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// On :Monday, September 1, 2014
Released in October 2005, Shadow of the Colossus was developed by SCEI's International Production Studio (more commonly known as Team ICO), the creator of cult hit ICO. As a matter of fact, Shadow of the Colossus is considered as ICO's spiritual successor. However, what is in the past is not important. What matters is how well Shadow of the Colossus is by itself. So, let's review.
Shadow of the Colossus lets you play the role of a young man (emphasis on young) name Wander who is trying to resurrect a girl named Mono. Along with his trusty and ever important steed, Agro, who seemed to be too large for the YOUNG protagonist, Wander will go to the Forbidden Land to do a, you guessed it, forbidden spell to achieve his goal. Guided by a voice in a temple at the Forbidden Land, Wander was tasked to kill 16 colossus at the land to be granted his wish. So, strap yourself to traverse an unknown land with weird language to fight one of the most imaginatively designed 16 boss fight, which could be said as the only 16 enemy in the game that is not a cutscene.
Hi... Nice smile..?
The mechanism of Shadow of the Colossus' gameplay is not that unique. This however, was bought to a new level with a very innovative fight that offers different way to defeat each enemy. Plus the fact that there is only 16 enemy in total, means that it will never felt repetitive. The Colossus itself has an excellent design, varied in size and all aspect in general. Most of the strategy to defeat a colossus is not hard to find, but it's not that obvious either. So, it should take you some time to defeat each one. With the exception of the final one, which needed precise timing but quite a linear way to defeat it, the rest of the 16 colossus only requires the knowledge of the strategy to defeat to do so. Patience is a factor as most of the time, you need to climb the body of the colossus to reach its weak spot, requiring you to spend and manage your stamina.
I know I should have comb my hair today
The graphic of the Shadow of the Colossus is superb in its time and era. The way it present itself fits the increasing desperation of Wander to complete the task. It also serves the perfect ambiance in each colossus fight. The map of the Forbidden Land is large and you won't be seeing a repeated theme at most place. It even make the quite lengthy travel between each colossus and the temple a very panoramic sight. The sounds in the game is also no joke as it clearly give proofs that the colossus are menacing and could rip you apart in pieces if you got hit by it. Other than minor clipping issues which very rarely happens, the game is pretty much free of technical issues.
So, with a very interesting gameplay and use of strategy, a stand-out beauty of its time, and pretty much bug-free, how does Shadow of the Colossus fare in the Random Reviews(spoiler alert, it got a full five)
Pros:
+Innovative boss fight
+Beautiful Graphic
+Little but good story
Cons:
-Mandatory few technical issues
Pros:
+Innovative boss fight
+Beautiful Graphic
+Little but good story
Cons:
-Mandatory few technical issues
Great review! I also played Shadow of the Colossus myself. And I think that its gameplay instills a new feeling to the players. Although it did not receive praise as highly from the other professional reviewers as compared to other similar genres of games, but I think Shadow of the Colossus brings us players to another state. The gameplay itself is short and brief but has a complete plot which eases players to comprehend the main intention of the main character. For sure this game also has its cons and I may sound a little bias throughout my opinion, but it is a great game and most people think so. Too bad there is no sequel for it or is there? No need for continuation of plot for a game that has full of element of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks.