Topic: Shadow of the Colossus

[Renny]

This place isn't too hot for non-Nintendo hype threads, strangely, but I think if any game deserves one this year it's Shadow of the Colossus. Or Wanda and the Colossus, if you like guys with girly names (oh how I wish I had one!). And I know that isn't the intention of the Japanese name. So don't reply to that. Or I'll run away and change my name to Renée. You'll see! Uhh, the game. Looks pretty good. It has displaced Zelda for the adventure game of the year, in my opinion. And yours too.

Here's an interesting interview with Fumito Ueda. Also check out the trailer (no sound) at Eurogamer.

[vudu]

Zelda isn't coming out this year, so Wanda might win by default.

It looks like a great concept.  The art direction is truly awe-inspiring.  However, the bulk of the gameplay seems to be boss fights, so I'm not sure if it will hold up after a few hours.

[KDR_11k]

I hope the framerate is improved from the GC build.

[Hostile Creation]

I've wanted to play ICO for a while now.  I may get a used PS2 or something, so I can play the four or five games I want on PS1/2.
Anyway, this looks really cool.  At first it struck me as being much more of a traditional fantasy game than Zelda, but it seems just about as unique after looking at the trailer.  It definitely looks like something I want to check out, but I'm not sure if that style of gameplay (based on the trailer alone) is enough to last an entire game.
Art direction is cool, the sense of scale is amazing, and it looks very interesting, I'm just not sure if climbing on giant monsters will last me several hours.

[Renny]

According to previews, each boss battle is a level in itself. An amalgamation of platforming and fighting. Of course leading up to each boss there's quite a lot of area to explore (on horseback, naturally). So hopefully each boss can provide a sufficiently exciting abutment to the downtime of exploration. It captures the simplicity of games in a different way to Ico. Brilliant, and like you said: potentiall boring as hell. But they have my attention more than with any other game, after Zelda.

As far as demo versus final quality: IGN claims it has improved significantly for the final (or at least press) version.

No real reviews yet. According to GameRankings, PSM gave it a 4.5/5 and Game Informer gave it a 8.75(the hell?)/10. I'll post again as soon as something worthwhile comes in.

[stevey]

Shadow of the Colossus is a game made for me, a game of only bosses fight!=) This is one of the few game on ps (I think) that would do much better on the cube.  

[Renny]

It probably would, provided it didn't have to compete with a Zelda release. It could do well on the Cube this season. But it might still sell well on the PS2. This 'sequel' has some recognition leading up to release, which Ico didn't get from what I've read (wasn't on the PS2 hype train, myself).

There's a demo available with pre-order at GameStop. I'll give impressions after I go through Ico. Compare and contrast!

[vudu]

I've never understood the point of giving out a demo for a game you just pre-ordered.  You're obviously going to get it anyway.  The only thing it could possibly do is get you to cancel your pre-order.  Perhaps they think you're going to give it to your friends to get them interested in the game, but it still seems like a waste.  They'd be much better off giving you a demo for a game when you buy a different game by the same publisher or of the same genere.

[Renny]

Well since the only upcoming game I'm interested on the PS2 is Colossus (and MGS3:S, which I've already essentially played), I'm not complaining. I am however complaining that my "PS2 two" (as the box says, stupid name) won't play my copy of Ico. Finicky piece of crap. The older PS2 had no trouble. Aren't hardware revisions supposed to make the product better? And I'm also complaining that Sony tech support is staffed by belligerent dicks. Oh well, I have my own little solution to the problem called "Swap Magic." That's ~$40 of unnecessary purchases I'm going to earn back the only way I know how. Yeah, I'll show you, Sony.

Yeah. Rant over. Demo time.

[Renny]

Well I'll just cover the technical aspects for now.

Framerate: slow. Insult to injury, they add a blurring effect in the distance when moving fast or when quickly panning the camera. The result is nausea and some lovely artifacting on the trailing edge of the screen. Nice.

Draw-in: bountiful. The video at IGN seems to suggest this isn't a problem in the final build. I guess we'll see.

Camera: hindrance. It was annoying up close to the colossus, but you get accustomed to it. Not really a problem. You become acclimated quickly. Riding Argo though, it still feels weird. Also "Invert" means two different things when talking about the free camera versus the weapon camera. I don't know what to make of that. Little demo snafu, I hope.

Controls: wonky. But you get used to them. If I didn't have a headache from the one-two combo of inconsistent framerate and useless blurring, I'd expound on that.

Argo: you get your own category, you polygonal sack of sinew. I can't tell if he's inebriated or about to retire. This is one unreliable horse. Call him, and he might show up. Odds are if he didn't follow you right up your ass the whole time, he won't be there when you need him. Like any horse, he is averse to suicide, so he'll avoid lethal falls. Surprisingly he'll still gracefully navigate the edge of a cliff. Try to ride him between some pillars, though, and he'll take a detour all the way around. You nut.

Art: beautiful. But the characters actually look worse in motion. Some sacrifice in the environment would have gone a long way towards improving the main character that occupies the foreground of your view to the entire game.

There isn't a hell of a lot to do in the demo. I'll post about the good points eventually.

[Renny]

I think I promised some positive things about the game. :¬] So despite the technical issues in the demo, it's still immensely compelling to play. This will all sound obvious because I don't want to spoil anything, but the scale of the game is what's most impressive. The little slice of the world that's viewable in the demo is vast and nicely detailed. The colossus featured (which is claimed to be about medium-sized) is still huge when you're running around under its feet. Climbing the beast requires somewhat of a rhythm of movement, between grabbing, jumping and resting to restore your grip. Once at the top you get a view of your 'battle arena' (in this case, boxed in between relatively tight cliffs) swinging around you as the colossus attempts to shake you back to the fractured earth. And in another nice touch to further the sense of scale, hawks fly past as you struggle to steady your sword's point over the minotaur's head for a deadly thrust into its skull.

Both exploring and battling the 'bosses' are equally fun. The game just has some very palpable technical issues that need sorted, if the game wants to be great. I think it will still be very good even if the final version has some of these problems remaining.

[Renny]

Did I kill my own thread? :¬] It's spoiler week at 1UP! Not much else to report on the Colossus front. One week away and there's hardly any promotion. Another quiet release for Sony's best in-house developers.

[Renny]

Well the 1UP review was posted on Friday at the link above. GameSpot have their review up. I haven't dared to read them yet, but I hear the reviewers enjoyed them. Game is out tomorrow.

[couchmonkey]

This game looks really good, I'd definitely be checking it out if I had a PS2.  I love the idea of fighting gigantic bosses, one of my favourite moments in Super Mario 64 was when I learned I could actually climb on top of the Whomp boss at the top of the tower level.

[Renny]

Picked up the game today, played under 1/3 through so far. Thought I'd update on changes to the final version:

Framerate is improved, still slow in places. Not locked at all really. Ridiculous blurring is still in place and looks the same (bad). Environmental detail is significantly improved, and draw-in is less obvious though still present obviously. Camera still confounds you sometimes, though it is improved. Awkward nonetheless. Invert camera and invert weapon are still contradictory. Oh well. Controls feel better, even with the camera. Horse maneuvers nicely once you get the hang of it. In respect to AI, Agro is now useful. He stays near and comes when you call him. Still a nut and goes running off then running back sometimes, but he's quite reliable now. He just has character. :¬]

The visuals are improved in general by a considerable margin. You start out noticing the PS2's characteristics, but the game quickly draws you into its beautiful gaze and doesn't let you go. The jaggies, poor textures, shimmering; none of it matters once you realize just how vast and organically intricate the world is, and you've taken down a beast. It's incredible so far.

[vudu]

Even though this games sounds great, I can't help but think of how much better it could be if it weren't for the hardware/control limitations.

[Renny]

Yeah, I'd like to see the game on better hardware. And as stevey said, it would be better received on the Cube. They've created a very impressive game, even if the limitations of the PS2 contrast somewhat harshly with the vision. Much like MGS3. Unless all that screen tearing was part of Kojima's plan. ;¬]

[Ymeegod]

"Camera: hindrance. It "

Yeah, that sums it up nicely.  Hate having it "auto" zoom even though you're trying to manual zoom out.  Really annoying at the last colosso (16th) where you have to leap from his hands.

Overall Renny hit most of it's faults in the graphically department (pop-ins, blurred texture) and the slow-downs but the pros easily out shine the cons.  

Kinda anti-climax ending is another con I would say.  Basically after the final colossus you're going have two mini-levels where you can't do much other than move, I don't think you can actually "win".  

I'll give it an 8.5/10 myself with it's simple but unique gameplay being it's selling point.  

[KDR_11k]

I'm unsure about this game. Sure, it sounds nice but a bad camera always makes me angry and if I die more than once because of the camera I stop playing.

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Great game.  Sold through 100,000 on the first day.

[Bill Aurion]

Are you implying the game is good because of sales?  Aha, then all those licensed games out there must be classics...

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Enter the Matrix PWNS

[kirby_killer_dedede]

lol no, I'm saying I played it and I think it's a great game.  The numbers were just to prove my statement.

Which, completely off topic, why in hell was Madagascar such a highly anticipated game/why is it still selling so well?

[couchmonkey]

Same reason any liscenced game sells well: people liked the movie.  Okay, some liscenced games are also good, but that's not only reason they sell well.

[KDR_11k]

With Madagascar, the "people liked the movie" expalination fails.