Review - Shadow of the Colossus 3D

Seeing as the game has already been out for more than six years, I won't be doing a standard review. Instead I will be focusing on how the 3D is implemented in the re-released HD-Version for the PS3.

I can't ignore everything else and not talk about the game, though. So I'll start with two short paragraphs on the more standard stuff and then talk about 3D.

The game starts with some quite extensive intro cinematics. I have to admit, after sitting through those minutes of having nothing to do, I started to think about if this was my kind of game. I had read a great many extremely praising reviews and had wanted to try it out for a really long time. The only thing that kept me from playing it when it came out for the PS3 last september was that my gaming-schedule was completely full. But in those first minutes I kind of feared that it would be too much of an eastern RPG-kind of game for me. Somehow I never really acquired a taste for those. "Read On" to find out how fast my fears vanished.

The doubts were unfounded. Which doesn't mean that the character you play doesn't look like a little kid. But it doesn't matter. For me at least. When I finally was allowed to climb my horse and ride out into the open, find my first colossus and defeat the guy, my worries were completely gone. As I don't want to go into the 3D aspect just yet, all I will say is this: After the roughly 30 minutes that I played until my first giant lay on the ground, I recognized that I had completely faded out of the real world. I was so immersed in figuring out how to defeat him, that when the battle was over and he crashed onto the floor it felt like waking up from a dream.

But let's talk about 3D now:

I bought a LG 47LK950S in January. I am currently doing an internship and don't earn that much money. But I had thought about buying a 3D TV or Beamer for over a year. I had saved some money. And when an Amazon Warehouse Deal enabled me to get a 47 inch 3D TV with polarized technology for under 600€, I made the purchase. Although I had read that this TV sometimes suffers from input lag, I haven't ecountered it yet. For me it just works fine.

Shadow of the Colossus is the first game that I played in 3D. Because of this, I unfortunately don't really have something to compare it to (except movies).

What I recognized first was that this game really is predestined for this technology. There are huge (and I mean huge!) open spaces, breathtaking scenery and the camera seems to move in a way that always shows the world in the most impressive way. You already get that in the intro sequence I wrote about, but it stays like this throughout the game.

I changed from 3D to 2D multiple times in order to figure out if the depth of the 3D image is only a nice-to-have gimmick or if it really adds something to the game. In my opinion, it definitely adds something. Playing in 2D left me feeling like I was missing out on a central aspect of the game. It is still beautiful in 2D, but I can't imagine anyone denying that the 3D does make the game even more impressive after seeing the 3D version.

If only this was true throughout the whole game. Unfortunately when it comes to fighting the colossi, the 3D wasn't that clearly beneficial anymore. This already shows in the slightly eye-hurting presentation of the hero and his horse. The small and fragile things just don't seem to work as well as the landscape. And although the colossi are everything but small or fragile, they are rich in detail. Those details also don't work that well in 3D.

It's not too bad, though. My eyes didn't hurt like they did when I watched a shitty 3D Video on YouTube. I still didn't switch to 2D because of it. But it isn't as clearly an advantage here as it is while riding through the windy plains. What adds to that is the kind of concentration the fights with the colossi demand. When you need to focus in that way a slightly off 3D effect just isn't what you want to deal with.

What also needs to be mentioned is that I didn't encounter any pop-out effects. I hadn't expected to, but as this effect was one of the things that led to me being a 3D recruit it needs to be said.

Seeing as the fights are the central aspect of the game one could argue that the 3D doesn't deliver. However, in my opinion it does. The breathtaking experience that is riding through the scenery can't be stressed enough. And everyone who doesn't want to deal with the problems that occur during the fights can simply turn the 3D off with a few button presses.

I recommend this game for everyone who owns a PS3. I recommend it even more for those who also own a 3D TV. You won't get any other game that is this awesome and supports 3D for that low a price.

What do you think? Have you played it in 3D? Was your experience different from mine?