Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) | 
 enlarge
| From: Sony
Category: Video Games
List Price: £29.99
Buy New: £18.95
You Save: £11.04 (37%)
New (13) Used (10) from £12.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  107 reviews
Sales Rank: 405
Platform: Playstation2
Rating: Parental Guidance
Media: Video Game
Number Of Items: 1
Age: 11 - 18 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.5 x 0.6
UPC: 711719654964
EAN: 0711719653967
ASIN: B000BTGUNG
Release Date: February 17, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New Unopened and Factory Sealed. Cardboard Sleeve Version Which Includes the Art Cards.
|
| Accessories:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review:
In a nutshell:
In a world of identikit sequels and licenses this game stands alone. Cast as the mysterious Wanderer you are charged with destroying sixteen colossi – gigantic and apparently invincible stone monsters. Each colossus has a weak point though and by climbing onto them and exploring them like moving castles you may have a chance to save your sweetheart. The lowdown:
This game really does look and plays like nothing else, with a game world as large as the colossi which you can only explore via your trusty horse Argo. The graphics are fantastic, both technically and in terms of artistic design, and the melancholy atmosphere utterly unique. The colossi look particularly amazing, as you reach barely to the toe tops of most of them. The method of killing each one is perhaps not quite as varied as it could be and it’s a shame that there’s not anything to do in the overworld except travel to the next colossi, but the overall gaming experience is unparalleled. Most exciting moment:
Your first sight of a colossus, as you realise the end-of-level boss is the level. Since you ask:
This game is by the same team behind cult hit ICO, although a connection between the two stories is only evident at the very end of the gameā The bottom line:
One of the most beautiful and original video games ever made.
HARRISON DENT
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 102 more reviews...
 Profound July 20, 2008
The review title says it in one word but I shall continue, I am returning to this game after a one year break. I sold my ps2 and all games for a ps3, after a slew of average ps3 games I purchased this again to play on the PS3. It runs on my first gen ps3 fine, be aware later models cannot run ps2 games.
The game is the most moving video game ever and I've been playing games for 25 years, totaly unlike any other I have played. Great story and amazing colossi that fill the screen, great landscapes. This game is a work of art, the soundtrack is also awsome. So good in fact I have purchased the cd.
Don't miss out its a gem and one that will become much sought after in later years as people realise how good it is.
Enjoy
One of the best July 10, 2008
After the awesome ICO, the followup is a bold change in direction and is the most unique adventure game I have ever come across.
The finale is one of the most moving moments in videogames, a game that I have played over and over again as it is always a challenge but one that is an incredibly rewarding experience. Like Okami, this is a game that MUST be experienced
A beautiful and poignant masterpiece June 24, 2008
I feel I owe this game a great deal, for it has restored my faith in gaming on the basis of art, storytelling, an epic sountrack and, of course, superb gameplay. Too much of what we see in the gaming charts nowadays are the hallmark of generic mediocrisy. Flashy games with impressive graphics and lots of guns, trying to hide their abysmal lack of depth. Well, SOTC breaks the trend.
You play as Wander (Wanda), a young swordsman from a small rural village. The game opens with him and Agro (his horse), and an unknown woman wrapped in cloth (dead, as we shall soon find), making their way across an immense bridge towards a temple. The original premise of the game is deceptively simple; that Wander falls in love with the maiden, she is killed in a ritualistic act for reasons unknown, and he untertakes an epic quest to bring her back to life, by stealing the Ancient Sword from the shaman of the village. We then meet Dormin, an entity whose morality is questionable. He/She tells Wander that to bring her back to life, he must find and slay 16 colossi using the Ancient sword. What follows is 16 of the most original and imaginative boss battles you will ever see. Every colossi is unique, requiring a combination of puzzle solving and action orientated gameplay. The main issue is how to get onto each one in the first place, in order to find the weak spot and strike home the fatal blow.
What is most striking about this game is the emotional bond we have Wander, and your sole companion, Agro. As you travel through the immense, barren scenery looking for the next colossi, you feel glad to have your horse at your side. Also, you begijn to question the reasons for killing the Colossi, in fact you begin to feel sorry for them; you are the cause for the demise of these majestic creatures. They rarely strike the first blow, only when threatened. A question of morality seeps into the gameplay.
The ending is perhaps the most maserful piece of storytelling I have witnessed, save MGS4. Everything comes together; What is Dormin? Does it fulfil its promise to Wander? What are those black strings that enter Wanders body once he beats a colossi? And, for Ico fans, this chronological prequel explains the origins of the horned civilisation.
This is a beautiful game that deserves to be revered for what it is; a poetic masterpiece of imaginative splendour.
 Not a Shadow on Ico May 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Being the prequel...or is it sequel to Ico (one of my all time favourite games - see my review), I was really looking forward to this but something held me back which was why I only bought it recently.
Sadly, my instincts were right and I was very disappointed with it, mainly due to the poor controls and gameplay. Unlike say Tomb Raider, where you jump onto a ledge and Lara hangs there all day until you release, with SOTC you have to hold the button down to actually stay on the colossi, then release and jump to progress upwards. Doing this on a moving colossi with iffy camera angles is frustrating and ultimately not much fun. Get to the top and misjudge and you're back on the ground getting trampled. When you do make it to the weak spot, basically you just stab. And stab. This isn't very enjoyable either, nor is the alternative of shooting your pretty feeble arrows.
Riding the horse is not as much fun as it sounds either, once you've worked out which direction you're meant to be going of course. The mounting and dismounting is just plain clumsy.
This has neither the charm or soul of Ico, is frustrating to play, and overall was a poor gaming experience for me.
In it's defence, it looks the part, the scenery is fantastically rendered but beauty is only skin deep.
2 stars - mainly for the excellent graphics and different gaming approach, but one that did not work for me - on any level.
Unique, beautiful and strangely sad March 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After more than 10 years of the Playstation, you know what you are going to expect from an action/adventure game. You travel through an environment, kill a few low level minions while working your way up to the end of level boss. Well, just imagine a game that only consists of these end of level bosses, each one of them completely different and requiring a different attack stratergy. This is Shadow of the Colossus. The story is simple. A young man travels to a forbidden land on his horse in order to restore the life of a girl. To do so, he must vanquish 12 colossi . But is there a terrible price to pay?
The artistic design of the world that you travel through is amazing for what is now a last-generation machine. Excluding a few strange lizard-type creatures that can be seen scuttling along the ground every so often, 'Colossus is set within a desolate, cursed land tinged with sadness. This feeling of absolute loneliness is amplified by the music which is used sparsely but effectively. Unlike most action/adventure games, there are no power-ups, health items or mind-blowing weapons to unlock. In order to defeat the colossi, all you have a sword and a bow. But this is all that you need, because success depends upon figuring out exactly how to kill them. And this is not easy. In some ways, this is like a puzzle game, but the battles are intense and require stratergy, perfect timing and sometimes a bit of luck. Each of the colossi are beautifully designed. From the moment you emerge at the top of a cliff face to see the first in the distance, to the enormous behemoth at the end, you sometimes forget that you have to defeat them and just want to look at them in all their glory.
This game is a few years old now, and graphically it can't really compare with the next-gen games. Also, the wow-factor is lost after the first play through so you may not be inclined to play it again. These are my only critcisms. In terms of being a truely unique game, Shadow of the Colossus is a real treat and in the twilight years of the PS2, it shows that there are alternatives to mindless gun-fests, hormonal beat-em-ups and po-faced RPG's.
|
|
|
