Shadow of the Colossus

This is totally off-topic for a horror blog, but I’m going to post it anyway.

Resident Evil 4 was clearly game of the year for me until last month when I started playing Shadow of the Colossus. Colossus isn’t a horror game; if anything, it’s probably closest to a platformer. Created by the team behind ICO (Fumito Ueda et al), Colossus demonstrates that even simple platforming mechanics can become an emotionally substantive experience when put in the correct context. I started this site because I find horror games to be the only genre of video game to consistently focus on emotional manipulation of the player, but Ueda and his team have shown (twice now!) that gripping and emotionally relevant games can come in any package. Tycho from Penny Arcade explained the core of the game’s power extremely well:

  

 

     

… Shadow of the Colossus feels like an indictment of gaming as usual in many ways. There are elements of the story that are ambiguous from the outset, not because the story is being told poorly but because the situation you find yourself in and the powers you come into contact with are not drawn with absolute clarity. So while you go through the ordinary motions that we associate with videogames – discern objective, eradicate opposition, return for reward – you’re engaged in a series of acts whose moral virtue is by no means assured. The supposed hero is assaulting majestic, sometimes docile, sometimes curious, sometimes sleeping creatures. They’re almost all portrayed in a sympathetic light at some point, and it’s hard not to feel disgusted at times for iterating Hollow Game Mechanic X by rote without any sense of the moral spectrum the acts inhabit.

The game needs to be seen by every conscious organism on planet Earth. (source)

The game is epic, unique, and thought provoking. I’m highly recommending it to you, despite it being in no way, shape, or form a horror game.

7 thoughts on “Shadow of the Colossus”

  1. Bought the game today and I couldn’t agree more!! 🙂 I’m glad you put this review up on your site….any great game like this truly deserves it.

  3. We have to wait a bit longer in the UK….*sniff*….

    It’s had ace reviews but too many “not as good as Ico” comparisons. Hopefully, it’s longer than Ico’s 5 hour mark.

  4. I work at Gamestop video game stores and I will say this, … youre right. The game is absolutely amazing on every level. It sells big and everyone who plays it, loves it. Survival horror ftw, but if none are going atm, go with this one.. winner.

  5. Yeah I would definitly agree with this game getting GOTY. It’s simply beautiful, pushing the PS2 to its limit, the music is brilliant, the gameplay is like no other game(which IS good), it’s artistic & dramatic, it has lots of unlockables and these are some of the best unlockables I have ever seen in a game(very rewarding and FUN), and it shall be GOTY, to me anyway.

  6. christ this game is gettin some major hot scores huh!?well i doubt il find it where im livin(estonia).heck ive never seen an xbox in my life.not even x box games.we do have ps2 consoles tho.but some games just dont get here like res evil4.but thanks to the GREAT scores if il find the game il l be sure to buy it.thx jall

  7. This game is worth every penny spent on it. I just can’t believe the huge landscapes and did you notice how big you are compared to the giants? I don’t know about you, but I actually think this game is sort of a stress-reliever. What better to make you feel good than to take down someting bigger and obviously more powerful than yourself?

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