The story is one of the most beautiful ever told, and the game world is as immersive as it gets.
ICO tells the story of a boy of the same name. The poor child who looks no older than 12 is being sacrificed by the men of his village. Ico has been born with horns on his head--A seemingly common occurrence in this particular universe. Nevertheless, it is apparently seen as a bad omen. The men travel a long ways by land and sea to transport the boy to a massive temple in the middle of the ocean. They lock the boy inside a small, pod-like tomb and leave him to rot inside, knowing this will please their gods. The sight of many other closed pods makes in apparent many other young boys have suffered this fate. But Ico has a greater purpose. An earthquake rocks the temple, and Ico pushes his small tomb off its stone shelf onto the floor below, shattering it and breaking free. Ico heads up a large flight of stairs and makes a stunning discovery. A beautiful girl perhaps a tad older than him is hanging is locked in a cage, hanging in the center of the tower. Ico is able to lower the girl to safety. The girl speaks little, and in unfamiliar tongue. She is weak from her captivity, and not able to traverse the large temple nearly as well as Ico can. He knows that now he isn't the only one who needs to escape. He must do everything he can to save this girl as well.
The story of ICO is absolutely amazing in all aspects. An interesting aspect of this, is that there aren't that many cutscenes/cinematics in the game. More or less, the plot develops slowly and silently as the game is played. It's hard to explain how the relationship deepens with no dialogue, but in some magical way, it does.
So you will take control of Ico. The boy will need to perform many athletic feats to escape. Scaling walls, climbing straight up ropes and chains, and jumping long distances over deadly ravines are a few examples. The girl however, does not have these talents. It's Ico's job to make thing easier for her, or, at the very least, physically help her reach the intended destination. The girl will follow Ico pretty faithfully. Pressing R1 while far from the girl will cause Ico to call her to him. Pressing the same button near the girl will let Ico take her hand. It's an endearing site. Ico pulls the girl along as she willingly follows, trusting him completely. But she can't follow him everywhere. And example would be a gap too large for the girl to jump. Many times, if Ico can jump the gap, you can simply go to the edge and hold R1. The girl will walk to the ledge, hesitate, and then make the jump. Ico will grab her hand as she falls just short and pull her up. Sometimes Ico has to take a different, more elaborate path to cross a gap that's too large for *him* to cross--One that the girl cannot use. In these cases, Ico will need to find ways to bridge the gap, or transport her across. It's a unique concept and while the puzzles never become too difficult they are just challenging enough to be enjoyable. Of course, there are puzzles that involve the raw navigation of the temple as well, but whether or not they involve helping the girl or not they are all well-crafted and enjoyable.
By no means is ICO a combat focused game, but it does contain a bit. Whoever locked the girl in her prison isn't happy that she's no longer there. Every so often, pools of darkness will form in the ground and spawn monsters made up of darkness. These monsters aren't interested in ICO--They want the girl. You'll have to protect her with the weapon at your disposal, whether it be a stick or a sword. Attacking consists of one button with which you can perform a three-hit-combo. You can also perform a down-slash in mid-air, but that's really as deep as combat goes. You can't quite button mash though, as the AI isn't all that stupid. Most can fly and will toy with Ico as her attempts to attack them. Taking it slow and waiting for the proper time to attack will give you success. While the enemies can't kill Ico, they will knock him down and stun him if they get the chance. If a monster makes it to the girl, it will scoop her up and transport her to one of the dark pools, dumping her in. If Ico can't make his way to the said pool and pull her out in a certain amount of time, the girl will be lost and you'll be forced to return to your last save. While the combat is interesting, it's nothing special. But that's okay because it's not the focal point of the title. It does just fine to convey what it's meant to, and I'm not sure a deeper system would improve the game in any way.
The controls work well, however, they'll take a few minutes to adjust to. Although the game is 3rd person, and does involve a lot of jumping, this is by no means a platformer. Everything has a slight, realistic delay. It's hard to explain what I mean by this, but this is no Mario game. If you've ever played the PS3's Prince of Persia, you'll know exactly what I mean. The camera is also quite different. The best way I've seen explained is in Gamespot's own review in which the review refers to the view as not unlike a "security camera." You really need to play to understand, but the game feels surreal It's a big part of why the title is so immersive.
To add to the game's immersiveness are the visuals. The temple is huge, and even though the rooms are made out of cold, hard stone, the large rooms are still a spectacle. But that's not the only thing you'll see, fortunately. Many areas of the temple are outside, and provide absolutely breathtaking views of the sea and other parts of the enormous temple. These scenes especially look amazing with an ingenious use of light, and you'll be sure to pan the camera all around and take in the sights. As awe-inspiring as some of the environments are, it also creates a small feeling of hopelessness when you realize you're trapped in a huge temple in the middle of the sea. The characters and their animations look amazing as well. As already mentioned, leading the girl around by the hand is one of the most poignant things I've ever seen in a game.
Sound and music are also done with amazing taste. From the howling ambiance of the large temple rooms, to the roaring of the sea, the sound masterfully plunges you into the world of ICO. As for music, it is sparse in ICO. In most games, this would be upsetting to me. In ICO, however, it works. The lack of music, makes it all feel real. That's not to say that there's *no* music. Cutscenes and more poignant moments feature it--The style is a very fitting ambient one, featuring gong-type sounds and Gothic voices. The two main themes of the game, opening and closing, are both treats. "Castle in the Mist" is a beautiful guitar piece, while "You Were There" is an emotional, cryptic ballad sung by a young boy. The audio all works together in union to make something truly beautiful.
I don't want to kill the word "immersive" but it's really the best way to describe ICO. Everything from the ever-deepening story, to the quiet relationship between the boy and the girl, to the beautiful visuals, to the sound, to the music--Everything is done in such a way that *immerses* you totally and fully into the title. By the time you''re done the story will be a part of you. In short, ICO is a work of art. It's difficult to find flaws. The camera takes some getting used to and can occasionally be a bother--Also, Ico, very seldom, doesn't respond like he should. But that's about all you'll find to complain about. ICO is truly a masterfully crafted game, and one that, if non-gamers would take notice of it, I truly believe gaming's image could begin to change. Anyone who owns a PS2 or PS3 *must* experience this amazing title.