![]() How to Download & Install Shadow of the Colossus Note: If you have not played this game, do not read this article.An open-world action/adventure game in which a young wanderer, along with a stolen magical sword and his steed companion, trespasses a cursed land, makes a deal with an ancient being to bring a sacrificial victim back to life, and sets off to fulfill his end of the bargain, which involves tracking down and infiltrating the abodes of sixteen colossi and sacrificing them to achieve his goal. Play the game, enjoy it, and then read this article. It could mess up (a little) the joy of discovery (contains spoilers). I didn't initially plan to write that many articles about Shadow of the Colossus I merely intended to describe how I felt about the game. But as soon as I started analysing every aspect which make it a genuine work of art, I just couldn't stop digging deeper and deeper. There are so many wonderfully crafted parts in this game, that I was surprised myself. Nonetheless, there are some drawbacks that could have been avoided. We'll quickly talk about them before concluding about this amazing game. There are a few drawbacks in Shadow of the Colossus which, fortunately, don't alter the quality of the journey experienced by the player. The main one is the presence of a HUD (Heads-Up Display) which impacts the immersion of the player in the game. It is a significant flaw because, as we have seen, immersion is the leitmotiv of the game. It could have been easily spared as most of the data are already available ingame : weapon in hand is displayed on the player's model, stamina is communicated by vibrations and alarm sound, colossus' health is displayed through their weakspot. ![]() The only thing that should be reworked is the avatar's health, but there are many options available to display it in a non-intrusive way (it may even be hidden, as the game is mostly about avoiding injury). Ueda did it well in Ico, and I wonder why he chose to do differently in Shadow. The second problem is that the camera proves to be difficult to manipulate and often gets stuck in walls or corners. It would be a really annoying problem if the environment was not so vast, and if there was not this very useful button that fixes the target on the colossus. On the other hand, we must remember that free camera problems were very common in these years.Īll in all, very few technical mistakes have been made when developing this game. The first one is (sorry for the spoil, but you should not read anyway if you have not completed the game) the reappearance of Agro in the epilogue, which greatly minimizes the power of the scene of his “death”, on its own beautifully crafted. I feel resentment for all these works (mostly movies) that don't follow through with the drama of this kind of scene. The second one is the fact that Wander (the “hero”) talks. When I started this serie of articles, I had only played it once (I played it twice more since then), and I was sure that he was mute (as Link is in all Zelda games). ![]() ![]() Well, he is not, and he speaks in the introduction of the game but he doesn't talk anymore throughout the rest of the game. During this conversation, the player feels like a spectator, not an actor of the scene, which breaks the spell of immersion. ![]()
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