|
Wednesday 20 February, 2008
SUMMARY
Shadow of the colossus is an action/adventure game unlike any other. It is one of the most simple, yet engaging videogames I’ve played to date. The entire game essentially boils down to traveling the game world in search of 16 colossi and slaying them. The concept may seem a bit dull but it is amazing how much satisfaction can be achieved with such simple, yet well implemented game design.
GAMEPLAY
The game begins with a cut-scene showing a young man traveling across a desolate world on horseback with a deceased girl on his lap. He arrives at a shrine of some sorts and places the girl on a pedestal. Then a voice tells him that in order to revive the girl he must track down and slay sixteen monstrous colossi scattered around the land. Armed with a sword and a bow, he climbs on top of his horse and embarks on his seemingly impossible journey. That’s it. That is the entire storyline and the only thing the player has to do in the game. The game world is almost devoid of any life and gives the player a sense of solitude and tranquility. As I started exploring the game world in search of the colossi, it became apparent that I was essentially in a wasteland with my horse being my only companion. Traveling alone, with no civilization in sight, I couldn’t help but to feel a sense of despair. The only things I could hear were the sounds of my horse’s pounding hooves and the howling wind which only added to my feeling of isolation.
After a bit of traveling, I finally came across the first colossus in the game. My first reaction can be quite adequately summarized as “HOLY S***!”
To say that the monsters in this game are huge is an understatement. They are without a doubt the biggest and coolest bosses in any game. Having read about this game in reviews, previews, etc I already knew what I had to do. Climb the beast, find its weak spot and take him down with my sword. And this is where the game truly shines. Finding out how to climb these walking skyscrapers without falling off or being squashed like a bug is the most fun I’ve had in a videogame in quite a while. After a few tries I finally found the giant’s weak point, thrust my sword in it and watched him collapse. The sense of accomplishment that the players feel for bringing down a massive beast with only a sword is something that is seldom seen in other videogames. And with that, I was off to slay the remaining beasts.
|
