Shadow of the Colossus

My lovely girlfriend heard me prattling on about how I'd accidentally slipped my copy of Shadow of the Colossus into the pile of games up for sale last year. Never got around to replacing the copy I lost, so she took it upon herself to do so for me. Love ya honey :P

It's abit more dated than I remember, with some sharp corners (particularly the horse's ass) and a ridiculous over use of bloom lighting effects. But it's as emotional as I remember, with minimal dialogue and an emphasis on atmosphere. Can't help but think that the developers were big fans of old films set in mythological Greece.

Premise is simple. Vaguely asian-looking boy wants to bring back to life similar looking girl. So he apparently shows up in this paradise forbidden to whatever culture he hails from and asks the sky to bring the girl's soul back. Said sky responds to him that he must kill sixteen giants (colossi) in order to have his request granted, and that's it. The gates blow open and you're off on horseback.

And then you realize the game plays like shit. I'm sorry, it does. I've had an easier time steering a 78 station wagon after a blow-out. You'd think the developers would've looked to something like Zelda for inspiration since it pretty much wrote the book on horse-backing it in games. But no, instead you get the video game equivalent of drunk driving (and walking, climbing, stabbing, etc). And that's when you're just riding around. Try scaling a two-hundred foot walking monolith with a guy who thinks up is a reverse leap to the rear. Gets infuriating.

But really. There's just nothing else like it. And the first time you see a colossus round a corner you'll get chills.

It's an old game at this point, but definitely one I'm glad to have back on my shelf.