Awesome

Ico gave PS2 owners one of the most memorable adventures of all time& unbelievably good graphics, a fantastic sound track, a fusion of adventure and puzzles, and a story which the player felt through the character's actions rather than words. Sadly, Ico never made the impact it should have but did become a cult classic with my loyal fans. After a long wait, the original developers give fans the indirect sequel: Shadow of the Colossus. The game starts out somewhat conventional& the hero of our story wants to revive his befallen love and will go to any lengths to have her back. So, he seeks help from forbidden deity, who agrees to help our hero if he defeats 16 colossi. Each colossus corresponds to an idol; the 16 combined idols hold this god captive. In order to defeat these colossi, you have with you a magic sword, a bow, and a horse. Oh, and undying willpower. Doesn't sound like much and it really isn't because SotC requires a player to be thoughtful rather than go all out. So, each colossus has a weak spot that can be used to take them down with your magic sword. Just find the weak spots, stab it, and the giant falls hard. Sounds simple, but finding and battling these colossi are an adventure on their own. You will have to travel across vast distances to reach each colossus and show some fine athleticism to take them down. Your trusty steed will usually be used to travel the enormous world but sometimes comes into play during battles. When in sunlight, your magical sword can point to in the direction of your target and also its weak spot once in battle. As soon as you find the colossus, you engage it in battle. The colossi don't want to die so they will do their best to make sure they stop you before you stop them. Most of time, you have to climb up a colossus by grabbing on its hair or fur. Your grip will decrease the long you hold on so you have to move quickly and you actually have to maintain balance. During some battles, the environment becomes important for the hero by providing him with hiding place, higher ground for safety, et cetera. Defeating each colossus takes patience and careful execution. At times, the task may seem a bit frustrating or even impractical& which some may loathe. The colossi are a spectacle to observe-- their movement and reactions seem so natural. The vast world, colossi, and characters all have fantastic design. The art direction remains the same as that of Ico, which needed no changes. Technologically, the game looks and sounds very impressive. You see your character trip, fall, and stumble due to the earth-shakers and combined with the aesthetics, you get a feeling of how the character must feel. The game does a superb job of engulfing you into the game. And the soundtrack is aural ecstasy, quite possibly one of the finest ever composed. The beginning of the story is very interesting. Our hero will go though trails of death with time against as his tribe's people come to stop him from unleashing the deity in the forbidden lands. Even though the story remains unexplored for most of the game, it's hard to be drawn into it from the bits and pieces you see. There are two faults with the story. The game lacks the interactions the player felt in Ico and the heart stopping climax leads to a somewhat disappoint ending. In no way does the game have a bad story, its just not as good as Ico's. Shadow of the Colossus shows careful craft and attention to detail. It is one of the finest looking, sounding, and playing games. The game does require some patience so the spontaneous players will have trouble accepting this game so it's not for everyone. The only area where the game falls a bit short is the story though it's still very good. Needless to say, the game has a fine layer of polish everywhere. Final words: A game which delivers on every level and one of the best games on the PS2.