Shadow of the Colossus is an okay game but it falls short in several departments
Let’s me begin by talking about this game’s graphics. It looks almost identical to ICO, a Sony PS2 game that was released somewhere back in 2001. This is both good and bad. The good is ICO was an extremely superb looking game for its time, the bad is, for its time. Shadow of the Colossus inherited the exact same graphics. Now don’t go thinking this game looks horrible, because it doesn’t! It looks great, however if Sony had spend some time improving the graphics a bit, it would have been perfect for this day in age! Character renders and backgrounds all look great. Even the Colossus that you have to defeat looks superb! The lighting effects also add to overall superb presentation of this game. Few games have achieved the level of quality, graphically that this has.
The land is one HUGE world and when I say HUGE, I mean HUGE! It is very large and vast and consists of every possible land formation and environment you would expect to find in a Legend of Zelda game. You move around from place to place on your horse, and the whole point of the game is to defeat these Colossi that are in certain areas. Each Colossus requires a certain strategy to defeat, so you will spend some time trying to defeat them. As you progress in the game the colossi get a little more challenging, but they aren’t that hard. That’s it. There are no villages, no other people (other than the girl you want to save *storyline spoiler*), no other enemies. Only you, your horse, a huge world and the colossi you have to defeat! It’s really a shame, since the game doesn’t have a really good replay value. If Sony added some enemies in the world and some better power ups such as weapons, this game would have gotten the recognition as Legend of Zelda, because it had so much going for it…
One huge flaw in the game is the controls. You character’s controls are passable, but the controls on your horse is horrible and deeply flawed. Many of the times it is irresponsible. It appears like the horse has a mind of its own sometimes. Their were some boss battles where you will have to use your horse, but the horrible horse controls really showed when you have to defeat the 13th colossus.
The sound in the game is not revolutionary. Most of the sounds are due to the environment, such as the wind blowing. When you are in a colossus battle, music is played to signify the battles as well as once you are on the colossus, the music also changes. It’s nothing really worth mentioning since the music doesn’t really affect the game and you really don’t know it’s missing.
The replay value is another severe flaw in this game. It will take you around 10 hours to complete this game and most likely you will not play it again, because you will know exactly how to defeat the bosses. The time attack mode might draw you into the game again, but that’s about it. It’s really a shame, because a game with so much vast space and scenery could have been much better in the replay department.
Overall I will recommend this game, but only as a rental. It really isn’t worth purchasing because once you complete it you may never want to play it again.