Arts & Culture
Shadow of the Colossus

Sometimes gaming can be art. An ethereal experience that touches your heart, inspires you and lifts you out of your daily existence.

If there is one gaming studio that has mastered the complexities of this transcendence it’s Team Ico. They are the studio that brought you last year’s masterful The Last Guardian where what they created was a creature that felt truly alive as you had to cajole and nurture it to get through the problem-solving game. They are also the studio that brought you the beautiful Ico. A stunning art project of a game. But they are most famous for Shadow of the Colossus. A stunning game full of ‘monsters’ that you had to defeat in the most beautifully crafted game of the last decade. And it’s getting a next-gen makeover which will be out on the PS4 in February. The game is an undisputed classic as you follow a young warrior’s quest (he’s called Wander in case you were… well wondering) to bring the love of his life Mono back to life by slaying 16 giant monsters roaming across a barren landscape. It is a truly haunting experience with fights that are more like puzzles in a ruined landscape that is at once foreboding and beautiful. The creativity in sound and vision of this game makes it something that is different than most games. It’s like you’re wandering around in an artistic dream. Each creature feels alive and acts like it’s alive as you try to find its weak point. And it is heartbreaking when you do the deed and defeat the magnificent beast as something so wonderful is no more. The gameplay is magnificent as you struggle to climb one of the monsters as it tries to shake you off looking for that weak point that you can take advantage of. Some of you might be wondering why Team Ico are resurrecting this 12 year old PS2 game but if you’ve played it on the old console and marvelled at its stunning visuals then you’ll be wanting to know what this experience could look like on the all-powerful next gen consoles. It will be a truly mesmerising experience.