ARGO!
I don't do tens very often, and I haven't actually written a review for a game I have considered a ten, but Shadow of the Colossus is an absolute ten when it comes to the important things. Personally I have never played a game (including ICO) that has presented itself with such a clarity of vision. The mood, tone, and overall experience seems to be exactly what the developers wanted it to be, with zero compromise, and games like it are very few and far between.
You play the game as a nameless warrior, a wanderer, who seems to be delivering a dead girl, via horseback, to a mysterious land, a land where he hopes to unlock the power to bring this dead girl back to life. He takes her to this strange land's major temple where an omnipotent voice tells him that he can bring her back to life if he kills the sixteen colossi that are also wandering the land. The only direction you are given are to hold the nameless warrior's sword up to the sun and the sun's reflection will point the player (and his faithful horse named "Argo") towards the next colossus.
How you get there, and what you actually do to take down the colossus when you do get there, is totally in the air. If you think that there might be something to do along the way, or something resembling side missions, you would be wrong. If you think that there might be other NPCs in the world that might give you clues to the best way to take down the next colossus, again you would be wrong. This might lead many to criticize that there isn't much game in between what is essentially a string of boss fights, but from my perspective this wasn't done because the developers were lazy, it was done because they wanted to set a tone. They wanted to make the player feel as isolated and alone as possible. They wanted to give the player a real sense of scale and wonder. With this attempt they have in essence injected what a lot of developers have tried to do before, but have failed. They have injected Shadow of the Colossus with some real emotion.
The graphics are as awe inspiring as they are delicately rendered. If you take the time to actually stop and absorb the environments within SotC, it's the little details that eventually pop out at you. From mountainous vistas, dark woods, sandy deserts, shimmering lakes, foggy canyons, and vicious thunderstorms, the detail and care that went into the environments is substantial. The animations are also eerily awesome. The player animations are silky smooth, but it's the animations of the horse, Argo, that are simply drool inducing. When you call Argo to come to you, it really does look, feel, and sound like an actual horse is coming to you and reacting to your actions. He's mannerisms and flowing mane are just a real pleasure to watch and experience. Wrap all of the above in a nice smoky lighting filter and it gives the game a very dreamy, not quite reality, look that only adds to the overall mood.
The soundtrack and sound effects are also suitably dreamy and sweeping. The soundtrack doesn't actually kick in until you take on one of the sixteen bosses, but when it does it's satisfyingly grand and orchestra infused. When not pumping you up for a boss fight the game scales way down, but is still impressive and perfect for the tone of the game. Sounds of nature are the primaries, with the sound of the breeze, birds chirping, the sound of trampling hooves on different terrains, or the sounds of splashing and flowing water. Again, the sound effects while the game is idle only add to the overall sense of isolation and scale.
The controls, at first, seem to be a little clumsy (especially the camera), but after a little trial and error everything (for me) seemed to work itself out. During the large boss fights I felt like the game was going to be this wonderful looking game, but one with a flawed camera that I was going to constantly have to fight. Once I realized that, if I let the camera do its own thing, it would often slowly pan to the perfect angle, things became a whole lot easier. If allowed to track to its destination the camera was usually trying to show me the path to my destination or a potential weakness in the boss. The camera gives the impression that it's moving towards a squirrelly angle, but nine times out of ten it's just moving to show the player a point of interest. The only other hiccup is that the controls don't feel that tight, if you're the type of player who's into quick and accurate movements, but if you approach this game just a bit slower than the standard fare, and a bit more methodically, the controls work. Patience, and trial and error, will pay off in the end.
If I have anything to really complain about I would have to say that some of the boss fights can end up being exceedingly difficult without the aid of a FAQ. It's not that they are difficult in a "this boss is kicking my arse" kind of way as much as they are difficult in a "what the frak do I do next?" kind of way. The early bosses aren't that difficult, and most are basically walking puzzles, as you try and figure out the best way to get to their glowing weak spot(s) and stab them until their health meter depletes. But the last four or five are real brain benders. Some involve using elements or materials within the environment and some demand that you take very distinct paths in order to take them down. The omnipotent voice often gives the player clues, but most are so vague that they rarely give any real help. If you can make it to the end of the final boss without breaking down and looking at a FAQ, then you have this gamer's respect.
It could also be said that SotC is a short game, and it is. I cleared it in just under ten hours, but there is a hard mode and time trial mode unlocked after finishing it once, and I can honestly say that it was ten of the best hours I've spent gaming in my life. The grandeur of the whole affair is almost beyond description. The satisfaction of delivering the killing blow that takes down one of the massive colossi after forty five minutes or more of wrestling across its massive, hairy back is one of the greatest gaming joys I've ever had. It also can't be left out that the storyline of the game may seem paper thin, but before it's over there will be a couple of twists that will shock and sadden you. Guaranteed.
Throw in one of the most physically beautiful worlds in any game, ever, and you have one the very few games that I consider perfect just the way it is. There's an execution going on underneath the hood that is second to none. The game is infused with a scope that very few (if any) games have ever had. It has uniqueness of vision, it has real emotion, and it has a "soul". People may say that this game is missing the actual game, but I dare them to deny that there isn't an experience to be had while playing it. It may be a more earthy, less action packed, artistic experience, but it's an experience I won't soon forget. Those quiet times, where seemingly nothing is happening, only accentuates the "oh poop" moments when you turn the corner and come face to foot with a seventy foot tall colossus brandishing a thirty foot sword.
For this gamer Shadow of the Colossus is a masterpiece for the PS2...and, in between missions, make sure you give Argo a couple loving pats on the side...from me.
+Beautiful game world
+Great animations
+Great sense of isolation
+Emotional
-Minor camera issues
-Some vaguely hard boss fights
