| Shadow of the Colossus review |
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When ICO first launched in 2001, it was lost among the glut of releases marking the PS2’s rise from its early launch slumber. While following critical response and media awareness has helped the game to half-shake its cult status, the fact remains that ICO fared poorly in terms of garnering wider appreciation. In a return to the same captivating world which distinguished his earlier work, Fumito Ueda and his team at SCEI have developed a game which isn’t just a horse-ridden ICO with the castle walls rolled back.
Shadow of the Colossus marks an entry into forgotten territory, not only for its host platform, but for gaming as a whole. We’re provided with a title eager to reject the typical sequel route through its determination to provide an experience both fresh and uniquely different. What waits is a giant slaying, horse riding, bittersweet fantasy that’s determined to touch and inspire in equal measure.
The tale revolves around an unnamed young man who rides into a forbidden land with the intention of reviving his dead love and in striking a bargain with a mysterious entity, he must destroy sixteen colossi to retrieve the power needed to make his wish come true. Although on the surface the narrative is as minimal and as simple as ICO’s, its main use is to set up the context through which the main story is told – the player’s actions.
Distinct palettes exist in Colossus that should otherwise clash, and to the game’s credit it manages to combine them without disrupting the adventure’s pace. Mainly, exploration consists of uninterrupted travel over miles of abandoned land on horseback, and it’s here where, depending on preference, the experience can either shine or falter. Similarly to ICO, much of the pleasure derived in Colossus depends on your appreciation and immersion of its startling environments. Reward for exploration isn’t factored on character or structural enhancement, but out of the natural enjoyment you’re able to take from existing in a highly believable landscape. This isn’t something cultivated out of polygons and textures – the world spinning inside the PS2 possesses a history and sense of place beyond the television screen; ready to stimulate a range of senses that one might have in exploring the outdoor countryside. We’re presented with an atmosphere which isn’t something that feels fictional, but whose flavour lingers in the mind long after the PS2 has been powered down.
Colossus’ second palette exists on an abrupt and confrontational plane, where it consistently focuses its progression on the giants of the tale to drive the player forward. Although their bodies are levels in themselves, the surroundings are often used to discover how each must be destroyed; landscape and colossi intersecting to form puzzles (and the solutions needed) to move on to the next. Taken together, both twist traditional thoughts of what we consider as ‘normal’ level design.
Whereas in ICO the momentum lay in progression over its castle architecture and confrontation arose out of a desire to protect, Shadow of the Colossus reverses these roles by defining the player as the attacker, and the enemies as the building blocks which have to be physically overcome. These battles are organic in nature and the various bosses can be approached in a number of different ways, even if their weak points are determined in a linear fashion. Viewed overall, the game’s pace and exploration follow the same dichotomy in being open to choice compared to the stringent movement from boss to boss. There aren’t any decisions to be made for whom you go up against, which is in stark contrast to the vast, unrestricted movement you’re afforded elsewhere.
Pushing the PS2 to its very limits, Colossus contains a few problems concerning frame rates and level of detail issues, which although evident, are never detrimental to the experience. Small flaws can largely be forgiven when you consider what’s actually been achieved with the technology available. Environments such as these have rarely (if ever) been seen before. Literally miles of terrain are often to be seen stretched into the horizon with mountains, bridges, valleys and forests accompanying one another. The expansiveness and beauty that the world possesses is breathtaking, and this is thanks to the hundreds of little details which add up to make the game what it is. Exaggerated palettes provide huge contrasts between the washed out skies and grounds to compensate for a lack of texture memory, the whipping motion blur of the camera cloaks frame rate problems, out of focus depth disguises restrictions in far away detail, and powerful bloom effects cleverly hide the landscape streaming in. All of these aspects are consistent with the art direction and show a great understanding of what the PS2 is capable of, not to mention where its defects are best hidden. Melancholic and poignant, the world offered in Colossus rises above its technical constraints to express something which resonates on a far deeper level.
The colossi themselves are the definitive examples of this as their designs are all individualistic and strongly envisaged. At times it’s almost difficult to comprehend how they’re running on technology which should otherwise be grounding to a halt.
Intricately constructed, many tower into the air and move with a convincing believability for how you’d expect gigantic creatures to roam. Emphasising their power over the landscape, the beasts highlight the extent to which the world stretches, proving a reminder that movement relies on long distances rather than the insular, intimate traversal which helped mark out ICO. Unlike a number of free-roaming adventure games, the world we’re thrown into is largely devoid of barriers or restrictions to limit exploration on rate of progress. Instead of the environment fitting around the player, from the start it’s we who are faced with having to adjust to its enticing size. The landscape doesn't hide or keep you narrowly confined; it thrusts you into another far-off, captivating world that enquires where it is you’d ideally like to explore.
Agro, the horse used for travel, becomes more than a means of transport. It becomes a trusted companion who stands at frequent odds with the dead, lifeless landscape whose personality is, like Yorda beforehand, developed through steady AI brought to life via meticulous animation. Whether ridden or left to its devices, it behaves precisely how you’d expect a horse to. In terms of control, the riding allows for a range of speeds and moves to be made, but it never overcomes the sensation that Agro has independently chosen to help instead of being owned. The warmth generated from having it close whilst confronting the game’s overwhelming solitude helps to elevate some of the loneliness, and the few ruins scattered about the land echo this in providing occasional respite from the natural onslaught.
Though engrossing and highly imaginative, it’s the exploration of the colossi which mark the most immediate differences between Colossus and ICO. A high degree of spatial awareness and sense of timing is needed to take many of the beasts down (as you’re being flung about on their bodies), and a more action-orientated skill level is helpful to take full enjoyment out of the experience, otherwise risk of frustration can set in. ICO proved to be a wonderful experience not only due to its atmosphere, but that it was also welcoming to people from various walks of life, regardless of the gaming experience they may have had. However, the frustrations and requirements Colossus makes on the player limit its accessibility. During parts, it reverses back on its predecessor with the introduction of a HUD, where small - but required - information is displayed to signify equipment change, health and grip level. Oddly, while this HUD is a necessity for when the colossi appear, the game’s apprehensive approach to highlighting puzzles or target points (needed to climb to on the colossi) means even with the introduction of an interface, it's possible to become stuck due to the vague (and often incomprehensible) hint system. Shadow of the Colossus is an experience that can become frustrating if you struggle to adjust to the reflexes needed to progress against each giant and bring them down.
Thankfully the HUD and lack of definition fade to the background when you’re exploring the surroundings, leaving an open, uncluttered screen and the sombre, forlorn soundscape. Here, with the howling winds, galloping and far-off birds, it’s hard not to fall in love with what’s on offer. The music too delivers an elegant score that often evokes (and encourages) a saddening, emotional reaction. Not to be outdone, the majority of the presentation is of a similarly high standard… whether it be the snowed-out options screen or the hand-drawn map. On completion, (and after one of the greatest endings to grace videogaming), a wealth of extras and secrets present themselves to provide further incentive to return to the game’s world, though the environment and the beasts it contains should provide all the reasons you need.
Considering the pace of technical evolution in gaming and the fevered, popular beliefs that more is better, it's hard these days to be truly staggered by what a game can put out. Yet grappling on to looming beasts as they anxiously shake you off hundreds of feet above the ground, with mountains and forests zooming about the eye, is simply an experience unlike any other. It both fulfils and confounds such beliefs thanks to the size and scale we’re encouraged to be hungry for, and rejects the multi-genre complexity that is often demanded from adventure games to be seen as a cut above the ‘norm’.
Symbolic of these divisions, playing Shadow of the Colossus offers up moments that until now no one, apart from the team behind the game, has managed to convey with the same eloquent poetry.
The towering giants aren’t the meat of the experience – it’s the beguiling landscape which proves itself to be the biggest colossi of them all. Sprawling, mystical and dream-like, it can never quite be laid to rest or overcome.
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System: Sony PlayStation 2
Genre: Adventure
Developer: SCEI/Team ICO
Publisher: SCEA
Players: 1
Version: United States
Reviewed: Oct 2005
Writer: Ben Mottershead
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Pros:
- Provides a huge, seamless and touching world to delve into with inspiring artistry
- Each of the colossi are distinctive and beautifully realised
- The PS2 is pushed to its very limits
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Cons:
- The system is perhaps pushed over a technical hurdle too many, and this is reflected in occasional slow down
- The hint system used to help players stuck on certain colossi isn't as clear as it could be where the solution is abstract
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Shadow of the Colossus Video: 11.5MB
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