ET15 ASSIGNMENT 01: Game Level Critique 

 

Game:  Shadow of the Colossus

Level: Introduction Scene and first level

Setting:  In a expansive, cinematic, nature-looking environment, with various topographic features such as rock cliffs, deep valleys, vast meadows , and sandy plains.  The landscape is dotted with remnants and building artifacts from past eras that have long been abandoned.  This land is simply referred to as the Forbidden Land and it is beautifully rendered in muted colored tones and coupled with a majestic, dramatic yet somber sound track - perfect setting for the long intro of the protagonist, a lone young man named Wander, with a determined, serious, and sobering expression.

Event:  Wander rides in the vast landscape on the back of his sole companion - a horse named Argo -  carrying a dead maiden and must defeat 16 massive mystical creatures to resurrect the dead maiden.  Armed only with a sword and a bow.  There are no other character to interact with, no weapon upgrade to gather, and no intermediate enemies to defeat.  The essence of the game is purely condensed to finding and defeating of the 16 colossi - each with its own unique appearances, locomotion, and weakness, and all massive in compared to the player character.   To find these colossi, Wander uses the light reflected off his raised sword to guide his way around the vase scenery.

Mechanics:  The game player as Wander, has no supernatural abilities and no extraordinary strength nor can leap great distances, except perhaps the fortitude of not getting killed when taking a fall from great heights, and bravery in character facing such massive foes that seem impossibly large to defeat.   With only basic, and typical 3D player movements, such as leaping, grasping, running, climbing, stabbing, the player must evade the attack of the colossi and find the weak spots of each of the colossus by scaling them.

The initial shock of confronting with the extraordinary size of the colossi and the subsequent discovery by the player that by grid and determination, seeming impossible feat can be accomplished.  The drama of  struggle against the odds is in tuned with the basic human condition and emotions, as illustrated by various classic tales, most famously that of David and Goliath.  It is this universal connection to intrinsic basic human drive to overcome that makes the game action so emotionally charged and appealing.