SotC is a stylish, engaging and truly original title from the creators of Ico. Recently added to PS2's Greatest Hits!
Upon hearing the premise of the game, however, I completely changed my mind. "Some mountains must be climbed, others must be slain."
SUMMARY: You are a hero of unknown origin, travelling to a long lost land to save a woman who you presumably love (it's left up to you decide why you're doing this... but who would do anything like this for anything but love?) You'll have to slay a baker's dozen of giant rock monsters that live throughout the sacred place. Easier said than done...but more fun done than said.
GAMEPLAY: Shadow of the Colossus is an amazing game. Gameplay consists of exploration and boss combat exclusively, although you may come to think of the Colossi as giant puzzle battles. No keys and idols to place on the temple altar here. You'll be solving these puzzles with your sword drawn. "Alright, here I am on this thing's tail. The weak point is somewhere on his chest... How am I going to get up there?" is what you'll be thinking as you hold on, white-knuckled, to a patch of black fur the size of your living room. These fights are great and I've never felt a better sense of accomplishment from a game than when I rode the body of my recently slain foe twenty stories to the ground. After each battle you will be returned to a central temple to receive a cryptic hint about your next enemy. The journey to each colossus is always a welcomed break from the frantic battles each one presents. The scenery across the forgotten land you'll explore is as diverse as the giants you will be facing. Deserts, forests, ancient ruins, you name it. It's easy to get lost in the scenery, so if you do you can always raise your sword (into some sunlight) and you'll be guided by converging beams of light that zero in on a colossus' exact position. Sure the beams will point straight through a mountain or across a chasm sometimes...but you signed up for adventure right? We are very fortunate that the controls for this game are so tight. Not only has SCEI designed a beautiful world for adventurers, they've also designed an excellent interface through which we can enjoy it. The heads-up-display is intuitive with metered bars for stamina and health that let you know, at-a-glance, just how much longer you can hold onto this thing's hairy face before you fall twenty stories to the cave floor.
Graphics: The game is gorgeous. Everything in this game is rendered beautifully. Set in a religious lost land we find everything we would expect as we roam the countryside. The ancient ruins of a temple, a shattered bridge and even the sacred altars of some mysterious power long gone. The creators have gone to great lengths to create atmosphere in every last square inch of gamespace and it's breathtaking. After a battle, you'll probably consider a colossus to be part of the landscape too. Each one is different from the last. Body shapes inspired by every member of the animal kingdom coated in mossy stone armor. Although some giants involve more "on-board travel" than others, they are all worthy adversaries and their looks reflect it.
Sound: WHAT?! I can't hear you! Turn up the 5.1 for this one. Epic soundtrack + accurate sound effects = big points. SotC is serious in the sound department. It is actually a gaming dream of mine to play this game on a projector with booming Dolby 5.1 all around me set to '11'. Everything from a colossus' crashing footstep to the protagonist's horse-call are done exquisitely. The horse calls are actually quite involving. When your horse, Agro, is nearby and you call him, your character will just calmly say "Agro." When he's a little further away he'll whistle for him. In the heat of battle your character will actually scream the horse's name to call him. "AGRO-OO!" There's even a sound for the gleaming light rays coming off of your sword. Since you're obviously curious about the sounds the colossi make themselves I'll describe that in some detail. They're perfect. When you first approach a colossus its behaviour is pretty torpid...and then it sees you. Looking upon an approaching colossus is pretty awe-inspiring by itself, let alone the sounds of colliding stone joints, thunderous footsteps and ominous echoing moans. Then you stick a sword in its face and suddenly it's yelping in distress as black blood sprays out of it. It's an experience.
Value: The first play-through will be the best, then set it down for a few months and return to it after you buy that new TV and speaker system. Shadow of The Colossus is roughly 20 hours long. If you decide to play back to back colossus quests you're going to get into the zone pretty fast and it might last 16. Enjoy each fight as if it's the last, each one is a masterpiece. Now that Shadow of the Colossus is a Greatest Hits title (woo!) there is no reason you shouldn't own it. At its original retail price ($54.99 CAN) even I couldn't bring myself to actually buy it...but NOW at a cool $27.99 I can proudly say I've added a great game to my library. After playing this game I even want to take another crack at ICO! ; ) In a sea of WW2 shooters, automobile combat and minigame collections, Shadow of The Colossus shine as a genuinely original adventure that (at new low prices!) should not be missed. Have fun and happy slaying.