Shadow of the Colossus
Developer: Team Ico
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: Playstation 2
Release Date: October 18, 2005
Posted: July 12, 2008
In how many games are the best and most challenging parts limited to the bosses? If brief moments with powerful beings are all a game really has to offer, then what is the point of playing through the rest? While Shadow of the Colossus falls into that particular boat, its gameplay fortunately only offers boss fights to players; and they are most definitely not brief. There are no towns, there are no weapon or skill upgrades, and there are no dungeons
While attacking colossi, the user interface pops up showing the boss' health in the top left, the grip circle in the bottom right next to your currently selected weapon and health bar.Game concept can not be any simpler than “find and kill colossi.” There has to be more to it, right? Well, not really. The character’s sword even directs you to exactly where you need to go. The player need only to follow the light that emits from the weapon, and kill the creature it leads to. These two actions, search and destroy, require much traversing over land, water, and grassy body parts. In addition to your reflective compass-sword, you have a bow. This weapon is highly useful and important when dealing with certain colossi, as it can distract, annoy, and deal some damage. As there are two weapons, there are also two bars that correspond to that status of the character: a health bar and a grip meter. Health is representative of the amount of damage you can take before dying, of course; similarly, the grip meter shows how long you are able to grasp onto something before falling.
Each of the 16 bosses is unique and grows progressively more difficult, requiring the player to tailor individual strategies. The bosses (mostly) resemble gigantic animal-like statues covered in a grassy-mold substance which can be utilized as a climbing surface. Effectively, each boss is killed the same way: by finding their runic weak spots, which can be uncovered with the sword, and then repeatedly pierced. Charging up your attack will deal more damage to the boss, but is not always possible due to the movement of the creature. To reach the weak spots, the player must climb the creature; this is where the grassy material comes into play. The player can grip onto, climb, and leap around on the creature where there is grassy fur, but doing so will cause your grip meter to drop. If the meter empties entirely, the player will fall, potentially incurring damage and losing time. The meter refills when the player is standing freely.
Some colossi do not out-right attack and need to be chased down first.Colossi do not want to die, so they are going to do all that they can to keep you from climbing them. This includes stomping, shaking, shooting eye lasers, going underwater or sand, flying, and otherwise getting you off their back as violently as possible. All of these actions, of course, add to the difficulty of the task at hand, but that is all a part of the challenge. Timing of the player’s actions is key to winning. You are given a hint of when the boss is going to attack, as his eyes will turn red just beforehand. After a certain period of time, if little to no progress has been made in defeating a particular enemy, the game will give the player a generally blatant hint on how to proceed.
The environment is expansive; very, very expansive, and will never cause the game to pause in order to load. The entire game is seamless. There are grasslands, deserts, bodies of deep water, damp caves and caverns, cliffs, tall mountains, and nearly any other imaginable terrain between you and your target. While the sword might direct you where to go, half of each colossi battle is figuring out how to get there; that is no easy feat.
Thankfully, the player is granted some assistance with all of these tasks. Your trusty animal companion, Agro the magnificent black steed, will take you wherever you need to go. He is easy to control, and will continuously run at top speed to make long-distance traveling a breeze. Agro can also serve as a moving platform from which the player can shoot arrows; even from a standing position. Not to mention, he will return to the player’s side if he hears a simple whistle or call. However, there are few places where Agro can not go due to various environmental obstacles.
The main character, known as Wander, and his perished love, Mono. The game's styling is ultimately realistic, from the design all the way to every movement.And yes, there is reason behind all of the killing; your true love has been sacrificed, and no one in your land can or will help you. The only glimpse of hope lies within a remote land far from home, where no one dares traverse. Risking your own life, you take your love’s body and travel on horseback to an ancient shrine in which a transcendent being communicates to you. To attempt to save your fallen love you must defeat beings of great power. Doing so, however, corrupts you slowly.
While defeating bosses will automatically increase the life and grip meters, there are also bonus collectibles hidden throughout the land. Fruits, which can be found on various trees, raise the maximum number of hit points. White lizard tails, on the other hand, when captured will cause the grip meter to grow. If all bonus items are collected, both of these meters will take up a very large portion of the screen.
Upon completion of the game, the player is able to access a time trial mode for each boss, and if given the land to roam around freely in to find all of the collectibles. Time trials allow you to attempt to kill a boss within a certain period of time. Doing so successfully will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, and reward you with various items including a map revealing the locations of the collectible fruits, a mask that allows the player to inflict more damage, and the sword from the developer’s previous game, Ico. These items are to make it potentially easier for you to do other time trials.
Shadow of the Colossus is an intense, yet simple title, whose length is dependent on the mind of the player. The gameplay of this strategic-like action title can capture the attention of any gamer with ease.
TLDR: Killing big bad bosses is rewarding, progressive, and thrilling; that is what Shadow of the Colossus is all about.
