Shadow of the Colossus was a game I was hyped to play once I got my
hands on it. After reading many online reviews, plus a few magazine
reviews, I didn't have any doubt that SotC would have been an amazing
game. And let me tell you; I was completely blown away...for about two
hours.
SotC's main story is that of a boy named Wander trying to save a girl
named Mono. Wander travels through the forbidden lands and arrives at
the Shrine of Worship. He is met by an entity named Dormin, who tells
him that if he defeats the 16 colossi that roam the lands around the
temple, he will restore Mono's soul.
The main gameplay of SotC is appealing for a short while. You use
Wander's sword to locate the colossi, by pointing it towards the sky.
As you shift directions, the light hitting the sword will shift to the
direction of the next colossus you must defeat. While this helps in
some way, it is still difficult to find a few of the colossi, and the
sword doesn't help you locate them when you are in standing in the
shadows.
Also helpful with the light feature is finding weak spots on the
colossus itself. Now this may seem like a cheap game feature in some
aspects, there is actually no way you can locate these weak spots
without first shining light on the colossus, which I thought was pretty
stupid. I myself would have personally liked it much more if I could
have found the weak spots myself, to increase the difficulty of the
game somewhat, but you are unable to do so.
Next I'd like to narrow down on the weapons of the game. The game has
the basic array of weapons most fantasy action games have; a sword and
a bow. The sword, as I mentioned before, is used to locate weak spots
on the colossi, and is by far the most useful weapon of the game. The
bow also helps of course, and it is fairly easy to use, which is a
major plus for me.
There is also a horse in the game, named Agro, which helps out
immensely in the game. Agro can be used to ride up to a colossus, or to
get on and ride out for a quick getaway. You can also fire arrows while
atop Agro, or to raise your sword up to find weak spots on the go.
Shooting arrows on horseback, however, is quite pointless, because it
becomes extremely hard to aim, especially when moving.
Now on to the graphics. The visuals on the colossi are simply amazing.
Every colossus you fight will make say either,"Wow" or "Crap". Some
colossi are mean, exerting their huge strength with powerful weapons,
or others are peace-loving, but will fight you to survive. It's
surprising that you can feel how they are by the light expressions they
have on their odd faces, or how they act in their movements.
I was however disappointed in how the main character, Wander, looks.
Quite frankly, I thought he was a woman the first time I saw him, His
hair, his eyes, even his clothes! They were all quite female
orientated. The only thing that helped me make a difference between him
being a man or a woman was his voice.
Another downfall graphics-wise were the environments. I was at first
stunned by the odd tree here and there, or an unusual mountain cliff,
but after playing through the game, I noticed the surrounding land to
become bland. There are wide, open spaces between the colossi when you
go to search for them, but there aren't enough objects or enough
environment between the two of you to make the trip seem worthwhile.
The developers really seemed to focus more on the land around the
individual colossi more instead of actually focusing on the vast, open
plains that surround them.
Apart from some of the graphics, the sound is beautifully done. Most of
the colossi are simply terrifying, as they exert large roars at you as
you approach them, or scream in pain as you drive your sword through
one of their weak points. Wander's sound effects are as equally well
done, as you really start to think at how incredibly tired he must be
and how much pain he must be in after falling off of a 12 story tall
colossus. To add with the commotion, the horse will scream and take off
whenever the colossus gets too close or will tell you when it's a good
idea to make a break for it. If anything, the sound is the best part of
the game.
After Shadow of the Colossus is complete, you receive a new Time Attack
Mode. It is an alright gameplay addition, but it really shows you how
fast the game flies by and how much shorter the battles could have been
if you knew the right moves when you first walked in. It shows that a
colossus you defeated in 20 minutes could have easily been done in 40
seconds.
If you complete the Time Attack Mode, you gain new items to use, but
once you're through with Time Attack Mode, there's really no point as
to going to kill the same colossi for a third time. The game is pretty
much done once you've killed all of the colossi.
Shadow of the Colossus is a remarkable game, but I don't believe why it
was so hyped up. It was a decent and innovative game, but it wasn't as
revolutionary as I read. SotC is a game worth checking out, but it's
more of a game to rent then one to buy.
