Amazing game, unique, but so short.
The game starts, you are bringing your loved one (who is dead) to a sacred temple in an attempt to bring her soul back and wake her again. To do so, you need to achieve "trials": Destroy 16 statues inside the temple. Since the statues themselves cannot be defeated by human hand, you will need to defeat a Colossus that stands for each of the statue. Big thing? Yeah, big thing. Most of the colossi are much bigger than you are, say about..a good 20 times bigger than the TV screen, not you, but the TV screen, which is already always bigger than your character. I cannot tell much more abpout the story in itself as the rest of the story definately holds alot of spoilers. You will understand a bit more why I can't say it later, or whenever you play this game.
Equiped with a sword of light, holding it up to the light it will reflect a beam showing you where the next foe to defeat hides. So here you go, right in one sentence, you got the entire gameplay in your hands. Very simple game, yet so amazing. Once you find the Colossus in question, you will have to defeat it by finding a way ONTO the beast and up to it's weak spots called "vitals" in the game. Only way you can see the vitals are by weilding your sword, your bow and arrows won't do much to the foe other than bring his attention onto you. Anyway, climbing up such large enemies is quite something..quite something the first time you play and quite something even once you beat the game. Sad to think most of them are hairy beasts though, I personally wouldn't like having so much fur on myself.
The environments, the large fields you travel by horse (or by foot but that's going to take you a while then) are entirely, totally empty xept for a few little lizards you can eat, a few birds once in a while and a few trees holding life to some fruits, which you can eat as well. Yep, you heard me, absolutly nothing out there. The only enemies there are truely are the Colossi..all 16 of em..that's all you will ever need to do..find a Colossus, defeat it..over and over again. Sounds repeatitive, doesn't it? Well simply because of it's shortness and unique way of playing, it just doesn't get repeatitive and you will crave the unlockable gameplay modes (Time Aattack, Hard mode, Hard Time Attack) simply because you will find that you haven't played enough. Not because you are a hardcore player who wants everything perfect, but because the main game is so short and not so difficult that you'll just do the Time Attack and the Hard Mode to compensate for its shortness.
The game sure has it's bad and good points, we'll try to see this together, friends and I, in this little review of mine. Always important to consider the people who will eventually read this. Ya'll are my friends!
The visuals of the game are beautiful. I don't know if it's because of the feeling of being totally free, alone in a beautiful field filled with nothing, or for the size of the colossi and the ways to defeat them, but the game just appears beautiful to my eyes. Though sometimes, I had difficulties seeing the different between where there was actually some light and where there weren't any. For example (because if I don't give any, ya'll gonna say that it's obvious where there is light or not) at one time I thought there wasn't any light, sure was some over here and there, yet I held up my sword in the dark and it still would shine the beam of light..while when there is no light, it doesn't shine (unless you aquire the Sword of the Sun or something like that through Hard Time Aattack mode). So that being said, the visuallly graphical side of this game is splendid. Not much bad points here, not to worry, since the bad points is in one of the most important categories. ha!
The controls! Yes! Here comes the negativity! Straight in your face! So you guessed it by now, the controls are a little bit awkward. The camera will move by itself at some places making it hard to control your character the way you truely want it..You can adjust the camera with the right analog stick but still..doesn't feel right alot of the times, specially when you are trying to run away from a Colossi and are on a high platform, all that trying not to fall down..you"ll simply know what I mean about this issue when you will play, but eventually you will get somewhat used to it..you don't really have a choice anyway. Another issue with the controls is riding the horse..learn your horse! Did they told me (nobody actually did), and god should have I listened to them cause I figured out how the horse mechanics would work only like..at the end, when reaching the last Colossus. The horse sometimes have a bad habit of turning sides by itself. You going straight forward then you turn left but your horse will turn right when you let go off the left analog stick. Why you may ask? Because you gave it too much acid buddy! No there are reasons to this issue and once you know them it makes it all much more easier. On small routes and whenever it gets near a small bump or something like that, your horse will control itself around the ledges, basicaly meaning by times all you gotta do is hold X without even "steering" your horse. Eventually, you will understand better once you give a try to the game. Every action corresponds well in the game, but like I said, going left or right be it by foot or by horse will sometimes be quite weird and you'll end up doing some zig zags. So controls quality I'd say...medium.
The ways to defeat the Colossi itself is what makes the game so unique..like I said, it isn't in every game that your main goal is climb up the fur and metal armors of your foes. But it doesn't stop there, some of the Colossi requires specific actions such as making pillars fall down to create a route to somewhere else to help you defeat the foe, duping the Colossus into some sort of trap, some of em are extremly obvious of what you gotta do and some are pretty dense leaving you with nothing to freally figure out what to do. But the main goal remains the same..find a way onto the enemies body, hold grip tight as they move and whenever you get a chance, stab the vitals to death. Some have only 1 weak spot, some have more, it's up to you to find out where they are. Your sword is your friend, as it can tell you where the vitals are if you ca stand in the light and hold it up to it. The beam will show you the whereabouts of the vitals before you engage your climb. This too can sound pretty repeatitive, but it just doesn't get tiring to do so.
I haven't told much about the story so far..why? because there is basicaly none. You have a begining, the introduction, and you have an ending. Nothing in between other than defeat them big ass dudes. I disliked this..For a game so short I would of apreciate a bit more story..but what kind of story can you build up when there is nothing but you in the entire land anyway?
You've now got everything you need..I'll do a quick check up of what I said. So I said about the game in the first place, what kind of game it is, I told bout the visuals, graphics, controls, the gameplay..There isn't much more to be said..there is no upgrades to your weapons through the main game (defeating a Colossus wille arn you a bit more health and bigger grip gauge, but you'll notice this only when you get near the end) and anyway, you only have a sword and a bow. You can aquire more by doign the 2 ime Attack modes, but I'm speaking of the normal, brand new fresh main gameplay. Even there, you don't really need all the upgrades. I would of been good with only a sword, but the arrows are required sometimes..rarely..but on your second playthrough you will find a bunch of use to them..well a bunch..only brining the Colossus attention towards you and you'll eventually put it to good use. Ohhhh I forgot about the music and sounds! Nothing spectacular here. The music is good, fits the game perfectly, and the sounds are quite..simplistic..and let's say there aren't too many different sounds in the game. Woop, a short music section!
So I guess that's it for Shadow of the Colossus, there isn't much more to say and actually, this is probably my longest review I have ever written. I expected it to be a short review, as short as the game. Nah it's not THAT short, it's a long game if you don't get the hang of it, but if you do (which you will eventually) the game completes itself on it's own. There is little replay value as the differences between both normal and hard mode aren't big..you basicaly have more weak spots to stab. Like I said several times, the replay value has nothing to do with the fact that you'll come back to the game..you will simply because it is unique and brings a wind of change to modern gaming where every games in a specific category all ressemble themselves today, where you can't really classify SotC as a specific kind and that is because there doens't exist climbing games..not action, nor RPG or FPS or horror survival or whichever, Shadow stands on its own through all this. Despite the small issues and the short story, this game is a must for anyone, anywhere, any color. I do reccomend on renting the game first, but at the price it is sold now, you might as well buy it.