Shadow of the Colossus review: A Wanderfull remake

Shadow of the Colossus’ 4K remake makes tweaks in all the right areas while leaving the original gameplay intact.

Developer: Bluepoint Games (Originally SIE Japan & Team Ico)
Publisher: Sony
Platform: PS4
Release Date: February 6, 2018

There will always be a dose of skepticism surrounding remakes, and it may be deserved. Nostalgia-based cash grabs aren’t unheard of, and gamers often ask if another version is really necessary. That’s especially true for Bluepoint Games. The indie developer has already added its touch to Shadow of the Colossus once, crafting a PS3 remaster that’s inarguably better than the original PS2 release. The full weight of fan’s scrutiny is on the company as it tries to bring that distinct touch one more time, and in many ways, it has.

If you were to glance at the screen, you’d only partially recognize the classic. The structures are the same, story is familiar, but it’s lost some of the style amidst its new sheen. The visuals don’t match, losing much of the faded, minimal feel, and presenting a strange-looking protagonist.

But that didn’t feel like a bad thing. In their initial release, Team Ico pushed the boundaries of technology, and Bluepoint has done that in a different way. They used a physically-based rendering system and advanced data streaming to deliver a game that doesn’t just look good in comparison; it’s one of the best-looking games on PS4, and it runs without a hitch.

Shadow of the Colossus was never just about killing hulking giants. The love for it came just as much from its vast, beautiful world as it did anything else. Players were driven to explore, to soak in the detail, and that drive is still undoubtedly there. As you ride through gorges on Argo, you can’t help but stare up in wonder, feeling like a tiny speck amongst the grand cliffs. Bluepoint has recreated elements with unparalleled dedication, but it’s also added its own touches. Each tree, piece of flora, and rock was placed manually by the team’s artists, to great effect.

The game contains over 11,000 trees, with the Shrine of Worship alone holding more detail than the entire PS2 game. It can all be captured by the in-game photo mode, which offers a surprising amount of editing tools, including exposure, contrast, FoV, and saturation.

The game still doesn’t play fluidly, but that’s part of the point. Team Ico wanted it to feel heavy.

But though graphics are an essential part of any remake, they aren’t enough alone. Bluepoint needs to live up to the rosy view with which gamers remember it, not the slightly clunky reality. As such, there have been serious modifications to the controls.

Rather than pressing R1 to cling to Colossi, you can use it to draw your bow, meaning no more cycling through weapons. You speed up your horse using triangle rather than X, giving easy access the jump button (now X) to leap off. This also means you can press triangle and R1 to ride and hold your sword up, which is much easier than X and circle.

The game still doesn’t play fluidly, but that’s part of the point. Team Ico wanted it to feel heavy. What Bluepoint has done is remove some of the annoyance. When you die, it will be fair, not because you struggled to reach several buttons at once. If you prefer the classic scheme, you can go back to that at any time, or even use a modified version of the new controls.

Aside from some mysterious new collectibles, the gameplay is unchanged. While there are fluid new animations and immersive audio, it’s still built on the original’s core code. Colossi will act the same, with clever weak points and behavior. Likewise, the story is still of Wander trying to revive a young maiden, no matter the cost.

There are still some minor tweaks, though, mostly in the form of bug fixes. The third Colossus on PS3 would shake far too much, creating a sharp spike in difficulty that was never intended. In this version, it’s still a challenge, but it doesn’t make you want to punch the TV. Similar changes lie across the game, lightly perfecting the original code.

In some ways, though, it feels like Bluepoint could have done more. The game’s camera, for example, still causes problems. Its constant wish to re-center itself does keep the world in perspective, but can cause motion sickness if you try to adjust it to your liking.

The original criticisms of the game are also still there. There’s no denying that the game is repetitive, simply leading you one Colossus to another as you discover their weak points. The experience is what the player makes of it, not one that’s dictated by objective markers. That’s furthered by the lack of a progression system, which may feel unfulfilling to newcomers.

More app trigger: 10 PlayStation games that deserve a remaster

However, without those quirks, it wouldn’t be the game players fell in love with a decade ago. The game’s difference to modern ones is what keeps it so popular. The remake is a delicate balancing act of old and new, and Bluepoint Games is something of an acrobat, toeing the line imperfectly, but with considerable grace.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.