Towering Colossi

The ICO team finally returns with another one-of-a-kind action adventure.

• Watch
• Download

The newly renamed Shadow of the Colossus is the eagerly anticipated second game from the Sony Japan development team who brought us the stunning ICO. Originally known as Wanda and the Colossus, the game was first announced in September of last year, and it garnered a fair amount of attention when it was announced because of ICO's beloved status with industry critics and gamers alike. For its next outing on the PlayStation 2, the ICO team has served up an intriguing new action game that isn't a direct sequel to ICO but shares many of the same sensibilities. After having been teased by a trailer late last year at the 2004 Tokyo Game Show, we've finally managed to get our hands on a work-in-progress version to see what new magic the team has cooked up.

Shadow of the Colossus' story features the same timeless fairy-tale quality as ICO, albeit with a more mature theme. The story here is essentially one of love. You're cast as a nameless hero on a quest to save a loved one, and your journey will take you to an ancient temple where you discover the power to save your love's spirit. However, in order to unlock this power, you must obtain the essence of 16 colossi, mountainous gargantuan beasts that roam the land. How can a man who's about the size of an ant next to these beasts do such a thing armed with only a sword and a bow and arrow? That's for you to find out.

The short demo that we tried opened up in what we assume is the temple where you'll get your marching orders. You'll gather your wits, mount your faithful steed, and head out onto the open plains surrounding the temple. You're dwarfed by the massive world that looms before you, which you can explore to your heart's content if you like. Once you get over the initial shock of the world's scale, you can get to business. Shadow's structure appears to be a linear series of quests that target each of the colossi. Your sword will possess mystical properties that will let it reflect sunlight when held above your head, which points you in the direction of the colossus.

Once you know where to go, you'll have to navigate the landscape in order to get to your destination, which serves as a subgame unto itself. In our demo, we had to figure out a way to get up and over the walls in a valley by jumping and climbing along a series of cliffs and vines. Once we got near the colossus, a real-time cinematic triggered and we got a full view of the massive creature, which is sure to cause some deep gulps in players the first time they see it. At that point, the next aspect of the game experience kicked in, which is best described as equal parts puzzle and action. As we mentioned, you're not exactly packing a bazooka, so you'll have to use your wits in order to defeat the mighty creature.

To save the life of your lost love, you'll square off against 16 truly massive, imposing beasts: the colossi.

We won't spoil the specifics on how to kill the beast, but plan on spending some time just observing its movements and scrutinizing the makeup of its body. The tools you need to defeat the creature are always in plain sight--the challenge for you is to figure out how to use them. Of course, knowing what you need to do and actually doing it are two very different things when it comes to taking down a mountain-sized foe. The colossi aren't exactly going to let you scamper about and kill them, as evidenced by our fun romp with the one in the demo. They'll move around and try to stomp you once you get their attention, so you'll have to be quick on your feet.

Avoiding stompage is actually feasible thanks to the game's control scheme, which is laid out simply. You'll move around with the analog stick, jump with triangle, use your sword to reflect light with the circle button, attack with square, call your horse with X, and use R1 to hold and climb. It's a simple system that lets you perform actions quickly, which is always nice when a massive foot is looming over you.

ICO is remembered fondly by many gamers for its beautiful, subtle production values and strong aesthetic effort. How does Shadow of the Colossus stack up in the looks department, given the pedigree of its illustrious predecessor? Read on to find out.