Shadow of the Colossus

1001 Video Games

The PS2 version of Shadow of the Colossus appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Character

Throughout the game, the main character's appearance continually gets worse from the physical and mental strain of fighting the colossi and from the strain of the dark spirits possessing him. His hair and clothes will gradually get dirtier, and his clothes will eventually tear in numerous places. Also, his face will scar and get paler as the game continues.

Demake

In September 2008 the game was "demade" for the TIGSource Bootleg Demakes competition as Hold me closer, Giant Dancer.

Development

Shadow of the Colossus is known for pushing the PS2 hardware to its limits. For example, SotC features fake HDR (High Dynamic Range) rendering, even though the PS2 hardware doesn't really support HDR.

Another example for this is the the "fur shader" - the colossi are very hairy and are the fur is rendered quite convincingly. The fur also features some simulated anisotropic lighting, giving the fur realistic highlights. Again, the common way to achieve this is not possible on the PS2, but the game developers managed to approximate this.

The game features many other technological achievements. Some are visible such as self-shadowing, and some are behind the scenes, such as the complex memory management system that allows for the huge game world without loading time or memory fragmentation.

Further details can be found in The Making of "Shadow of the Colossus" (5 MB pdf), which includes explanations from the game's developers, and in an analysis by Jonathan Cooper

Extras

The PAL release comes in a cardboard packaging containing four unique postcards with art work depicting moments from the game. It also includes camera interviews with artistic partners and creative directors Fumito Ueda and Kenjj Kaido to get a look behind the scenes, an image gallery with concept sketches and in-game stills, and the original game trailer to ICO.

References

Various philosophical elements are present in the game. For instance, Dormin is reminiscent of the biblical character Nimrod. Nimrod is a biblical king credited for the creation of the Tower of Babel, whose purpose was to build a stairway into the heavens. Before its completion, the builders tongues are mixed up into different languages (which, according to the Bible, justifies the many languages of the Earth). As well, the Tower of Babel is said to be one of the tallest structures on the Earth, and could be seen from all parts of the Earth.

The shrine of worship is completely symbolic of the Tower of Babel. Dormin is meant to represent Nimrod, the builder of the shrine, and if one notices closely, Dormin is an exact anagram of Nimrod. As well, through a secret method the character is able to climb the tower and reach a paradise, symbolic of a Heaven or other after-life paradise (notice that in the story, Mono and Wander are only able to climb to the top of the tower once they are free of Dormin, who represents Sin and evil). The tower is obviously the hugest structure on the map, and can be seen from all parts of the map (if the view is not obstructed) As well, before Dormin can ascend to total power (as if ascending into Heaven), he is split up into 16 parts, thus completing the image of the builders being divided by their changed languages.

References to the game

• The basic premise of this game (enormous monsters with light-up self-destruct buttons) is riffed on in a Penny Arcade webcomic strip dated October 21st, 2005.
• Shadow of the Colossus is referenced in the movie Reign over Me (2007) where actor Adam Sandler is addicted to it.

Savegame import

If the player has a saved game from ICO on the memory card in slot 1, Aggro's diamond shaped mark on his head will be replaced with the logo for ICO; a horn/tooth-like shape.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2006 – Best Game of the Year
  • 2006 – Best PlayStation 2 Game of the Year
  • 2006 – Best Action-Adventure of the Year
  • 2006 – Most Impressive Boss of the Year (for Colossus 16)
  • 2006 – Best Original Soundtrack of the Year
• Electronic Gaming Monthly
  • February 2006 - #192 out of 200 on the "Greatest Games of Their Time" list
• GameSpy
  • 2005 – #5 PS2 Game of the Year

Information also contributed by Big John WV, Christian Moleman, hribek, Indra was here, Mickey Gabel, Pseudo_Intellectual, Robstein and Sciere