A giant adventure for anyone who seeks it
The story revolves around Wander, a guy who wants to revive his dead girlfriend so he takes an ancient sword with a mysterious power and heads of a forbidden land on his horse Agro. He reaches a temple where a mysterious voice directs him to take his sword, travel the lands, find each colossus and slay them. Much of the story isn't revealed until right at the end and I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. Throughout most of the game you are left to try and figure out the story by yourself gathering little clues as you slay each giant that roams the forbidden lands.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is about climbing each colossus, getting to their weak point and then stabbing them to death. But this is now as easy as it sounds. There are quite a few tings you might have to do first before you can reach a colossus's weak point since not all colossi have directly reachable weak points. Just getting on the giant isn't enough because you grip meter will only allow you to hold on for a certain amount of time so you have to act quick to get to those rest points in order to refill it and continue your climb. The game is about fighting about one colossus after another until all sixteen colossi have been defeated. There are no other enemies to get in your way and the only other things you could do is explore the land or search for fruit and glow tailed lizards which increase your health and grip respectively. This is not a bad thing however since travelling the land and getting the fruit and glow tailed lizards can be an adventure on its own but on the other hand you might just want to get to each epic battle with the next colossus as soon as you can. Your horse is an important part of the gameplay since it increases the speed of travel and is also is an important part in fighting some colossi.
Graphics:
The game has some superb graphics coming from the PS2. The colossi are very detailed and looks realistic and their animation is amazing making you believe these creatures are there. Wander is also very detailed with his tabard moving in the wind and when he is climbing a colossi and the giant is trying to shake him off he holds on for his dear life and flails around realistically. The world doesn't seem as detailed as the creatures living within it but seeing as its an open world it can be expected. Also there are blurs when the camera is moved quickly and dust flying off the ground when a colossus hit's the ground. The down side to the great graphics is slight slow downs in some areas but that doesn't detract from the experience and only emphasises the scale of it.
Sound:
The sound in Shadow of the Colossus is fantastic. The orchestral score which plays during the battles with the giants enhances your experience and makes the battles feel truly epic. The bleak silence of the wind while your exploring the world shows how alone you are in this land and showing you how good a friend your horse is and he is the only one to keep you company during the travel to each colossus. The noise each colossus makes as it moves emphasises their size and makes you intimidated. Wander groans and shouts as he leaps around on each colossus and when he falls. Agro also makes horse sounds as expected.
Final Thoughts:
Shadow of the Colossus is a great game which you will enjoy and have fun with. Finding out a way to get on the colossus and get to its weak spot is a blast and then watching the colossus fall after you defeated is experience on its own. Sadly the game is only about nine hours long so it won't last you very long if you play it big chunks. The game does offer some replay value however since when you beat the game once hard mode and time trial mode are unlocked. Hard mode is self explanatory and time trail mode is a mode where you can go to a defeated colossus and press O to defeat that colossus in a certain amount of time to unlock extra items which will help you on your second play through. Overall the game offers a diverse set of gameplay as each colossus is a level within itself and with higher difficulty and a prospect of new items with special abilities the game has quite a bit of replay value for those who seek it.