Shadow of the Colossus Remake

Shadow of the Colossus (Remake) Review

Original developer: Team Ico
Remake's developer: Bluepoint Games
Remake's publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Genres: Open World, Platformer, Adventure
Platforms: PS4
Release date:
- October 18th, 2005 (original release on the PS2)
- February 6th, 2018
Playtime: 7 hours (completed the story once)
Reviewed on a base PS4 model
Note: all the screenshots shown throughout the review were taken by me using the newly-added Photo Mode

As someone that missed the chance to play both the original Shadow of the Colossus and the PS3 remaster, this remake by Bluepoint is a godsend. Playing a 13-year old game in 2018 that still feels as good to play as any other game releasing in the present shows how much of a masterpiece the original developers, Team Ico, have created. Add on top of that this fresh coat of paint and you have a must-buy for any PS4 owner.

Story-wise the game is straightforward: you visit a temple in the Forbidden Lands in order to bring back to life a young girl that was sacrificed due to a “cursed fate”. In order to accomplish this task, a mysterious voice presiding over these lands proposes a deal: should you defeat the 16 wandering colossi, your wish will come to fruition. Thus, the protagonist, with only his horse to help him on this journey, accepts the task and sets off after these creatures. What you experience from this point onward is an incredible adventure that takes you through deserts, dense forests, caves, submerged temples and more.

On the gameplay front, Shadow of the Colossus delivers in spades. The first Colossus you find is in fact one of the smallest, but still, it’s a creature more than tenfold your size. This scene leaves you in awe, suspense and wonder about whether you’ll be able to beat even your first opponent. You then manage to grab on to one of its feet and slowly climb your way up to its head, enduring the foe’s flails and wags, where you deal the finishing blow by stabbing your sword into the Colossus’ head. This is then followed by a last cry of despair which leaves you, the player, thinking about what you have just done to the poor creature. Before the protagonist can celebrate victory, he is attacked by black mist coming from the fallen foe, leaving him unconscious and to wake up at the starting point, the temple. The presiding voice then points the protagonist in the second Colossus’ direction, and by now you have completed the main gameplay loop of the game: kill a Colossus, wake at the temple, go after the next Colossus, rinse and repeat. Even if this seems like a simplistic gameplay loop it is still quite effective and manages to “reset” your emotions and focus towards the next objective. In a way, it’s the cold nature of the story of “I am here to kill the Colossi and resurrect the girl and nothing else matters” showing.

Regarding how to find the next Colossus, that’s actually quite simple: by pointing your sword towards the sky at any given time, it will glow blue in the direction of your next target. This mechanic also comes with the advantage that it will have a yellow-ish glow instead when you’re close to a collectible, so you’ll know you should look around in that area.

For the open world itself, from the get-go you have an enormous sandbox at your disposal to uncover. What is truly incredible about this, in essence, empty open world, is that you never get bored traveling in your horse across the land to reach the next Colossus. No matter what direction you’re headed, you’ll always have amazing landscapes to gaze upon. One thing that definitely contributes to this is the environment variety: one moment you can be fighting a Colossus in a completely submerged temple and 15 minutes later you can be fighting another Colossus in the middle of a desert.

My opinion on the visual design and graphics has already been partly discussed, mainly in the previous paragraph, but I still want to bring to light a couple of truly remarkable aspects: the Colossi-related game design and the UI. Anything Colossi-related is one of the most remarkable and stand-out aspects of the game, but their design is the most apparent point. Their design is always unique, with completely new puzzles for you to master in order to bring down each Colossus. I also want to mention the UI simply for how unintrusive it is. You only have a small stamina and health bar at the bottom right corner, nothing more nothing else. This ends up working in favor of the cinematic feel the game tries to constantly evoke throughout the story.

The sound design is another superb and vital aspect to the experience. The soundtrack is the last, but not least, point responsible for the dramatic and tragic mood the game achieves. When you’re fighting a new Colossus it feels like new soundtracks play out, even if it’s not in reality, and the simple sound effects such as the moving of rubble when Colossi smash the ground or their cries of agony when stabbed, elevate the game to a whole new level.

Before the conclusion, I would also like to tackle the replayability and fun factor of Shadow of the Colossus. Even if a single playthrough can be completed in few hours (I completed my very first playthrough in 7 hours), replaying the game somehow feels like a must. I don’t know if it has to do with the uniqueness of the game or the excitement of toppling these colossal creatures, I feel compelled to go back and play the New Game + and experience this story at least one more time. Watching the Colossi get up to face you always feels hopeless but mastering their “puzzles” to topple them is easily one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had in gaming. There’s also the fact that the more you play the game and complete certain milestones, you’ll unlock in-game items such as skins, concept art and screenshot comparisons with the original game. While for some people this isn’t much, it seems like a nice way for the developers to reward players that play the game longer than the time needed to complete the game for the first time.

Finally, we arrive at the conclusion. What more can I say about this game that I haven’t said already? When you first gaze upon a new Colossus it feels hopeless to have something hundreds (or more) of times bigger than you as an opponent, but after besting them nothing feels as satisfying. It’s games like this that show how powerful video games are as medium and the kind of experiences they can provide. To finish off the review, I’ll leave you with my ultimate thoughts on the game: Shadow of the Colossus is a 13-year old game that stands the test of time and remains a true giant capable of trading punches with any other game on the market. It stands as a masterpiece, now enhanced with current technology by the geniuses at Bluepoint Games.

If you'd like to watch some gameplay, you can watch this video I recorded of my fight against the 5th Colossus, one of the most memorable fights for me.