I finally cracked open that copy of Shadow of the Colossus that AnTiPoDe dropped on me as a Christmas '05 gift. "Riveting" doesn't begin to describe my experience after downing four of the giant beasts. It's truly a unique gameplay experience that I've rarely found elsewhere. Sure, the concept of defeating "boss monsters" almost exclusively has been done before in titles such as Alien Soldier on the Genesis/Megadrive (hoping for a Virtual Console version!), and also the recent Gamecube release Chaos Field. But none offer as harrowing an experience as clinging on for dear life while a mighty, 50-foot tall monstrosity tries to shake me loose.
It's pretty for sure - in still images, that is. The stylized art design used for the main protagonist - seemingly a mix between cartoon-like and realistic shading - gives him a unique, almost glowing aura as he bounds about the many green fields and rocky mountainsides that the game has to offer. The spoofed HDR effects are pure beauty and have got to be a first for any Playstation 2 title.
It all comes at a price, however. Yeah, you've no doubt heard about the slideshow jokes. The framerate really does get turd-ular - and not just during the actual colossus battles. Every time you defeat one of the colossi, you are transported back to the sanctuary. Run around a bit and you'll notice the framerate dip from within the sanctuary - with no enemies or other characters around. The sheer level of detail in the sanctuary causes the framerate to drop when the camera pans to certain areas! This is a testament both to the attention the dev team paid to the structure AND the ineptitude of the hardware at handling this much heat. If it weren't for the intriguing climb-the-hairy-beast gameplay, I'd say this is a classic example of high-concept design at the sacrifice of playability. It's fortunate that actually bringing down the colossi manages to be fun even with the framerate dips.
If you ask me, I could live without the HDR and I'd brush off blurry textures and somewhat blocky structures as necessary sacrifices for a smooth, consistent framerate. And the next time someone decides to make a huge, boss-only, climb-a-monster title, please - please fix the camera. I like to see where I'm going, thanks.
From my experience so far, while I'd have to disagree with the plethora of awards thrown at this game during GDC 2006, it's something that every PS2 owner should give a try at least for its unique concept. But be forewarned: lots of patience is required.
A First Impressions write-up on Trigames right here.
Nifty link (if you didn't notice it above): Below is an article by the developers (I think?) detailing the making of this game, including how they got the HDR effect to work on the PS2. Find it here:
http://www.dyingduck.com/sotc/making_of_sotc.html
Load Comments