Shadow of the Colossus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shadow of the Colossus
Studio JapanJapan Team ICO
Publisher JapanJapan Sony Computer Entertainment
Senior Developer Fumito Ueda
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 PlayStation 2 October 18, 2005October 27, 2005February 14, 2006 February16, 2006February 17, 2006 PlayStation 3 September 30, 2011 PlayStation 4 February 7, 2018
North AmericaNorth America
JapanJapan
GermanyGermany AustriaAustria
AustraliaAustralia
EuropeEurope

world

world
platform PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4
genre Action adventure
Subject Fantasy
Game mode Single player
control DualShock 2 , DualShock 3 , DualShock 4
medium PS2: DVD-ROM , PS3 / PS4: Blu-ray Disc
language German
Age rating
USK released from 12
PEGI recommended for ages 12+
Kaido Kenji (left, producer) and Fumito Ueda (chief designer)

Shadow of the Colossus ( Japaneseワ ン ダ と 巨像Wanda to kyozō , literally: Wander and the Colossus ) is a Japanese computer game from 2005 by Sony Computer Entertainment , which was released in Germany on February 14, 2006 for the PlayStation 2 . The game was developed by the same developers under Fumito Ueda who were also responsible for the ICO game .

On September 30, 2011, a revised version of Shadow of the Colossus was also released , which offers support for high definition and stereocopic 3D and is available as a bundle together with the game ICO for the PlayStation 3 .

On February 7, 2018, a remake of the original was released for the PlayStation 4 , which also supports the extended display options of the PlayStation 4 Pro and was provided with an additional photo mode and alternative controls.

action

The protagonist Wander, a lonely young man, goes on a long journey with his horse Agro to a distant land in order to save the life of a girl who has been sacrificed to her death. His goal is a temple in which a great power is said to be present that can bring the dead back to life. When he arrives at the temple, he places the girl on a shrine and prays. Suddenly dark shadow creatures emerge from the ground who want to bring Wander into the realm of shadows. He draws his sword, which unfolds unimagined powers, and can use it to chase away beings. Suddenly a dark voice speaks to him and reveals that his sword is a very special weapon. Wander would like to know immediately whether it is true that the dead can be brought back to life in this temple. The voice replies that he has the sword, which is able to develop an incredible power that can destroy everything. He must defeat 16 colossi with the sword that live scattered in this lonely land in order to be able to set free the power to bring the dead back to life. Wander immediately agrees and says that he will do anything to bring the girl back to life. The uncanny power then reveals the whereabouts of the first creature he has to conquer, and he sets out without hesitation to face his fate and save the dead girl. After the 16th colossus was defeated by Wander, he is ultimately defeated in a kind of final battle against human warriors under the direction of a priest. In the final sequence you can see Mono rising again. She finds Wander reborn as a horned baby (a reference to the horned boy Ico in the game of the same name).

Characters

  • Wander (Japanese version: ワ ン ダ [Wanda]; Speaker: Nojima Kenji):
Wander is the hero of Shadow of the Colossus. Together with his horse Agro and the lifeless body of Mono, he goes to the forbidden land of Dormin to bring Mono back from the realm of the dead. Guided by the voice of Dormin, he sets out to defeat the 16 colossi that roam the country. His only weapons are sword, bow and arrow and the will to achieve his goal. Although Wander does not know what fate awaits, he sets out on the journey and never asks questions or demands.
  • Mono (speaker: Nabatame Hitomi):
Wander brings the body of the girl Mono to the land of Dormin to bring her back to the realm of the living. The only information about her is that she was sacrificed because her life was supposedly cursed. It's not clear how she relates to Wander, but she is believed to be his lover. Whenever Wander defeats a colossus, Mono's voice can be heard. At first you can hardly hear her, but the more Colossi are defeated, the clearer and louder her voice becomes. But what exactly and in what language she speaks is unclear.
  • Agro :
Agro is a wanderer's horse and his only companion on the journey. Wander can use it to get from one place to another quickly and take part in some of the fights. You can also do a few tricks with him. Agro is also there when Wander calls them.
  • Dormin (Speaker: Nakata Kazuhiro, Speaker: Hikami Kyoko):
Dormin, who appears as light, is the only one who keeps giving Wander help and tips on his journey. It is also he who explains to him what to do to get Mono back. Dormin refers to himself as we, speaks with two voices, both a female and a male voice, with the male being more dominant, and one cannot tell whether he is inherently good or bad, light or dark. The only thing that is certain is that he is the one Wander has to trust to save Mono.
  • Lord Emon (Speaker: Bando Naoki):
    Lord Emon appears for the first time after the fight with the twelfth colossus. You can see how he goes to the forbidden land of Dormin with a small group of soldiers. After the final battle you will meet him in the temple. It turns out that he came because the holy sword was stolen from his village and the "forbidden spell" was used. After discovering that Wander is to blame for all of this, he sentences him to death. He also seems to know the real power of Dormin.

Colossi

Below is a list of the 16 colossi. Each of them represents a certain being from nature or mythology. The names are not mentioned in the game and come from the "Artbook" for "Shadow of the Colossus" published only in Japan.

right name fictional Latin name embodiment
1 Valus Minotaur Colossus Minotaur
2 Quadratus Taurus magnus Cop
3 Gaius Terrestris veritas Knight
4th Phaedra Equus bellator apex horse
5 Avion Avis praeda bird
6th Barba Belua maximus bearded giant
7th Hydrus Draco marinus Electric eel
8th Kuromori Parietinae umbra salamander
9 Bazaran Nimbus recanto turtle
10 Dirge Harena tigris Sandworm
11 Celosia Ignis excubitor tiger
12 Pelagia Permagnus pistrix Sea monsters
13 phalanx Aeris velivolus flying snake
14th Cenobia Clades candor lion
15th Argus Praesidium vigilo warrior
16 Malus Grandis supernus magician

Gameplay

The 16 colossi are the only enemies in the game that the player must seek out and defeat one after the other. He finds them through Wanders sword, the reflection of which in the sun shows him the whereabouts of the closest enemy and at the same time marks the weak points on the bodies of the enemies.

In order to achieve this, the player must observe the behavior patterns of the colossi, and they u. a. draw attention to yourself with a bow and arrow, distract them or find other ways to climb them. The character's condition and life indicators must be observed, which decrease with exertion or injury.

Only when all seals on a being have been destroyed by Wanders sword and are extinguished, the being dies in a sequence with music. After this, the protagonist is overtaken by a black essence from the body of the colossus and always finds himself in the temple of Dormin after a faint.

development

General

According to Fumito Ueda , the Director and Lead Designer of Shadow of the Colossus , the development team consciously opted for a minimalist game design that should be easily accessible for gamers.

The European version of the game comes with four postcards with motifs from the game and the DVD itself contains additional bonus material:

  • "Making-of" documentation
  • ICO trailer
  • Picture gallery

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is only available in Japan under the title 大地 の 咆哮 ( Daichi no hōkō , dt. Roar of the earth ).

Tracklist (English translation)
1. Prologue To the Ancient Land 15. Silence Battle Theme 29. Sanctuary
2. Prohibited Art 16. In Awe of the Power Battle Theme 30. Demise of the Ritual Battle Theme
3. Commandment 17. Wander's Death 31. A pursuer
4. Black Blood 18. The Farthest Land 32nd Premonition of Revival
5. Resurrection 19. Creeping Shadow Battle Theme 33. Epilogue Those Who Remain
6. Sign of the Colossus 20. A Messenger From Behind Battle Theme 34. Hope
7. Grotesque Figures Battle Theme 21. Counterattack Battle Theme 35. The Sunlit Earth
8. The Opened Way Battle Theme 22. Sky Burial a 36. Memories b
9. The End of the Battle 23. A closed-off city 37. Wilderness b
10. Idol Collapse 24. Liberated Guardian Battle Theme 38. Voice of the Earth b
11. Green Hills 25. A Despair-filled Farewell Battle Theme 39. Marshlands b
12. A Violent Encounter Battle Theme 26. Prayer 40. Anger b
13. Revived Power Battle Theme 27. Swift Horse 41. Final Battle b
14. Lakeside 28. Gate Watcher of the Castle Ruins Battle Theme 42. The Farthest Land (recapitulation) b
aTrack 22 Sky Burial can only be heard in the PAL , the European version of the game. This song will be played if you wait in the start menu. After the prologue sequence begins a second sequence in which either agro or a falcon explore the landscape. They always start where you last saved.
b Tracks 36 to 42 are bonus tracks.

reception

Awards and nominations

The website IGN awarded Shadow of the Colossus as the best for the PlayStation 2 from published video game, called it in this context, " the best example of that video games can represent art ". At the annual Game Developers Conference in 2006, the game received four awards, including Game of the Year.

  • Game Developers Choice Awards 2006
    • game of the year
    • Game design
    • Visual design
    • Character design
  • Interactive Achievement Awards 2006
    • Outstanding performance in the field of direction
    • Outstanding performance in the field of visual engineering
    • Nominated: Action / Adventure of the Year
    • Nominated: Console Game of the Year
    • Nominated: Outstanding achievements in the field of animation
    • Nominated: Outstanding achievements in the field of gaming
    • Nominated: Game of the Year
  • Saturn Award 2006
    • Nominated: Best Fantasy Video Game

In 2011, Shadow of the Colossus was voted one of the 80 games the Smithsonian American Art Museum presented in its exhibition The Art of Video Games following a public vote . It is representative of the artistic design of action games for the PlayStation 2.

In other media

Shadow of the Colossus also plays a significant role in Mike Binder's 2007 film drama Love in Me . Charlie Fineman (played by Adam Sandler ), deeply disturbed after the tragic loss of his family and cut off from the world, flees from the painful one Memory of his loss in the melancholy and loneliness of the wide game world. The fight against the mighty colossi may be understood as his inner struggle with unbearable grief, but the game is not the focus of the film.

filming

A film adaptation of the video game has been in progress in the USA for several years. The well-known US producer Kevin Misher is responsible for this . In May 2012 Josh Trank was officially confirmed as director of the film adaptation and in January 2013, Seth Lochhead, the scriptwriter of the project, was introduced. Nothing is known about the actors and a possible start date at the moment.

Remake (2018)

Shadow of the Colossus
Studio United StatesUnited StatesBluepoint Games YOU Japan Studio
JapanJapan
Publisher JapanJapan Sony Interactive Entertainment
Senior Developer Fumito Ueda
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 world February 7, 2018
platform PlayStation 4
genre Action adventure
Game mode Single player
control DualShock 4
medium Download , Blu-ray
Age rating
USK released from 12
PEGI recommended for ages 12 and up

On February 7, 2018, a remake of the original game was released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 . The American studio Bluepoint Games , which developed the HD remaster of Shadow of the Colossus back in 2011 , was commissioned with the revision again. According to Art Director Mark Skelton, the graphics have been completely overhauled and comprehensively adapted to the technical possibilities of the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 4 Pro . The plot, the number and type of colossi as well as the gameplay remained untouched in order to be able to offer the player the unchanged experience of the original.

Innovations

In addition to the general visual upgrade, in which all graphic elements have been completely redesigned, some technical changes have been made.

PlayStation 4 Pro support

The PlayStation 4 offers full HD resolution with 1080p and a refresh rate of 30 frames / second. The more powerful PlayStation 4 Pro has, on the one hand, a so-called cinema mode, in which the resolution in 4K is possible at 30 frames / second, or, on the other hand, a performance mode with 1080p resolution and 60 frames / second. The cinema mode does not offer real 4K, but an actual resolution of 1440p, which is extrapolated to 4K. Additional anti-aliasing also ensures an improved image.

Photo mode

The remake has a newly added photo mode in which the player can take pictures of the surroundings and the colossi from the perspective of the hiker or his horse Agro. The virtual camera can be rotated 90 degrees in any direction and the photos can be provided with filters using the editing program integrated in the game and options such as depth of field or color matching can be individually changed.

control

It is optionally possible for the player to change the key assignment of the original in order to carry out important actions such as climbing, jumping or hitting. This may have the advantage for newcomers that the frequently used evasive role can no longer be triggered by pressing two buttons at the same time, but only with one button. The touchpad of the DualShock 4 controller is also supported, with which the map of the area is called up.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ playstation.com
  2. ↑ ワ ン ダ と 巨像 公式 攻略 & 設定 本 古 え の 地 綺 譚 January 2006, ISBN 4-7577-2580-9 (Japanese)
  3. ↑ Shadow of the Colossus: Special from 4players.de 4players.de
  4. ↑ The Top 100 Playstation 2 Games. In: IGN . Archived from the original on January 2, 2011 ; accessed on October 20, 2013 .
  5. ^ Colossus casts shadow over GDC Awards. (No longer available online.) In: GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009 ; accessed on December 25, 2015 .
  6. ^ The Art of Video Games Voting Result. (pdf; 1.0 MB) Smithsonian Institution , May 5, 2011, accessed May 5, 2011 .
  7. ^ Kris Graft: Smithsonian Art Exhibit Recognizes Games From Pac-Man To Heavy Rain. In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc, May 5, 2011, accessed March 8, 2012 .
  8. ↑ kotaku.com
  9. ↑ http://bluepointgames.com/ Website of the development studio Bluepoint Games
  10. ↑ https://blog.de.playstation.com/2018/01/26/wie-shadow-of-the-colossus-auf-ps4-verbessert-wurde/ How Shadow of the Colossus was improved on the PS4
  11. ↑ http://www.4players.de/4players.php/spielinfonews/Allgemein/2820/2172666/Shadow_of_the_Colossus-Hinter_den_Kulissen_der_Remake-Entwick_bei_Bluepoint_Games.html Behind the scenes of the Shadow of the Colossus remake
  12. ↑ Shadow of the Colossus: PS4 Pro Enhancements, Special Edition Revealed on PlayStation Blog
  13. ↑ https://sumikai.com/game-news/playstation-4/shadow-of-the-colossus-remake-erstes-15-minuten-gameplayvideo-veroeffentlicht-210375/ Shadow of the Colossus Remake Cinema and performance mode
  14. ↑ Marcel Kleffmann: Shadow of the Colossus - frame rate and resolution on PS4 and PS4 Pro. In: 4Players.de . 4Players GmbH, January 30, 2018, accessed on May 28, 2018 .
  15. ↑ https://blog.de.playstation.com/2018/01/16/bluepoint-games-sehen-den-unlaublichen-fotomodus-von-shadow-of-the-colossus/ The photo mode of Shadow of the Colossus Remake
  16. ↑ blog.de.playstation.com