Shadow of the Colossus is an almost entirely unique concept when it comes to games. You're given a huge world, on par with Zelda's Twilight Princess, a horse and a sword, and from then on every foe you come across is a monstrous, looming giant with not even a single shred of humanity in them. And it's not simply their scale that's impressive, it's the fact that, to most of them, you are no bigger than a cockroach and yet you're expected, no, determined to wipe out every last one of them.

Team Ico are well known by those who loved it, for creating Ico which was yet another interesting, unique experience which experimented with lighting effects, the traditional platformer game and telling a story without words. Both games have a emotive aspect to them which often draws you in, makes you fall in love with one or two characters, or at the very least, feel so very sorry for them. In Ico it was the trial of the little horned boy and his bond with the caged girl which drew the story forward, protecting her and a sense of mystery drove you onward through the ruined castle. Here, in Shadow of the Colossus, a sense of duty is what draws you onward, to kill every one of the monsters, but there's a sense of wrongness, darkness and cruelty with every kill. As the Colossus whine and cry out in pain you feel like you shouldn't be harming them with one or two exceptions. In this review I'll be giving an explanation on my choices for rating this game. When people say things like, "Games are an art form." They're talking about games like Shadow of the Colossus.

Graphics:

When it came out on PS2 in October between late 2005 and early 2006, there were few examples of games which really impressed with their graphics. Sure there were some visual stunners like God of War, and Nintendo has always managed to do something new and interesting with their game graphics but there was nothing as atmospheric, surreal or gritty as Shadow of the Colossus. The main protagonist was designed with a waifish figure. Tall, handsome but small. His horse, in comparison, is big, bulky and designed after a Clydesdale. This interesting contrast allows for an effect which makes the protagonist appear smaller than he is, a useful technique to make the fights seem tougher and even more daunting.

The surroundings are often called, dull, too big and plain. But I feel the reason for this is in order to make the area appear abandoned, desolate and like it's at the end of the world. The, for lack of a better phrase, Overworld between each colossus is the area I'm describing. It's large, there's not much to do but hunt tiny lizards and move to the next area. There's a few scattered shrines here and there, but nothing to distract you from the feeling of isolation the landscape inspires.

Each colossus is designed differently and some are so huge they act as their own environments for many of the battles. The mix of realistic looking stone, shaggy dirty fur and their distinctive green hue gives each one a menacing, supernatural look which matches well with the whole mix of surreal horror the game hopes to inspire.

The downside, of course, if that we're so used to games being more visually stunning these days, that most can't appreciate a limited palette. Some areas of the game do blend together, and the lack of color can, at times, make areas seem far to similar to the last.

Sound:

Booming noises, the sound of rock giving way to impressive weight, the crack of lightning as a blow connects with rock or steel. The whistles of the arrows as they fly through the air has a pleasing ring to the ear too. The game's sound effects were well utilized, and performed well under the pressure of making these colossus sound big. In later levels when the difficulty increases and the monsters become more and more threatening, the sound effects continue to keep up the volume and bring terror into the mix, especially with the last colossus who just simply expels terror.

Of character voice there's very little. The game's story is told by action, not by dialogue. The protagonist does cry out with strain and exhaustion when climbing and attacking the monsters and this does it's part. The true voice acting, however, is done by the colossus themselves. Their screams and cries make it difficult to keep on attacking. If we weren't all cold, heartless monsters we'd probably stop at the first, second or third colossus before we realized what kind of pain we were causing these creatures. They sound and act like mutilated, twisted animals, rather than dark, feral beasts.

Addictiveness:

The game is very addictive, and even once completed, you can go on and on, killing as you please. With each kill you gain in strength and can go climbing for longer. Like RPGs, Shadow of the Colossus has a game plus feature when completed, and you can go on and on around again and again murdering giants as you please. Even though they scream in pain as they're stabbed and hacked, it's oddly pleasing to bring down a monster of their size, considering you're just a speck to them.

Story:

Your love, is dead or under a curse, and a ritual must be performed to bring her back to life. There's only so much time, but you must kill all colossus in the lonely valley to break her curse and being her back to the world of the living. Or so much as I can tell. There's no dialogue and action controls most of the story. There's just a simple set up, and then it's up to you and your horse, to kill your way to save your love. Just like Ico is a dark retelling of Rapunzel, there's a feeling of Sleeping Beauty around Shadow of the Colossus that I can't shake away. And I love that dark fairy tale aspect that's brought in. The only thing about the story is that it's difficult to comprehend and a lot is left our which could have been explored but wasn't. Like who were those men who showed up at the end? How did the protagonist's love die? How does killing colossus save her? Or were the colossus responsible somehow? However, for those who played Ico, it's no surprise that the game ends suddenly, with an ending which adds more questions than it answers, and creates an even darker atmosphere than the beginning starts off with. For Team Ico it's all about the Journey, not the beginning, not the ending.

Depth:

You'll be drawn into this game, you'll love every moment of it and find yourself galloping as fast as possible to the next colossus. The skill needed is different for each monster, sometimes getting to them is half the battle and each one offers a unique new challenge. The fact that there's a beautiful woman to save, a horse with a wonderful personality and a shade of mystery around the whole ordeal only adds to the whole Colossus killing depth the game seeks to bring to the gaming world. It's truly an artistic game, a sheer dream to play, with the difficulty one would expect.