Best Game Ever

I picked up Shadow Of The Colossus on Friday and have spent an hour or so on it.

Easily one of the best games I've played.

There are some control and camera issues, but frankly, they're nothing that you can't either manage or get used to by the end of the first fight with a colossus.

SotC is done by the same people responsible for the work of art that is Ico and it is simply gorgeous. There is a huge world to explore and it just feels alive. Birds flitter by, fog rolls past in the swamp and the sun plays on the dappled grass of the meadows. The artistry and design of the colossi and their 'arenas' is something to behold. You can check out some screenshots on the site (linked above) but you really have to see these things in motion. They are wood and stone behemoths that look like they are giant statues come to life. Moss is hanging off of them like fur and they just look ancient.

To top it off, while you're tiny in comparison and really want to kill them, there's just something so benevolent about the colossi that you feel bad when they've crumbled to dust after your half-hour battle. It's very strange. In fact, the driving emotion in the game so far seems to be lonliness and melancholy. It's definately a far cry from the cartoony worlds of Sly Cooper and Mario.

I've taken care of 5 colossi now (or is it 6?) and have at least 10-11 to go. While the first one didn't take me very long to beat, the subsequent ones are getting trickier and trickier to destroy. Just climbing the things is a mindgame in itself.

Sigh. I'm getting tired. My eloquence is on the wane and I'm not even sure what I'm trying to blather about now. I'm going to go and see if I can take out one more colossus before bed and then I'm off. Thankfully I have the next two days off to really go to town on this game!