A Fresh Look at Shadow of the Colossus

The good thing about waiting a while to buy a game is you can find it pretty cheap on some website, the problem is that the graphics are not what you're used to and everyone else has already moved on. It's like if a friend calls and tells you they just watched Dante's Peak and wants to talk about it. The good thing about Shadow of the Colossus is that it's one of those artful, timeless pieces that is going to spawn many sequels so the original will never be irrelevant. It's the same for Final Fantasy; no matter how many more games they come out, I'll always go back and play FF7.

Shadow of the Colossus is not your typical game but it mostly falls into the action/adventure/logic type of game. The main character is a guy in a tribal-looking outfit who wants to save a girl who apparently died. The mysterious being in the temple who can bring the girl back requires the boy to kill 16 colossi, a daunting task for anyone. The boy's resolve is iron-clad despite the warnings from the being and he sets out to destroy these giants.

Five or so years ago, I could see why people were impressed with the graphics but it's a little difficult for me after coming off of Red Dead Redemption, but the visuals are very artistic and ephemeral: there are no other people in the land and the various landscapes and geographic features make it an interesting place to look around and enjoy the view.

The battles with the colossi are epic. Each one requires strategy and timing, except maybe for the first one. Every behemoth has a weak spot, with is often on the top of its head but finding a way to the head is the tricky part. Many colossi will require the character to find out how to bring the monster down or give the character the chance to climb up and find the weak spot. The colossi are so different in their look and behavior that each battle is both exciting and challenging. One of my favorites is the flying bird colossus that forces you to provoke the monster into a dive. When it makes the move, you have to jump on its furry wing and climb around while it soars hundreds of feet in the air trying to shake you off, which it my case it did many times to my own frustration.

Colossus battles can be frustrating when you run out of grip and fall off the monster, having to start your plan over, my main problems are minor control issues with the character and the horse. The horse reminds me of when kids like to play horsey with a big dog like a great dane; controlling it is annoying because it is slow to respond or speed up and pressing the triangle next to it may not get the character in the saddle which can be irritating when you're in the middle of a colossus battle.

This game gets an 8 out of 10 for me, good graphics, awesome colossi fights and an intriguing story line with a strange ending make Shadow of the Colossus an engrossing experience for any type of gamer.