistic - if he has the sword in his hand, he runs slightly lopsided, and when he jumps, he lands hard, as if he were truly leaping heavily. Wander is easy to control, however Agro proves more of a challenge. He is oftentimes very hard to turn around and change direction. You must continually press x for him to gallop as well, which is irritating. If you don't keep pressing x, he will slow down in a short span of time. Aside from these slightly irritating control schemes with Agro, the rest of the game's controls are fairly simple.
The simplistic beauty of Shadow of the Colossus makes it a refreshing change from the typical action-adventure game. There is no button-mashing (unless you're riding Agro), no onslaught of mediocre enemies, and a whole lot of open wilderness. If you enjoy this game, I highly recommend its sequel, Ico. You get even more story development, shedding light on the shadowy game of enigmatic majesty.
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| [January 24, 2008 08:32:56 PM]
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SUMMARY
I'll gladly admit that I'm a sucker for any action-adventure game that includes Shrines of Worship, forbidden lands, and a main character intriguingly named Wander. Now add a noble stallion, a colossal map of expansive wilderness, and sixteen colossal colossi, and you have Team Ico's Shadow of the Colossus. In this PS2 title, you play a warrior named Wander who is attempting to resurrect a young woman with the aide of a disembodied entity named Dormin. The backstory of the game resides in as enigmatic a shadow as the creation of the colossi. All you know as the player is that in order to save the lady, you must raise your sword into the path of the sunlight and follow its concentrated reflection to where each colossus dwells.
GAMEPLAY
SotC (my shorthand for the game) is definitely not a party-pleaser. It takes a certain elemental mood to immerse yourself in the loneliness and solitary of Wander's quest. In the game, you never encounter other characters with which to socially interact, or different areas and towns to explore. You essentially have Agro, the colossi, and Dormin. The vastness of the map is also a lonely sea of grass, hills, and shrubbery.
Although classified as an action-adventure game, I find SotC to encompass more puzzle-game aspects, since there aren't very many enemies to fight, and the only "action" happens when confronting a colossus. The process is languid and thought-provoking. Wander must find and exploit the colossi's weakness in order to substantially damage the massive creatures, doing so by holding up his sword and allowing the sun to reveal the glowing weak spots on its body. Instead of button-mashing, the player must discover the best route to climbing the giant and attacking its weak areas.
Another unique element of gameplay is the lack of items and weapon upgrades available. During the game, the only resources Wander has are his hands, a sword, a bow and arrows, and Agro. For the first few colossi, Wander mainly uses his sword to pierce the weak spots as he scales each colossus. He has a life bar and a stamina circle, which alerts you if Wander's grip becomes weak while he climbs the colossus. If it does and you are not on a flat surface of the creature, Wander can fall off, damaging his health. As he grabs the hair matter on the colossus' body, he then stabs the weak spot, where black blood spews out. The background music, scenery, and gameplay thus far make SotC a majestic and entertaining game to play on a rainy evening.
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BRI-3PO's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 23 January, 2008
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