dan’s will

Liz and I had nothing to do last weekend, and we both weren’t feeling that well (didn’t feel like going outside or anything). So, I bought Shadows of the Colossus, which had just gone into the bargain bin (19.99). It is awesome with all the next generation coming out (xbox36 and the wii and ps3 soon) all of the older games are going down in price rapidly (we also got a new DDR game for $15!).

Anyways, this game, Shadows of the Colossus, is friggin amazing.  During the game you search for and take down these monstrous things. There isn’t much story. You start off with your girl dead, and you journy to this weird land, a land where the dead can be brought back to life. A voice booms down and tells you that if you destroy the 16 huge creatures, this will be done. So you set off and search for and kill them, one by one.

It’s an extremely selfish quest. And this tone develops with the game. You ride accross vast expanses of this beautiful and desolate landscape, and then a you find a huge creature. The creatures aren’t particularly hostile: they usually ignore you or look at you curiously–until you begin to harm them. 

And harming them is no easy task. They tower like 50 feet above you. You have to climb up them, grab onto hair, use pieces of the landscape, and so on. The game is actually more of a puzzle game (figuring out how to take them down) than an action game. When you finally stab them enough in their vital spots (on top of the head or neck or somewhere), they come crashing down. It’s almost sad, each time, to see such a huge beast fall and to hear it moan.

The Colossus’ are all very different. One is like a leviathon swimming in the water, a couple are four legged beasts, another is a worm in the sand, another is a bird in the air,…. And the music orchestrated for the battles is amazing. You feel like you are in the middle of an epic movie while playing. This is the game that makes you ask why more games can’t be made at this high of a quality. Sort of like those great movies that rarely come out.

So, since we both didn’t feel like doing much of anything last Sunday, Liz and I played this game all day long. We took a break only to make a real good dinner (Red Snapper cooked on a bed of onions and red peppers). Which reminds me, I was going to post about how Liz and I are making a new hobby out of finding good recipes and cooking delicious meals … but these huge colossus’ (is Colussi the plural?)seemed more interesting.