Gaming Review -- Shadow of Colossus

Hello everyone and welcome to my classic game review of, Shadow of the Colossus. This game was released in October of 2005 for the Playstation 2, and developed by Sony. It was made by the same team of people who made the cult hits, Ico, and The Last Guardian. I remember getting this game way back in 2006 and putting it in my Playstation 2 with no idea of what this was going to be like. I never played Ico so I had nothing to reference this with, but liked the look of it and the idea of fighting giant creatures. What I experienced was nothing that I could have imagined. Games have come a long way since Shadow of the Colossus came out, in terms of graphics and complexity, so I'm not sure if kids today would appreciate it as much. For me though, this game will always have a special place within my gaming history as one of the best and most memorable surprises of that era.

The simplicity of Shadow of the Colossus is what makes it so unique. There is very little story line, hardly any dialogue, and only a few game mechanics to master. At the start of the game you see the protagonist, Wander, riding his horse across a massive bridge. He carries with him a woman, Mono, who appears to be dead. They ride up to a huge temple where Wander places Mono on the shrine where she lay motionless. The game never explains any of this but Wander stole a sword, a magic sword that's said to be the only weapon that can kill a Colossus. He takes the sword and his beloved Mono to this temple to ask a favor of the Gods. It is said that if someone can kill the 16 Colossus that roam this land, they will be granted a wish, and Wander's wish is to bring back his maiden.

When Wander arrives at the temple a disembodied voice talks to him, surprised to see that he possesses the sword. Wander says he wants to bring Mono's soul back to her so that she will live again. The voice tells him to defeat all 16 Colossus and his wish will be granted, but it will come at a cost. This is where your journey begins. You set out on your horse, Agro, to find and kill these legendary beasts. The world is pretty massive and there's no obvious way to go first, but if you hold the sword in the air a beam of light shoots out in the direction you are meant to go. The peacefulness and tranquility of this ancient land is pretty amazing. It's just you and your horse for as far as you can see. No other enemies of any kind lay between you and the first Colossus, just a few rabbits and birds going about their daily business.

You follow the light until you can't ride any further, at this point you must dismount the horse and climb up the cliff face to reach the top of an unseen landmass. Once you reach the top you finally see it, the first Colossus. A massive creature standing so tall it's kind of frightening. At first you're unsure of how to defeat this beast, until you realize that you have to climb up it's furry leg until you reach the top of it's head, all the while it's trying to smash you and shake you off. When you get to the top of it you can see for miles in every direction, it really is amazing to see this for the first time. Then you must take your sword and stab it into this blue glowing spot on the Colossus until you finally manage to take it down. When the battle is over you wake up back in the temple at the shrine, and repeat the same process over again, except in a new direction to face a new Colossus.

There are sixteen in all that you must defeat. Each one requires you to figure out the right strategy to bring it down. Some are slow and lumbering, some are smaller but very quick, some fly, and some are in water. There are no side quests, no NPC's, only you and the Colossus. There are areas that are empty but seem like they were meant for something. That's because originally the game was supposed to have 48 different Colossus instead of 16. The developers ran out of time so that's all we got, but honestly the game is perfect just the way it is. When I first finished this game way back when, it made me feel for my character much more than most games I had played. Even though Wander barely speaks a word and has no back story of any kind. I think that shows just how well done and unique Shadow of the Colossus is, it can convey all this emotion without bloated scenes of dialog and long convoluted backstories.

It was just announced at this years E3 that Sony is remaking Shadow of the Colossus for the PS4. A complete remake from the ground up, so hopefully they will add some of these unused Colossus for those of us who have beaten this game numerous times. It should be coming out sometime in 2018 and I for one can't wait. It's been a very long time since I've played this masterpiece and I would love to experience it again with beautiful graphics and some new creatures to take down. If you have never played this game I would highly recommend it, but keep in mind that it was made back in 2005 and might not hold up to today's standers of gaming. I give Shadow of the Colossus a:

Five Star Review!