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Its art...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have never played a game like "Shadows of the Colossus" before.

Its elegant in its simplicity: Kill 16 monsters to save your girl. Thats it. No power ups, no item quests, just travel from here to there and take the next one down. The creature telling you to do this doesn't even tell you why. It seems pretty noble at first, but halfway through you start to think it might be a bad idea, but what else can you do? You need your girl back, right?

The story is resolved at the end, but its again very simple. You kinda have to fill in some blanks on your own but thats half the fun.

On the subject of gameplay, again its literally just 16 boss battles in a row with some traveling inbetween. You have everything you need at the beginning and I have no complaints about that. Some of the controls are a little flinchy, but it never got to a point where it was effecting my experience. And even if the controls could use a little polishing, I truly didn't mind. Because whats here is so well done that I sincerely believe that this is one of the most unforgettable gaming experiences I've ever had.

The world itself is very magnetic with its mood and atmosphere. I mean, it just sucks you in. The only thing in this giant, beautiful world is you, your horse, and the 16 Colossi. Some of the visuals, even at ps2 level, manage to be breathtaking. Its amazing what they've done with the ps2 hardware, this game is gorgeous.

The Colossi themselves, well, they're awesome. Not all 16 are breathtaking, but the majority of them are so darn cool. Some are absolutely HUGE too, bigger than you'd ever think. And you get to climb them and take them down. The games sense of scale is amazing that way, you really do feel so tiny next to these giants that its very satisfying to bring them down. And they're all so interesting and unique in their design and the different ways you defeat them that it makes for an unforgettable experience.

Its also pretty fun to explore around the world too. There really isn't much to do outside fighting the giants, but I found myself taking some time to look around anyway, the game is really just that beautiful. Oddly enough, there's a LOT to see that you'll miss by only traveling from colossus to colossus, all of it beautiful to behold. In that respect, its kind of like a virtual vacation. Like the developers of the game said, "Hey, if you don't feel like taking on giants right now, why not see some of the sights? We built this gigantic beautiful world, go ahead and take a look around."

Again, you won't discover anything other than gorgeous scenery if you take the time to explore. No secret items, no hidden story elements. Just this big awe inspiring virtual world for you to explore with no real reason for it being there other than to just be there. Its unique, and I enjoyed it.

And its that simplicity, mystery, and originality that makes this game so interesting. I was captivated by every part of it, right until the end. Its a beautiful world and a truly unique game.

I never really thought of video games as being legitimate art, at the very least not on the same level as movies or literature. But "Shadow Of The Colossus" proved me dead wrong.

This game is a work of art. I never thought I'd say it, but it truly is.

Some people may not enjoy it, but thats art for you. Some people will love it, some will hate it, others won't get it. But like all great art its worth considering.

Lets hope they remake it someday for the ps3 or the 360, because updated graphics and some control refining would really make this baby perfect.

One of the BEST games ever made. SotC 2 PLEEEEASE!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is my first review of a video game on Amazon, and I felt that it should be of one of the most special and brilliant games I've ever played. I'm an avid gamer who loves a bit of the obscure. Different games that maybe get missed by the sheep we call the general gaming public. My mouth doesn't water over the newest Grand Theft Auto, and I won't wait in line for days just to pay full price for HALO 3,4,5,etc... But I would have done so for this game had I known how great it was going to be. Unfortunately, it was widely overlooked by the game magazine lackeys who only know how to tout Gran Turismo and Metal Gear ( great games in thier own catagories, mind you ). This game, and Kengo: Master of Bushido, are probably two of my favorite games of all time, and Kengo got widely overlooked as well. But these two games share a couple things in common that drew me to them. They are both insanely beautiful to look at. One reviewer summed it up best by saying the graphics look "painted" on your screen. They do. You don't feel like you're playing a video game as much as you're watching a movie. I know this review isn't about Kengo, but for those who haven't heard of it or seen it, its simply a sword fighting game in the samurai style ( best one EVER made ), and the graphics of the dojos are so breathtaking, you find yourself wishing you could live and train in them. I've trained in some nice dojos before, but none that I wanted to live in! LOL SotC is the exact same way. I wish I could live in that land. I wish I could die in that land lol. Its simply THAT gorgeous. Imagine a PS3 version...... The other thing in common is that they are both "thinking" games as opposed to button mashing. In SotC you have to figure out how to take down each monster, and each is a little different. Most game's boss battles are just "shoot it til it dies", but this one, you have to really think what will open its defenses so you can start climbing it to kill it. And Kengo isn't just a button masher to swing your sword...you have many, many forms you can edit and preset to come up with the most diverse and deadly attacks.

For those who don't already know about the game, I'll keep this simple and quick. You're this guy ( name doesn't matter at all ) who's in love with this girl ( name doesn't matter at all ), and she dies ( doesn't really matter why ). But their love must have been like "Titanic" Jack and Rose love, or maybe she was just wicked in bed, but what this guy has to go thru to get her back...WOW. I think most guys would be on to the next girl lol. He has to fight and kill 16 of these huge creatures or Colossus...or Colossi ( one of them ). And they ARE colossal...some are like mountains while some are just huge monster size. But you WILL be climbing on them like mountains. Each one holds a part of the secret to bringing back the dead ( doesn't matter how, they just do ).
The guy is guided by some weird voice in the sky ( sounds like the Swedish chef from the Muppets if you gave him a bag of weed and slowed his voice down by half ) thing that tells him what colossi he must fight next, giving each a cryptic description of what they are and where to find them. So you ride off into this breathtaking landscape on your horse Argo to find them and kill them. And thats it. And thats MORE then enough.

I fell in love with this game for one reason. As I started playing it and got used to the controls, I was skeptical. If I remember, I initially thought, "Oh no, this is gonna be boring." But I do remember the first colossi I came across, and I was hooked forever. It was the easiest to beat of course, but still took me awhile to figure it out. And why did I fall in love with it? After I was done killing it, I didn't put the game down until I had killed 4 or 5 more, even though I was going on no sleep, no food. I kept telling myself "Just one more...just one more...okay, just one more...uummmm, ok, one more..." And THAT is the mark of a great video game. You don't have a conscious choice to stop playing anymore, you just keep playing. I sat in front of this game longer then any other game I've played or owned, and would have sat longer had they made more colossi.

I believe the reviewer before me didn't like the game because he was bored by it. He said there was nothing to do except ride around. I'm not a boring person, but riding around, exploring the landscape is one of the best things about this game. I wonder if he even fought any of the colossi? It sounded like he couldn't figure out how to find them lol. He was on the right path...you hold your sword up ( only works in direct sunlight ) and you move it around 360 degrees until the wide rays of light pinpoint to a single beam. If you have vibration on your controller, it will vibrate. When it does, you are heading in the right direction. Now, it functions like a medieval GPS device. It will get you going in the right direction, but don't expect a straight A-B course. You will often have to go around mountains, cross lakes and rivers, and even find a way to cross HUGE, HUGE BEAUTIFUL gorges. I could stare for minutes on end at those gorges. So you must keep checking your sword GPS to get on the right path to the colossi.

You get around with Argo, your horse. One reviewer called Argo one of the best rendered video game animals, and they were right. Argo looks and moves like a real horse. You actually feel bad when you spur him on with your boots or sword to make him go faster because you can hear him winnie in displeasure. Controlling Argo is tough at first, but once you get the hang of it, it feels like you're riding a real horse. And the developers were brilliant in making sure Argo isn't as stupid as the dude is because you WILL head right for many cliffs without noticing until its too late. You will know because you will lose control of Argo and he will veer away.

You have two weapons, your sword GPS thing and a bow with unlimited arrows. Pretty simple, and thats all it needs to be. It gets annying sometimes cycling thru 50 weapons in some games when we all know noone can carry 50 weapons. ( Just let the unlimited arrow thing pass for now )

I won't detail any of the colossi or fights because every gamer should be as surprised as I was, and theres simply too much to talk about. But promise yourself ONE thing...you won't go online looking for hints or cheats. It may take a REALLY LONG TIME to figure out to beat a few of these guys, but when you FINALLY do...no other feeling in videogaming comes CLOSE. And like me, you will say " Okay, one more..." They ARE tough to figure out and beat because each one is different, but you WILL figure it out. And if you are hopelessly stuck, hold your sword up and point it at the colossi...you'll see why. And if you're insanely stuck, that weird voice over guy gives you another cryptic hint...actually saved my butt a couple times. One more brilliant move by the developers...because these monsters are so difficult to beat, you don't have to die and start over fighting them. If your health is low, you simply hide from the colossi if you can, kneel down and recover. Similar to heath packs but more realistic. That way, if you're 5 seconds away from killing it and you die, its your own fault for not stopping the battle, running away and recovering a bit. If you do die, you can retry, but the monster's strength is back to full, and you will slap yourself in the head.

One last thing about the game A LOT of others have said... you WILL feel really bad for killing these colossus. They were just kind of sitting there minding their own business when this horny moron comes by to attack and kill them for his own greedy ends. The colossus are kind of like Iraq.

All that said, this game isn't for everyone. As you read all the reviews, you'll see the majority of the complaints are the boredom of riding around. And a few complaints talk about how difficult it is. It IS difficult with NO difficulty setting, and yes, BEFORE you reach the first colossi, it WILL seem a bit boring. But AFTER, it will never seem boring again.

I'm sorry this review was so long, but play this game once and you'll see why I love talking about it. I hope this helps, and now that the game is pretty cheap to buy, you're gonna get one HELL of a deal.

Oh...and just ignore that the girl you're trying to save looks 12. Must be an anime thing. You'll feel like one of those weird Texas polygamist dudes at first, but after you find and kill the first colossi, you'll say, what girl??

Try Kengo too if it sounds like your cup of tea.

Engaging

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Is this a game that has a lot of hacking and slashing? No. Is this a game that has a great deal of things that inexplicably blow up? Again no. Is this a game that has bullets whizzing through the air in all directions? No, and if you thought it was any of those things, please don't tell anyone else you thought so or you'll be made fun of.

This game gets rave reviews. Most people love this game. A few don't. Why would anyone want to disagree with the mass majority? well, maybe they thought this game had some sort of automatic bullet-firing machine. or maybe they didn't know this game was all about the stunning and artistic ambiance.

So what does one actually do in this game if there's no guns or hacking? well my friend, you hunt down giant monsters and stab them with your toothpick. That's it. That's the game. And while it doesn't sound like much, that's the beauty of this particular game. You're kicked out onto the scene with the notion that you get to revive your dead girlfriend if you kill these giant hulking masses. So off you go on your horse, straight for your first kill. After reaching some ledges, you are led through the obligitory phase of learning all those necessary tidbits needed to reach said monster.

You find the unusually sized monstrosity and you fight your first boss. You figure out what you're suppose to do, and you kill the thing. After falling the beast, you're transported back to where you started, and off you go to find the next bad guy. rinse and repeat.

Now, we all have friends who blame their bad taste in restaurants on the fact that we obviously don't understand that it's all about the ambiance and not the fact that the restaurant charges 17 dollars for a poorly made salad. This game has no car chases, has no WWII settings, and it is lacking in any sort of mindless hacking. what it does have is utter immersion. The landscapes are sprawling, The camera action is new and cinematic, and the music is some of the best music I've ever heard in a video game.

So is this game a dull game? No. not in the slightest. Provided you allow yourself to be sucked into the music, the ambiance, the scenery, and the idea of it all, the action is very engaging. While haunched on the back of one of these giant colossi, My heart was racing extremely fast and i got a sense of overwhelming tension. Landing the final blow gave me the kind of satisfaction usually reserved for wonderfully grand things like grabbing the last slice of pizza. Figuring out how to take each monster down added the depth needed to make me want more and the story eventually becomes so gripping I found myself actually caring about what was going to happen.

At its core, this is a puzzle game. And while I can understand those who won't get this game, I can safely say that if you keep an open mind while playing this game, you will enjoy it. If you're stand-off-ish because you've heard such great things about it and the hype makes you uncertain, play it anyway. seriously.

What is it about this game that people seem to like so much?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 51
Date: May 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I just don't get it. I played this game. I trudged through it. I sat and endured the cutscenes, the long, repetetive gameplay and such, and I just don't see what was so great about this game.
Now, I'm an artist first and a gamer second, so I didn't go into this game looking for something to do with my hands. I went in looking for a compelling piece of art. What I got, instead, was a cryptic, frustrating tale about self-sacrifice, corruption and foolishness.
First off, the idea of fighting multiple enemies of absolutely enormous size and complexity is a good one, but it's been integrated much better into much better games before it, like Jak 3 and Kingdom Hearts. Secondly, sure, the graphics look spiffy when you first see them, but it doesn't work, in the end, because they drag the framerate down pitifully. Sometimes the game slowed up so much, that I could barely even tell where I was anymore. It got so horrible that I didn't see more than three frames of animation in some seconds, which is a dreadful shame, given how beautiful some of the monsters would otherwise have been.
Aside from that, this game is like one fifth of a good game. By this I mean that it has intense, enormous boss battles, and that's it. Better games would also include other characters with whom to interact, minor monsters to slay on your way to the big guys, a back story of some kind for the characters you play as and on behalf of, and a decent control system that wasn't clumsy, stiff or frustrating. These are all failings that this game has. Every single one obvious and damaging. From a basic design elements point of view, this game is terrible.
I just came off playing the Jak and Daxter series, and this game's character plays so stiffly and moves so stupidly by comparison that I could barely stand it. The controls are frustrating, difficult to master, and in many cases unresponsive as well, and the character's "tired-meter" was conceptually a good idea, but executed poorly.
From the beginning of the game, you play as some nameless dude who went to a forbidden land to restore the soul of some dead maiden who we're told virtually nothing about. Not knowing anything at all about either of these characters, I, as a gamer, had little motivation to play. Additionally, the vast, expansive surroundings might be pretty in a movie, but they were too easy to get lost in, since the so-called "map" this game provides you with is no kind of help at all, and getting lost was no fun either, because there weren't any secrets to find, and no music is played at all in this game, except during the boss fights, and even then there are only about six different music tracks in the whole game. Basically, in this game, you start at a temple in the center of the land, follow the light of the sword to a boss. Defeat the boss, and wind up back at the temple. Repeat sixteen times. That's pretty much all there is to this game. Disappointing, eh?
I think I should also mention that even if you do have the stamina and self-abusive tendency needed to reach the game's ending, the ending of this game is really more like a punishment than a reward for winning. I haven't been so disappointed in a video game since the Legend of Zelda; the Wind Waker.

What a game for sissy's...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 28
Date: March 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For Starters the main character looks like a chick. He's poorly developed and extremely lame. This game follows the same pattern after each colossus kill, you go back to the castle and a voice tells you a stupid riddle, then you ride for 30 minutes looking for the colossus. Then Repeat again... These people saying that this game has a storline must have created it out of their own imagination. All in all this game is crap.

gaming poetry

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

i dont usually write these things but after finishing this game just recently (buying it as a result of these reviews^^)i decided to just underline what the vast majority already agree on, and that is, this game is absolutely stunning.
from the fist cords of the opening melody, the game bleeds emotion which i really hadnt experienced befor in a video game, i was a little shocked but open to the possibility that this may be a bit more slow in pace then the game i initially thought it would be. dont get me wrong there is plenty of action, but in the quieter moments there are, as mentioned by another reviewer, a sadness, in that what you kill is unaware of any evil or wrong and just"is" and as such each collosus felled does indeed bring you closer to your goal, but also builds a feeling of remorse for what you have to do.
thats a bit heavy for a game, yes? but a game it is none the less, and it lends its-self beautifully to you really investing in what you are doing as a result. the makers of this game have done a wonderfull job of sharing their emotional influences behind the game with us the gamers , again a very unusual feeling when playing a game, but so very rewarding also
its not the longest of games, taking about 10 or so hours start to finish, but believe me, its the best 10 or so hours youll spend playing a video game,ever!!! it will leave you longing for more and hoping sony continues to create such poetic experiences in the years to come

Not much to do

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: July 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I think my initial reaction once I started the game was, "Where is everyone?" There is nothing in the game to do but kill these giants--which I admit is rather interesting. You don't level up, you don't get items, you don't use magic. All you do is find the next Colossus, figure out how to climb on its weak point, and stab it to death. For those of you that have never played the game, I'm sorry that I ruined the whole game for you. I, myself, was also shocked when I beat the game. I remember saying to myself, "That's it?" and yes... that's it.

BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The first thing that i noticed about this game was the graphics. they're utterly beautiful. as in Final Fantasy graphics. this game isn't noteably had to beat. but it's fun. the horse is a nice touch. there aren't a lot of games that allow you to ride a horse. oh, and the lack of loading screen worth mentioning makes this a low-frustration game. the only even slightly annoying part is trying to find the colossus'. and then only sometimes. it wasn't an incredible game and would probably be average if it wasn't for the fact that i was getting off on the graphics before i even played the game. if you're an intense gamer, rent this game. it's not incredibly long and really doesn't have much, if any, replay value. it was undoubtably a nice distraction while waiting for another God of War or GTA to come along.

Best video game EVER

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

That's not hyperbole. For anyone who says games aren't art, they have to play this beautiful, moody, meaningful game. For anyone who says games can't make you cry, just play to the end of Shadow of the Colossus. Plus, it's fun to play, very challenging, and has great controls and design. Any adult who lives video games, or any adult who hasn't played a game and wants to see if games can measure up to great movies, TV shows, or music, really MUST play this. It's a crime that it isn't more popular and well known.

Freak ending but worth the wait

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

pros:
graphics
storyline
not too hard
the game is straight to the point (find and kill beasts)
freak ending

cons:
controls on default setting somewhat tricky
can get boring between battles (I didn't find anything on the side to do)
misty air everywhere sometimes got on my nerves because it was like driving through a blizzard and you can't hardly see anything

Overall:
If I had to pay more than $20 bucks than maybe not so good, but since I paid less feel like got a great deal. I'd buy this game again; no regrets. It was worth it.

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