Shadow Of The Colossus
A colossal Achievement
If you’ve followed
Retro Gamer for a long time, you’ll know we have a great deal of respect for Bluepoint Games.
The studio has always done a fantastic job with the creation of HD remasters of past games, carefully recreating lowresolution assets to better suit modern displays while maintaining the original appearance of each game. However, Shadow Of The Colossus marks a first for the studio – instead of reworking the existing game for new hardware, it has been tasked with building a full remake of one of the most beloved games of all time. Needless to say, we had some worries about whether the studio had finally met an insurmountable task.
The good news is that our worries were unfounded. We took out the Playstation 2 and directly compared the games, and can say with confidence that while the remake does contain slight deviations from the original which purists may not enjoy, the developers have done a fantastic job of updating the game while preserving its essential aspects.
If you’re not familiar with Shadow Of The Colossus, the basic tale is as follows: Wander has brought Mono to a temple known as the Shrine Of Worship, with the goal of resurrecting her after she was sacrificed. An entity named Dormin offers to do this, but only in exchange for defeating the 16 colossi that inhabit the land surrounding the temple. Together with his horse Agro, Wander sets out to slay the grand creatures and honour his end of the bargain.
Visually, the PS4 version of Shadow Of The Colossus does nothing to betray its origins as a game from over a decade ago. Every piece of terrain, every colossus and every effect has been recreated from scratch, and the result is one of the most beautiful games of the generation. On a technical level, the game maintains a solid 30fps update, comfortably free of the kinds of frame skipping issues which could at times sully the experience in the original Playstation 2 version.
The graphical presentation is also the area in which you’ll notice the most changes. The PS2 original had a very distinct look, featuring very muted colours and barren landscapes that emphasised Wander’s solitude. While the feeling of loneliness persists in the PS4 game due to the empty environments, we now see more signs of life – there are flowers and colours that had simply never been present in the past. Likewise, the overwhelming light effects of the original have been toned down considerably. You can tweak the game’s colour filters to achieve an effect much closer to the original, but these slight artistic alterations may bug purists.
Finding a colossus and strategising to ensure its demise is as satisfying as it ever was, even though it still feels cruel to destroy such majestic creatures. Each essentially acts as a self-contained boss fight, with the body of the colossus acting as both target and battlefield. Take the second colossus as an example – you must first fire an arrow into the foot of the four-legged beast to bring it to its knees, then climb its leg to stab weak points at its front and rear, periodically clinging onto something safe as it tries to shake you off.
This aspect of the game has also seen improvements, although they’re so minor that you’re unlikely to notice unless comparing the original and remake side by side. The control scheme has been revised to more closely represent current conventions – no more two-button dodge roll – though you can revert to the original control scheme if you so desire. Overall control responsiveness has also been significantly improved, to the point that you can feel a difference between the two versions when engaged in tricky climbing scenarios.
Shadow Of The Colossus was a masterpiece in 2005, and the fundamentals of the game remain brilliant. We’d hoped for a remake that would live up to the original, and it’s hard to remember one as carefully considered and respectful as this. Purists might decry the various changes and claim that the PS2 game with a facelift would have been fine. But that project already existed, in the form of Bluepoint’s excellent PS3 remaster of Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus. But that was the equivalent of upgrading from a VHS copy of a film to DVD. What’s on offer here is akin to having all the sets rebuilt, every shot retaken, and every role recast.
So, if you can’t stand the thought of a proper remake, no matter how reverential, this isn’t the game for you. For everyone else, it’s pretty much essential – one of the best games ever has been remade, in a way that highlights the strengths of the original while removing the very few defects it ever had. Fans will see a favourite in a whole new light, and newcomers will get to experience a truly classic game without the detrimental effects of outdated graphical technology. In both cases, it is an incredible experience and one not to be missed.
In a nutshell
Shadow Of The Colossus was already one of the best games ever, and this stunning remake will bring it to a whole new generation. The fact that it’s launching at a mid-range price is the icing on the cake.