Shadow of the Colossus

Of the three games directed by Fumito Ueda - Ico , Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian - " Shadow of the Colossus " from 2006 was the only one to achieve greater commercial success. This is not particularly amazing - the fights with giant golems definitely stimulate the mass audience's imagination more than the story of a boy and girl trying to escape from a mysterious castle or the story of friendship between a young man and an unusual animal.

Therefore, it is not surprising that it was Shadow of the Colossus , and not Ico , Sony decided to thoroughly refresh and release on PlayStation 4. The Japanese corporation did not have to look long for the task - specialized in ports and studio remasters Bluepoint Games in 2011 created a collection of the first two Team Ico games on PS3, so it was perfectly familiar with this production and knew which elements of it can be improved, and which it is better not to touch, so as not to spoil anything that makes the original extraordinary.

Every corner of the game world can hide beautiful views.

Shadow of emptiness

The eighth generation Shadow of the Colossus in content is exactly the same item we could play on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. The frugal story focuses on the fate of Wander, a young man who enters the forbidden land and makes a pact with an ancient being called Dormin. In exchange for defeating sixteen giants scattered across the land, Dormin will fulfill the young man's wish - he will resurrect his beloved Mono, who was sacrificed in a ritual. Although Dormin warns that the price to be paid will be high, Wander begins a dangerous journey through a mysterious land that has not been traversed by any man for centuries, having only a faithful horse Argo as a companion.

The game is played according to a strictly defined scheme. The main character in the temple in the center of the available area receives information about the new colossus to be knocked down, and then sets off on the back of his steed to find him. The way is shown to him by the sword, which after drawing it in a bright place gives the direction in which to go. Apart from individual animals, the whole area is deserted , so the only thing that can threaten us during the journey is the risk of confusing the road in the thicket of mountain paths or falling from too high a height. When finally Wander manages to reach the colossus, the actual fight begins, after the victory in which the hero wakes up again in the temple and everything starts from the beginning.

No side activities typical of modern games distract us from this process. The forbidden lands do not hide optional colossi, treasure chests or characters eagerly ordering us additional tasks - we are our target and huge spaces to overcome, wanderings that cannot be shortened by any fast travels. The few activities that we can perform in the meantime, such as collecting lizard tails that increase endurance, are not even signaled by the game in any way and we are able to finish the fun without knowing about them.

This emptiness of the world and repetition of actions are something extremely refreshing after contact with sandboxes encouraging to a lot of activity and intensify the feeling of loneliness and the atmosphere of mystery, which in Shadow of the Colossus turn out to be unrivaled. Although the size of the map does not seem as impressive today as it was twelve years ago, due to the fact that we do not stumble every step of the way, many open locations create an impression of space unheard of in other titles.

Only the architecture of the few ruins and the diversity of the environment that you want to explore for the pleasure of watching the views encourages you to thoroughly explore the surroundings - and I must admit that in my case it was a very effective lure. I have repeatedly made my way to reach the ruins or chasms in the distance and to enjoy the panorama of the place. Every outdoor corner or beautiful landscape is a secret in itself, and spotting it is not used to register this fact by the system of internal statistics, but to deepen our own satisfaction.

The shadow of a giant

Although the road is a very important element of the experience of Shadow of the Colossus , its goal is equally important. Reaching the colossi, usually hidden in naturally formed arenas, initiates a fight in which our agility is also important, but it seems much more important to observe the target, find its weak points and come up with a way to defeat the giant.

Each giant is a completely unique puzzle to solve. The smallest are only a few meters high, the most powerful we can barely see. We fight the majority on earth, but there are flying or flying opponents. Our goal is to climb the giant and stab him several times at a weak spot, usually located on the head (although there are exceptions from this). However, to get to the colossus, we must first create favorable conditions for this - sometimes it is enough to provoke the giant to attack, but usually this is associated with the search for more creative patents.

The shadow of four thousand

The Bluepoint Games team recreated the entire Shadow of the Colossus graphic design from scratch, thanks to which the renewed version can boast of much better quality textures of the surroundings and more detailed models of the characters or the colossi themselves . The traversed terrain has become somewhat more diverse, which is particularly noticeable each time we walk on mountain paths - now actually being winding roads, rather than a corridor with two high walls. The most noticeable difference concerns the grass, densely growing on empty glades.

What has been amazingly successful in the remaster is the reconstruction of the characteristic places of the original in new clothes. While visiting familiar locations, I had the impression that, as a matter of fact, not much changed in them - the textures became more accurate, the effects of water gained realism, and grass appeared on the ground, but otherwise it seemed to me that everything remained the old way. After firing for comparison HD version on PlayStation 3 it turned out, however, that Bluepoint Games has done much more, adding shrubs growing on ruins, filling flat walls with cracks and decorations or using lighting giving the place a more mystical character.

Shadow of control

Bluepoint Games did not interfere too much. Defeating some giants seems to be slightly more difficult, others a bit easier, but these differences are small and come to light only in direct comparison. The more noticeable - though not so much, because it mattered more - is the fact that the way the sword points the way has changed. In the original it was as effective in light as in shadow - the difference was mainly to change the color of the stream of light directing us to the colossus. This time, if we want to get a clue, we must be in a bright place, otherwise the sword will not work.

Remake offers new controls adapted to modern standards, which changes the keyboard occupancy and, above all, temper the camera's impulses, which in the original can severely hinder our lives. Currently, she still goes astray, but it does not happen so often that it poses a serious problem. The new key assignment also works well (calming down - a classic control scheme is also available) - special improvement can be felt when aiming from an arc that has ceased to be incredibly coarse.