Shadow of the Colossus is a majestic journey through ancient lands to seek out and destroy gigantic mythical beasts. With your trusty horse at your side, explore the spacious lands and unearth each Colossi. Armed with your wits, a sword and a bow, use cunning and strategy to topple each behemoth.

From the original developers of the critically acclaimed ICO™, comes a masterpiece of an adventure.

NCS Game Notes
* Sony packaged Shadow of the Colossus in non-standard PS2 shrinkwrap. The shrinkwrap is ugly and messy but all 200 copies that we brought in this week are in the same shrink wrap.

* The intro to the game shows a hawk flying through a mountainous expanse before passing a rider on a horse. The rider leaps across a chasm and continues on his way. Eventually they reach a lake and the rain starts falling. As the horse drinks and shakes off water and they continue again, passing through green fields until they reach a mighty structure amidst the greenery. Rider makes his way to the top and eventually crosses a bridge to reach a castle.

* Upon starting the game, the intro cinema continues and the rider reaches the castle. The gate rises and the horse neighs its disapproval but the rider urges on into the darkness while the gate closes behind them. After entering a chamber, we see that it reaches several leagues below in a conical shaped structure. Hero makes his way deeper into the castle until he reaches a room where sunlight filters down. Stone creatures line the walls.

* The rider dismounts in the room and carries a dead girl up a flight of stairs and places her into a stone bed of sorts with a big structure hanging over it. Rider pulls off the cloak covering the girl and a voice over introduction begins to tell the story of the game...

* As the boy stands there watching the girl, shadowy shapes rise from the stone floor and hero unsheaths his sword. The shadowy creatures seem to frolic. Hero points sword at them and they dissipate.

* A booming voice echoes through the halls. It's Dormin. Dormin controls the souls of the dead. Hero wants his help to bring the sacrificed girl back from the dead. Dormin tells hero that the Ancient Sword he carries can be used to bring the girl back but asks that he destroy the idols on the side of the wall. But the idols can't be destroyed by a mere mortal. Dormin tells him that in the land, there are colossi that are the incarnations of the idols. If he defeats the colossi, the idols will fall. Hero accepts the mission.

* Guiding a horse with the Dual Shock thumbpad takes a little of practice but mastery can be achieved after a few minutes of turning and goading it to gallop with the "X" button.

* As the horse thunders along, little tremors may be felt through the Dual Shock rumble. The horse's breath may also be heard as it pants up a storm while carrying hero's bulk on its back.

* Running though bare ground will leave a solid sound. Running through grass will change the footfalls to a sound that seems to be feet on rustilng hay. When the hero is exerting himself, he'll pant and huff from the exertion. As the life meter runs low, the hero will slouch over while panting from the exhaustion.

* During the first battle with a colossi, notice that your arrows will stick in its fur like pinpricks. If you attack from a distance, it will attempt to crush you with its massive reach and cudgel. If you get up close, he'll attempt to stomp with both feet. The ground quakes and ripples with every step. The key is to scale the colossus and attack it like a mosquito while looking for its key damage points with the sword light. As you're hanging onto the colossus' fur, it will shake its limb in an attempt to dislodge you.