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Koruwa's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
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| [January 25, 2008 12:08:47 AM]
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GAMELOG ENTRY #2 Classics:Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
GAMEPLAY
After continuing to play this game, I noticed a few unique choices the developers made. While wandering around the countryside, there is little to no music being played. The only audible sounds are the wind howling, your horse's footsteps, various ambient noises. This choice really enhances the feeling of being alone in a vast empty world. In contrast to the lack of music while exploring, when a battle with a colossus is initiated, epic orchestrated music begins to play, which further enhances the mood.
As the number of colossi I faced increased, I noticed how each of the behemoths required a unique strategy to take them down. One of the battles that stood out in particular was colossus number three. This monstrosity weilds a large pillar of stone like a sword. The first time through this game, I was baffled. I noticed that after doing a vertical swing, its sword stayed down in the ground for a short period, which allowed me to run up the length of it and grab onto its furry arm. Unfortunatly, I did not notice that it wore a stone bracelet that prevented my character from climbing up its arm to its weakpoint. It was after a half hour of scratching my head when I noticed that I would have to make the colossus hit the stone circle in the middle of the platform to destroy its bracelet. This unique strategy really adds to the depth of the game and is an excellent implementation of a near perfect mix of puzzles and of action. Another good example of this is one of the later colossi that involves interaction with parts of the environment in order to break the armor covering its back and expose its weakpoint.
DESIGN
The games straightforward story, amazing score, innovative boss battles, and well implemented controls combine to create one of the Playstation 2's best games. The designer's choice of a noticeable lack of loading screens while traversing the countryside and during boss battles gives the game a very cinematic feel. The only loading screens that I noticed are the ones after a players death or when first loading the game. In fact, gameplay is rarely interrupted by messages and screens popping up. There are a few exceptions of course such as the message asking the player if he would wish to save and player initiated actions like bringing up the world map.
The overall visual design of both the colossi and the architecture give a unique feeling of being in a completely different time period and location. Both remind me of old aztec ruins and various other old temples and ruins. Further reinforcing this is the use of a language that the developered made up. Another point this brings up is the possible correlation to team ICO's earlier game entitled "Ico". Characters in both games appear to speak the same language and the settings of both games are stylistically similar. There is also a possible connection in the stories of both games though I will not spoil what it is exactly. I really like it when developers create games with subtle stories that connect to other projects that they have done, either through the story or just references. This really adds another layer to the games plot and creates an unforgettable experience.
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| [January 24, 2008 10:58:46 PM]
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GAMELOG ENTRY #1 Classics:Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
SUMMARY
Shadow of the Colossus is a strategic action game for the Playstation 2. The game involves a young man and his faithful horse on a quest to ressurect a young woman with the help of a god-like entity. In order to fulfill this task, the man is given the task of slaying 16 large beings called colossi. The entire game consists of 16 epic boss battles with the task of traversing a huge map on horseback to get to the location of each colossus.
GAMEPLAY
The first time I started playing SotC, the introduction cinematic blew me away. With the already then aging hardware of the Playstation 2, team ICO (the developers) managed to create an amazing engine that is capable of rendering breathtaking landscapes, intricate ruins, and monstrously detailed colossi. Hours can be spent just wandering around the map on horseback and exploring the gorgeous scenery and climbing the various temples (that denote savepoints) and structures scattered around the map.
As for the actual fighting, the game focuses on the task of finding a way to mount each of the unique creatures and stab its magical weakpoint to take it down. Each colossus has multiple weakpoints that each hold a fraction of the colossi's health. When one point it completely destroyed, another appears on its body. There is a catch however. The weakpoints are invisible until the player reflects sunlight off of his magical sword onto the area of the point, which reveals it for a short period, or if the player is extremely close to the point, which reveals it indefinitely until the player gets too far away or if the point is destroyed. The colossi themselves vary in size and behaviour. Some are two legged, some are four legged, some soar high in the sky, some are towering behemoths, and some are only slightly bigger than you. The developers did an amazing job in creating so many unique creatures.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 24th, 2008 at 23:29:52.
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Koruwa's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Thursday 24 January, 2008
GameLog closed on: Tuesday 12 February, 2008 |
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