I got a chance to play a demo of this upcoming title from the makers of ICO, and I can sum it up in one made-up word: BLAZOW! If I had to use one real word to describe it, I’d use “epic”. The proportions of everything in this game can be described as epic, from the massive temple where you begin, to the titular colossi you must slay.

As mentioned, you start off in a cavernous stone temple, with some girl lying on a stone slab. I don’t remember who she is or why she’s sleeping, mostly because during the intro I was having my first Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, and was mesmerized by its smooth taste (endorsement. give us money now please). In this temple it’s just you, sleepy girl, and your trusty steed. You climb upon your steed and race out of the temple to a wide open landscape. You spur your horse and race across an open field, recalling moments from Ocarina of Time.

A cool atmospheric trick employed is the camera position when you are riding your horse. It’s not the typical 3rd person camera view, but more of a cinematic style that place you and the horse in the bottom right corner of the screen. It works well.

After racing across the plain you come to a sort of cliff, where you must abandon your horse and scale the obstacle. Shadow of the Colossus uses a neat “grip strength” meter to indicate your… well… grip strength. A pink circle appears whenever you are hanging by your hands. Slowly, the circle grows smaller, and when it’s gone, you fall. Anyway, you climb various ledges and make little jumps to get to the top of this cliff.

When you get there, an in-game cinematic takes over. Rumbling bass steps are heard, and a giant leg passes your point of view. You see a stone minotaur 10 stories high lumber past you. This is where things get cool.

Holding down the L1 button allows you to “gaze at the Colossus”. Basically, it just fixes the camera on the beast as you run around it. The resulting camera view is highly effective in conveying the sheer size of this thing compared to you.

You have both a sword and a bow and arrow as weapons, and let me tell you, there’s something satisfying about shooting a single arrow at a stone monster the size of a skyscraper, and shouting “I’ve slain the beast” in a nasally wimp tone.

Anyway, you run around the Colossus for a while wondering what to do, when you see a patch of fur on the back of his left leg (I’m assuming male gender here; bear with me). Getting close to his feet is a challenge in and of itself, as every step he takes smashes and buckles the stone ground, sending rubble (and sometimes you) flying through the air. As you make the leap onto the back of his calf, you grab on to the fur and hang on for dear life. The Colossus isn’t dumb. He knows something with a sword is trying to climb him, so he lifts his leg and tries to shake you off.

In most games while holding on to a moving colossus, your character model would either remain static or go to a default “hanging from something” animation that would simply loop until you were no longer hanging. In SotC, there’s a fluid, dynamic feel to the animation. Your character model will swing and scramble depending on how the surface he’s clinging to is moving.

After scrambling up the thigh of the beast, you can raise your sword and plunge it into its calf, causing a fountain of black Colossus blood to spray out like a tapped hydrant. You do this a few more times and it will bring the beast to its knees, giving you a small window of opportunity to climb the back of its thigh to a conveniently-placed balcony at the small of its back.

Keep in mind, that your “grip strength” bubble is decreasing the entire time you’re climbing this thing. It really adds a sense of urgency and desperation to your task.

As you climb its back fur to the top of the Colossus, birds start flying by giving you a true sense of how high in the air you really are. On the top of the beast’s head is its “weak spot” which you plunge your sword into, causing another fountain of blood. At this point, The Colossus is pissed enough to really start shaking you off. As you hold on for dear life, you stab its weak spot until it can take no more. The giant beast crashes to the ground like a collapsing silo, and you claim victory.

The sound is excellent, mixing the booming bass of the Colossus and the ambient sounds of nature. The visuals are also delightful, from the washed out colors, to the realistic blur effect that happens when you rotate the camera quickly. Game play is fun, fluid and intuitive. It looks like Shadow of the Colossus will follow in ICO’s footsteps nicely.