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The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection
About this item
- ICO and Shadow of the Colossus on single PS3 Blu-ray disc remastered for HD resolution
- Five exclusive behind the scenes videos featuring the making of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus and a sneek peek at the upcoming Team Ico release, The Last Guardian
- Two dynamic XMB themes based on memorable scenes from ICO and Shadow of the Colossus
- Fully 3D compatible and Dualshock 3 wireless controller support
- Full PlayStation Network trophy support
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Product information
| ASIN | B002I0J5FG |
|---|---|
| Release date | September 27, 2011 |
| Customer Reviews |
4.8 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #35,629 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games) #639 in PlayStation 3 Games |
| Pricing | The strikethrough price is the List Price. Savings represents a discount off the List Price. |
| Product Dimensions | 5.4 x 0.6 x 6.7 inches; 1.6 Ounces |
| Binding | Video Game |
| Rated | Teen |
| Item model number | 98259 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Item Weight | 1.6 ounces |
| Manufacturer | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Date First Available | July 15, 2009 |
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Product Description
Product Description
The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection
Amazon.com
Two Award-Winning Classics Return
Remastered in HD with full stereoscopic 3D support, the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection brings together two of the most highly-acclaimed single player video games of all time into a single package, playable on PlayStation 3. Relive the magic and fall in love with these PlayStation 2 classics all over again, or discover the wonder of the two of gaming's most beloved games for the first time, now available in crisp HD resolution, 7.1 surround sound and fully stereoscopic 3D compatible. Additional features include: five exclusive behind the scenes bonus videos featuring the making of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus and a sneek peek at the upcoming Team Ico release, The Last Guardian; two dynamic XMB themes based on memorable scenes from ICO and Shadow of the Colossus; and Dualshock 3 wireless controller support.
3D platform and puzzle-solve in ICO.View larger. Battle Colossi in Shadow of the Colossus.
View larger.
ICO
Enter a world of enchantment and wonder, where once was, is nevermore. Ico, a mysterious boy, has been expelled from his village to an isolated castle. Within his confines, he begins to have eerie dreams of rescuing a young princess from the evil spirits that dwell within the fortress. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, Ico embarks on a quest to save the princess and along the way, discovers his own cryptic fate.
Key Game Features
- Embark on a heroic quest in ICO, encountering mysterious obstacles and enchanted wonders within a forgotten world
- Explore more than 30 immersive levels within large, vibrant worlds
- Solve a variety of mind-bending puzzles and overcome the evil that resides within the castle
- Deep, involving storyline that will captivate you for hours
Shadow of the Colossus
Experience a majestic journey through ancient lands on your quest to bring a girl back to life by defeating sixteen gigantic beasts. On the back of your trusty horse, explore expansive landscapes and seek out each Colossus in its own place of hiding, armed with only your wits, a sword and a bow. Each one represents a unique challenge as you attempt to find its weakness and topple it.
Key Game Features
- An artistic masterpiece developed by the critically acclaimed game developers of ICO
- Innovative gameplay combines the puzzle and action/adventure genres
- Journey across picturesque landscapes and unearth the ferocious beauty of the 16 Colossi
- Combat each Colossi with great skill and resourcefulness of a magical sword and sturdy bow and arrow
- Overcome a variety of terrain challenges placing great emphasis on pure exploration
- Travel on horseback across miles of ancient land
Additional Screenshots
A unique hero's quest.View larger. 30 immersive levels.
View larger. Overcome varied terrain.
View larger. Utilize your trusty steed.
View larger.
Videos
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1:16
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ICO / Shadow of the Colossus
Merchant Video
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ICO
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Ico is one of my favorite games of all time. It was a game I knew I would love when I played the first demo but it still caught me by surprise when I got my hands on it. It is atmospheric, emotional, and absolutely mesmerizing.
It hit me at a perfect time in my life as well. I was 16 and to be honest, I had no problem with most stories in video games even though looking back, a lot of my favorite games have offensively bad stories. Ico barely has a story, and is so much better for it.
When I put this collection on last night, a friend was asking me about what was happening in the beginning, and I explained the whole story in a very matter of fact manner. After playing through a few scenes I realized that a lot of my story was made up, because thats what it was: MY story. I had made it up as I adventured with Yorda to explain what we were doing and who the Queen was.
You can now learn a bit more of the story since this is based on the European version, Yorda's words will be translated the 2nd time through. It is still as minimalist as the rest of the game, and I was happy to finally see what she was saying while playing instead of on a Youtube video.
The gameplay is essentially a huge environmental puzzle to escape the castle safely with Yorda. The castle is absolutely stunning in the way its pathways unfold. Occasionally you will open a door and be completely floored by what its connected to. The castle is entirely traversable and slowly unlocks similar to some survival horror games(RE1 mostly), but with really good puzzles.
The combat is simplistic and attempts to invoke fear as you feel nearly helpless before getting the sword or one of the secret weapons. Its not great combat, but it really isn't a focus either and you can skip all but 5 or 6 battles. It is sure to be the reason some dislike the game(as it was at release), but they are very much missing the point in my opinion. It is not a combat heavy game by any means.
If you like Mayazaki's films, particularly Princess Mononoke, you really have to give this game a shot. It may be due to my age when they were released, but these two stories are very dear to me and feel like they could almost be in the same world. It also laid a lot of groundwork for POP:The Sands of Time, and Jordan Mechner has said as much.
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Shadow of the Colossus
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This is a much more well known game so I will keep this brief.
Shadow of the Colossus is a massive adventure game that was really ahead of its time. The titular colossi basically serve as both the levels and bosses. They are brief when done correctly, but its all about the journey, not the destination. You will spend a lot of time figuring out how to climb up and maneuver them.
It pins the combat directly to the platforming, and it feels amazing to topple these creatures. There really is nothing like it aside from the occasional copycat boss fight we've seen this gen(Castlevania: Lords of Shadow had 2 shameless ripoffs from colossi battles, all the way down to where you stabbed them).
The rest of the world is a bit barren, but its definitely a design choice, and really sticks out to those who enjoy it. When you actually do find something noteworthy, it just feels that much better. You will feel like a true explorer, and no matter how exciting it is, you will feel a slight tinge of fear every time you venture a little further than you've been(I'm really scared of heights also, and this game conveys the feeling almost too well at times). There are a few items you can hunt for, which makes exploring more interesting and productive.
The atmosphere is even more pronounced than in Ico, and the story is similarly emotional with a theme of selflessness and consequences for your every action. I do personally prefer Ico, but even I can admit Shadow is the better game. It definitely holds up better for newcomers as well, but you should play Ico first so you don't miss any connections.
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So what is in this new release to make them worth repurchasing? I don't even know where to start!
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Ico is full 1080p and 60 frames per second. The framerate was never really an issue but it is definitely welcome, and this game looks unbelievable. I really can't overstate this, for a near launch PS2 game it holds up very well. The animations are amazing, even most of the textures hold up well. It doesn't look like a PS3 game exactly, but these are definitely the best looking and most improved HD remasters we have gotten yet. I hope SH and MGS collections have this much work put into them. It is also based on the Euro version so you have New Game+,Yorda's speech is translated, a new secret weapon, a new post ending scene(short but sweet), and a 2nd player can control Yorda after the first playthrough.
Shadow gets an even bigger upgrade, as framerate was a huge problem in the original. It is now "locked 30" though it does dip to 26ish at times on a colossi. It also includes the small changes to the Euro version, such as a small slowmo scene on your killing blow to a colossus. Its resolution is not full 1080p, and upscaled it does lose some fidelity and has minor framerate issues, so it is recommended that you set your PS3 to 720p while playing this one. If you don't manually change it it will automatically go to upscaled 1080, changing the shape of the pixels making up the image. Not a huge issue by any means, but i like my games looking their best.
Shadows graphics look amazing. The only things that really stand out as dated are hair and cloth, and that is to be expected, as most hair and cloth still look really bad in games. The valleys and vistas are expansive, and always visible although there are several models with varying detail depending on how far you are from an object. Its definitely more noticeable than on PS2 but its a small price to pay for the insane level of draw distance. The only noticeable pop in i've seen is in the temple after downing a colossus. After the cutscene when you get control again, you can sometimes see assets popping in off in the distance beyond the girls resting place.
The Colossi in particular are breathtaking, and more detailed than anything else in the game by far. The slight motion blur while riding Agro is also a very nice touch and makes the visuals really pop.
The extras include developer interviews, concept and prototype videos for the original Ico on PS1 and the version we eventually got, and Nico(essentially a multiplayer version of SOTC that was more directly tied to Ico)/SOTC. There is also a dynamic theme for each game but they are cheap and terrible, and flicker constantly. They also both play in 3D but sadly i don't have a 3DTV to experience this, though I have heard they look great, one person going so far as saying Ico was his favorite game so far to play in 3D.
So there you have it, a longwinded and schizophrenic review of some of my favorite games. Just buy them and i'll stop talking, k?
***Disclaimer*** I won't go into much depth about the technical aspects of this game because frankly I consider this game to be true interactive art.
ICO:
The basic plot (no spoilers): People born with horns don't fare well with the local villagers, so young Ico is sentenced to a life of solitude in a seaside castle. Through a series of events, Ico comes upon another person in the castle by the name of Yorda, a young maiden who has much to offer our hero Ico.
Many video games in this day and age have an obligation to offer a game with high replayability, whether it is a vast RPG like Elder Scrolls or a multiplayer extravaganza like Battlefield. ICO set out to break the mold and offer one of the simplest video game experiences around. However, this minimalist approach is precisely what makes ICO a masterpiece. This game is far from perfect in terms of mechanics; the battle system is as complex as a three-hit combo, the timing and placing of jumps can be off at times, and the AI can induce facepalm moments. None of those small gripes take away from the experience of ICO because at its heart, ICO is an emotional journey.
As a derivation of surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico, the art style of this game is astonishingly beautiful. Firstly, the camera angles are distinctly cinematic, pulling back at key moments and zooming in at others to offer a movie-like feel to the scenes. The overexposure to all the living parts of the castle emphasize life itself; Yorda's radiant, angelic figure, the bright, lush greens of the grass and the trees, and even the small little birds that flitter across the stage offer respite from the ominous magnitude and shadows of the castle walls and inner sanctums. The animations practically seal the deal of visual mastery. Ico and Yorda's movements are all so believable and the simple motion of grabbing Yorda's hand becomes so heartfelt as the game progresses. Seeing Yorda stumble along after Ico makes the player aware of their own haste, but like any child, curiosity to explore the world can overcome judgment.
The audio design took a daring approach by offering as little as possible. The sound of Ico and Yorda's footsteps, the howling wind and crashing waves, the mechanical whirring of cranes, and the melody of birds chirping make up the majority of the game's soundtrack. Certain songs play during battle scenes, cutscenes, and the save menu, but other than that the non-existent soundtrack makes this experience undoubtedly personal. There is no music to distract the player and cutscenes offer very little dialogue, often times posing more questions than answers. There is only the sound of the environment directly around you. It's a testament that the very world itself can be a soundtrack for the player, that often times we just need to take a breather and really absorb the world around us.
ICO moved me in a way that no other video game has, or possibly ever will.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS:
The basic plot (no spoilers): How far would a man be willing to go to resurrect the love of his life from her eternal slumber? The enigmatic Wander steps up to this challenge, but may very well have bargained for more than he expected....
Boss battles tend to have the most impressionable and memorable moments in video games. Team Ico set out to create a game that was solely a 16-Boss-Battle-Run and birthed Shadow of the Colossus. With the same minimalistic approach from ICO, the team created a game that amplified those elements ten-fold; keep it simple in design, but complex in its structure and emotional depth.
If anything, the Colossi are the embodiment of Team Ico's philosophy. The creatures are enormous, ominous, and powerful. At the same time, they are beautiful, majestic, and vulnerable. Often times, in order to defeat a Colossus, you must use its strength or animal-like behavior against it and it is gut-wrenching to watch the grand creatures fall to their death. The camera usually grants the player a view of the Colossus's face as you deal the fatal blow and it builds a personal feeling for the beasts that is unprecedented in any video game battle.
Agro, our hero's beast of burden companion, is officially tied with Link's Epona as the most reliable horse companion that I've ever had the privilege of leading on a grand adventure. The Colossi battles that permitted Agro to join you are nothing short of spectular because Agro is not only a beautiful horse but a strong and capable one, allowing you to ride on her while standing and shooting arrows at the beasts and getting right back up when knocked over by a Colossus.
The only other game I can think of that matches Shadow's scale when it comes to enemy size is God of War III, and that pushed the PS3's hardware as it was. There are definitely some surprises along the way which I won't spoil, but every Colossus is so unique and offers its own unforgettable challenge.
BONUS MATERIAL:
Included with this bundle is a compilation of five behind-the-scenes videos including concept and making of videos of Team Ico's various works, with a special look at The Last Guardian, the team's next project. The videos offer a taste of the philosophy and design process behind the development, and there is PLENTY of praise for Ueda-san's mastery. You can decorate your XMB with two excellent dynamic themes, one from ICO and another from Shadow.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection is not for everyone -- the games are deliberately slow at times and the controls may seem clunky at various moments. There is no overarching soundtrack to groove to and no customization options for armor or weapons. Instead, these experiences rely on artistic vision, to provide an atmosphere that is unmatched in this industry. Surprising bonuses await dedicated players who journey on a second playthrough, offering good incentive to revisit these unparalleled worlds. Every self-respecting gamer (casual or core) should witness this video game compilation for themselves.










