STACK #160 Feb 2018

GAMES FEATURE

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Not many games have been remade for three straight console generations. SIE Japan Studio andTeam Ico’s Shadow of the Colossus is on its third run, and doesn’t seem to be slowing down.We recently sat down for some hands-on with it. F irst released on the PlayStation 2 in 2005 (2006 in PAL regions), Shadow of the Colossus (SotC) was a cult hit. Dormin will resurrect the girl. Of course, our wandering little adventurer and focus – to a game that would otherwise feel relatively easy. While climbing, your 'grip meter' will elapse if you attempt to climb for too long without taking a break. It's prudent Words Alesha Kolbe

willingly obliges, and sets out into the wilderness with nothing but his horse for company, his sword, and a bow and arrow. The first Colossus encounter plays out a lot like a tutorial – you are taught to ride and call Agro, shoot arrows, and even how to use your sword to light the way to the next location. That’s really the gist of it – there is very little hand-holding in the game , but working it all out is half the fun. The most important mechanic of SotC is the grip. Unlike in other games, you’ll have to manually hold down the R2 button in order to hang off surfaces or climb walls; let go and so will Wander. It adds an extra level of skill –

Gamers and critics sang its praises, but it wasn’t breaking any records as far as sales were concerned. SotC is an action-adventure game full of boss battles. You are Wander, a young boy whose ‘friend’ Mono has recently passed away. He journeys to the Forbidden Lands with his trusty steed Agro in the hope of finding a way to resurrect her. What he does find is a daunting, disembodied voice that goes by the name of Dormin. He sees Wander’s predicament and offers him a solution; if he can kill the 16 Colossi that roam the Forbidden Lands,

to keep an eye on it at all times; if you’re caught unawares it can sometimes mean a catastrophic fall. The Colossi themselves are dotted throughout the expansive – and beautiful – open world, but they’ll only appear in the order you’re meant to fight them; there’s no chance of running into one on your way to somewhere else. As a matter of fact, the Colossi are basically the only other living creatures inhabiting the Forbidden Lands, bar a few butterflies, and lizards that you can kill for extra grip meter.

Shadow of the Colossus contains only 1016 words of dialogue.

It features heavily in the Adam Sandler film Reign Over Me .

There have been rumours of a movie being in the works for a few years now, with the project constantly changing directors due to scheduling clashes or the classic ‘creative differences’.

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FEBRUARY 2018