|
Saturday 26 January, 2008
(gamelog 2, part 2, for CMPS 80K)
GAMEPLAY
After my second round playing Shadow of the Colossus, my appreciation continues to grow. Having fought and defeated many different Colossi by now, I am beginning to gain a better sense of how to do so. However, as my technique becomes more advanced, so do the Colossi I am pitted against. Each Colossus requires that the player adopt a new strategy or problem-solving method. Several are made easier when the player is comfortable riding Agro, and a few actually require the player to make use of the extra speed that is only attainable while the character is on horseback.
Often, the game will grow rather frustrating. In one instance, for example, the Colossus I was required to defeat was hidden at the bottom of an underground lake deep inside a cave, the entrance to which was extremely well hidden. Once a Colossus has been found, defeating it is often just as much of a challenge. On occasions where I got stuck, the on-screen hints were a valuable source of information, and since they are relatively vague I still felt as if I was accomplishing something with every problem I solved correctly.
DESIGN
As I mentioned before in my last entry, the designs of each of the bosses – these giant and menacing Colossi – is distinctly unique, and serves the dual purpose of creating diversity in both characters and gameplay, since each Colossus' physical attributes play a crucial role in its defeat. This further advances the differences in battle-strategy in even the simplest elements, since a Colossus who moves around quickly and is difficult to latch onto will require that the player employ a completely different method of attack in order to vanquish it.
However, the strategy dimension that is added to the gameplay is partially and illusion: a Colossus may be defeated using a path that is directly and actively chosen by the player, but the fights are directed in such a way that the strategy itself is more or less the same. For example, the player may be required to lure the Colossus into a certain area first, an event which can only be achieved if the player triggers it via the appropriate action. How the action itself is executed, however, is a direct resultant of the player's level of skill and control.
As a broader variety of tactics are honed, so are other elements of the game. As the player is required to go farther and farther afoot in his or her mission of search-and-destroy, the broad expanse of this diverse yet eerily-empty terrain is opened up.
Best accomplished, perhaps, is the sense of loneliness and isolation which the game's environment evokes. Coupled with a creeping sense of foreboding that is established with the advance of the plot, Shadow of the Colossus delivers a unique and complex tone that is achieved through subtle shifts rather than dramatic dialog. With the event of every Colossus slain, Wander is besieged by a visible, tangible darkness which renders him unconscious, and continues to plague him each and every time he awakens.
What is most interesting about the design, however, is that there is no evident reward structure. Instead, the player is simply encouraged to move on to defeating the next foe. As the avid explorer will realize, though, it is possible to receive a sort of power-up for Wander's grab ability by returning to the spot where each Colossus was defeated and eating the tails of small lizards that now reside there.
Overall, I found Shadow of the Colossus to be a very well thought-out and designed game which is incredibly innovative and original, and is only further enhanced by truly breathtaking graphics.
|
