Shadow of the Colossus Review (no fat)

Game Description

Most action adventure games are filled with colorful graphics and a huge cast of characters for gamers to sink their teeth into. However, this isn’t the case is Shadow of the Colossus. Can a game with dreary colors and simple gameplay make the grade with action adventure gamers? The simple answer is yes, it can.

Shadow of the Colossus Gameplay

In Shadow of the Colossus, you will find yourself in a desolate world, hoping to restore the health of a close female friend. What you won’t know is if this female is your wife, girlfriend, sister or friend, yet you will have to find a way to restore her health back to normal. A voice comes from the distance, no body, no vision…just a voice, telling you that you must defeat sixteen beasts in order to accomplish this task. Once this information is out, you’ll be on your own without any further instruction.

Gamers must find their way to these sixteen colossi in this vast and expansive environment. The colossi themselves are giant creatures, each unique from the others. All of them possess different abilities and weaknesses, and it is the gamer’s job to find those weaknesses and exploit them to their advantage. However, it is not necessarily stated why one must kill these creatures in order to bring back the health of the woman held so dear. Most of the giant creatures won’t attack at gamers right away, and most of them will look on with intrigue as soon as gamers enter their lair. Some gamers may even feel sorry for the colossi, as most are living peaceful lives and don’t attack unless they are angered or climbed upon.

In the beginning of the game, gamers will enter a temple like place, with their female counterpart, set the girl up on a pedestal, and head out on their journey. The game gets monotonous after a while, as gamers will go defeat a creature, and then retreat back to the temple before setting out on another journey for another creature. Beating the game takes about ten hours, and the game doesn’t feature much replay value. There is just something about the game, however, that keeps gamers interested. Maybe it’s the fact that gamers don’t know if their killing spree will actually bring their girl back to life. It is stated at the beginning of the game that their quest may or may not lead to the restoration of the girl’s health. This is what motivates gamers to finish the game, to see if their efforts have the effect that they desire.

Shadow of the Colossus Graphics

The graphics in the game incorporate many elements of desolation and gloominess. Mixtures of gray flood the environments in which gamers drudge through on their quest. However, these visual mixtures set the mood for gameplay, and pull gamers deep within the story of the game. The frame rate of the game is good, but drops on occasion. Most of the time this happens when gamers are about to enter battle, and yes, this is the worst possible time for this to happen. However, on the other hand, gamers will experience no lag time in their journey.

Shadow of the Colossus Audio

The audio is presented just as nicely as the graphics in the game, and set the mood of game play quite nicely. While gamers are exploring the environment, the only sounds they will hear are their footsteps and the trees swaying in the wind. They may here colossi in the distance, but that is as far as the audio goes in exploration. This is a great concept, as the look of the land that gamers are exploring is dark and desolate. When gamers get involved in battle with a creature, the music picks up, and sets the tone of the battle. Fast paced action music will drift through gamers ears as they defeat each creature one by one, bringing them one step closer to their goal in their quest.

Shadow of the Colossus - Final Verdict

While Shadow of the Colossus doesn’t seem like it would be as interesting as most of the other action games on the market today, it does have some nice features and game play in it. Those who want more depth in their story lines may find a few hours of game play here, but nothing that is mind blowing.

Shadow of the Colossus Cost

The price is kind of high, checking in at $39.99.