Port/remaster veteran Bluepoint Games has been tasked with recreating perhaps one of the most important games to come from the 2000s in Shadow of Colossus (2018). In Shadow of Colossus you play Wonder, a young hero looking to revive the love of his life Mono, after she was sacrificed in a ritual. Armed with a magic sword and his trusty steed Argo by his side, he is tasked to destroy the sixteen Colossi in a bargain to bring Mono back at a hefty price.

Shadow of the Colossus is a 2018 remake of the 2005 game of the same name, it is produced by Bluepoint Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Editor’s Note: Due to the nature of this game being a remake it will be reviewed as a first time playthrough. No review code or copy was provided by Sony.

Battle Colossi once more in a from the ground up 4K remake.

Acting as a prequel to fan-favorite game Ico; Shadow of Colossus holds a special place in the hearts of Team Ico fans just as it’s predecessor did. In Shadow of Colossus, you play as Wonder who battles a gauntlet of sixteen monsters which are essentially bosses. You must target their weak points with your sword and attack them upon climbing the beasts. The sixteen behemoth are spread across a large world map which you travel on horseback using Wonder’s steed Argo.

One of the most beautiful remakes to have ever existed.

THE GOOD: Shadow of the Colossus, like most of producer Fumiko Ueda’s titles is an emotional, story-driven action games that has players consistently guessing who the true monster is. Is it lead character Wonder, Dormin, or the Colossi? There is no English language in the game, opting instead to use original in-game language similarly to Ico. However, the game does feature subtitles at the very least. If you’ve played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, then you’ll feel right at home with Shadow of the Colossus’ climbing mechanic. While most of the time you’ll be climbing the Colossi, you will eventually need to climb certain monuments and what not to actually get to them. There’s also shrines and other special items to help aide Wonder, such as giving him more health.

Who is the true evil?

One thing in particular that I appreciate of Shadow of the Colossus, is it’s ability to make each boss feel both unique and familiar. In design and atmosphere each of the sixteen Colossi look the same, but have some distinct differences between them outside of the obvious and because of this not every boss fight feels the same. It makes every one of them have their own sort of prescence about one another. The OST features songs with an orchestral like sound that compliment each battle and all of the scenery.

Shadow of the Colossus is every bit of the classic it was in 2005 even with an HD remaster having already been released.

THE BAD: Argo is still one of the worst companions in gaming, even with being reworked from the ground up there’s still some issues controlling her. I don’t know if this is supposed to be in reference to realism or not, but something about her control is just awful outside of the general experience of riding horseback throughout the game world. Frame rate issues are still a bother even when playing in 4K on Playstation 4 Pro.

While some problems with the remake still remain even with being built specifically for newer hardware, it remains a timeless classic.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Shadow of the Colossus 2018 is just as good if not better than the original version, and certainly steps above it’s 2011 counterpart. It’s a shame that the small problems just can’t seem to be worked around, but they’re extremely minor annoyances. Newer players who never got to experience either of the previous versions are in for a real treat.