Game Review - Shadow of the Collossus : PS2

I don't know how many of you have heard of this game. It hasn't been seriously hyped, I have yet to see one comercial on it, but I'm sure that if you have you've been a little interested in this game. It displays a very dynamic approach to action titles from the very feel of it. Recently I was able to come into contact with this new title, and I am here to give you my thoughts on the game, as well as some valuable advice. Let's get right to it.

Shadow of the Collossus is a title that was released recently for the Playstation 2, and it has some things very worth note. The storyline is very bland and narrow, about the young hero's love being slain in a fassion not mentioned so is taken to a forbidden land rumored to be watched over by beings of light. These beings are said to have powers beond imagination, even to control the souls of the dead. Traveling to the land, however, is strictly forbidden.

The hero, who cannot be more than 18 to 20 years of age by the looks of him, is not your average game type personallity. He's clumsy, off balance, and very much in need of a workout. However, through means unmentioned he has come across an ancient sword. This sword is seen by the beings of light inside a temple of the forbidden land, where he asks for this girl to live once more.

The beings speak to him from on high, saying that they will do what he asks if he kills all collossus in the forbidden land. He agrees, and sets out on his trusty steed.

Gameplay : Straight and to the point. Other than the collossus in this vast and wide ranged world you are allowed to be in... absolutely nothing else exists that lives. Nothing to random encounter, nothing to talk to, nothing to find more storyline on. Absolutely straight to the point. This is a forbidden land after all, so nothing goes in, nothing comes out. Great how a clumsy man was able to get this ancient sword and procure way inside, but nothing else that would pose a threat can seem to manage.

The controls are very hard to get ahold of, but with practice it becomes a tad bit easier. To find your way, your ancient sword can gather and project light from it's blade when held up in the sunlight, focusing on your "Next target" collossus' location.

The battles are intense, and drawn out. The action inside them make it well worth the wait to some players. The monstrosities are easily more than 200 times the size of your character, and will litterally have to be climbed, shot down with your trusty bow, tricked, blinded, fooled, flipped over and gripped onto under water to be able to be taken down. This would seem an easy task, except for the AI of these "Boss's" is extreemly lifelike. They do think for themselves. However, there are ways to manipulate thier movements, and turn it into a routine.

During every battle, after a certen time period where an experienced player would of already begun his main attack, the "voice from above" will call down a hint in riddle. Sometimes it has to do with your surroundings, sometimes it is so cryptic that you can't figure it out until you've already beaten the monster. Either way, it's up to your trusty gamepad skills and quick thinking to do what you need to do.

Be that as it may, the gameplay is a serious wash, rinse, repeat combo. The only thing to do is to find the next boss, and kill it. Find, Kill, Repeat. Another thing that will seriously hinder you is the free camera angle that will reposition itself due to surroundings. If you want to keep your eye on the boss, you'll find it very frusterating to be slammed up into a wall and your camera to go over your head focused down upon you as you try to get up, instead of watching the boss to see what's going to happen next.

Graphics : The graphics composed in this game are at the same time phenominal and pathetic. The cutscenes are grainy on purpose for effect, but your main character will sometimes seem like a paper cut out aginst dark background. The collossus detail is amazing, however it's not the best they could be. You can, at times, be scaling the side of a mountain, and see the repeating graphic box used for detail on cracks and portions on other sides due to the inovative fog detail they've created.

Things that are nice, however, are the camera angel swings. The vision of the background will blurr, causing the same effect as if you were to turn your own head. This is a great effect, and could very well cause you to hold down the camera movement (Right Analog) to the right for a little while just to enjoy it. Another nice addition is the Fog effect I mentioned earlier. Things do not dissapear when too far away. If you're more than 10 frames away, it doesn't cut out as if it magically "dissapeared" like in most games. You could be miles away, and if you had a clear shot to the main Temple in the game and looked back... it would most definately be there. The last great effect worth mentioning would be the lighting. You will get blinded in bright deserts, or in bright areas, and the shadowing and light movement is worth looking at. These effects alone show why everything else is so down, but it doesn't make up for them.

Overall : The game is a mixture of a subtle puzzle and low class action. They could of done so much more with the game if they had tried, but the lack of attention to all details, content, and basic replay value makes this game a true "Rent before you Own" scenerio. Mind you, it will take some time to beat, but if you're seriously that into the game after the first three collossus you're going to rent it quite a few times, unless you go and buy it for yourself.

Gameplay: 6 - The game shows some unique ways of doing things, and some battles that you will never forget.

Graphics: 5 - The attention to some, but not all, graphics makes it very hard to see the needle in the heystack. Not your everyday eyecandy. More like the fresh gumball in the pile of stale ones.

Content: 2 - Lack of storyline, lack of anything except collossus, and just a smidgen of something to do on the side makes it very easy to spot plot holes and not fun to follow through with. Undieing love may do it for you, but when it go's towards a "No quesitons asked" folly where questions absolutely need to be answered... it's not exactially a good thing as far as videogames go.

Originality: 7 - Battles like you've never seen, a world like you've never known, and different thought all the way through. You won't see very much like this, but at times you'll be wondering where your boomerang, bombs, and Tri-force are.

Replay Value: 4 - Once you've done it all, you've just about done it all. All that's left is to hunt down fruit and blue tailed gekko's to make your person stronger. Not much of a reason to come back a second round, if you ask me.

Overall: 4