A beautiful, moonlit night sky, towering ancient ruins, and haunting environments greet you in the first few minutes of Shadow of the Colossus; a devastatingly powerful journey about discovering new territories, overcoming impossible odds, and most importantly, self-sacrifice. The now classic-status of the original game, which first launched on PlayStation 2 in 2005, now finds a new home on the PlayStation 4, but with a huge technical facelift. Never has a remake looked so incredibly vivid and detailed, yet retained the core formula that made the original so exhilarating to play. Bluepoint Games, the studio behind the remake, have crafted something truly spectacular that will feel both new and familiar to both fans and newcomers. Welcome to the Forbidden Land once again.

Your epic journey begins on horseback. "Wander", a reserved but determined traveler, enters the mystical Forbidden Land with the body of his deceased lover in his arms, hoping that the legends are true about the lands power to resurrect the dead. Before long, he arrives at a colossal central castle in which an ancient deity named Dormin scolds him for trespassing. Wander bargains with Dormin for a new life, but is first tasked with slaying sixteen celestial beings that now inhabit the shells of gigantic creatures who roam the land.



For anyone familiar with the formula of the game, the quests are pretty straight forward: follow the light emitted from your sword to a location and defeat the colossus that resides there. There’s no other objectives, side quests, or collectibles, which might deter some from the linearity of the narrative. However, this is the greatest strength of Shadow of the Colossus. It bathes in the atmospheric beauty of the Forbidden Land, where the emptiness and crushing sense of loneliness adds to the otherworldly nature of the environments. No matter how far you travel, no matter which corner of the huge map you find yourself lost in, you’re always reminded that there’s nothing out there besides the slumbering giants that you must slay. The remake actually manages to illustrate this point so much more potently because of the huge graphical upgrade - you truly feel that sense of wonder, exploration, and isolation to its fullest.

Bluepoint has put a great deal of care and attention into this reimagining without jeopardizing the original game’s tone and masterful artistry. While the limitations of PlayStation 2’s technology certainly helped developer Team Ico craft a more surreal, dream-like experience, the remake is a much cleaner, crisp affair. Every inch of the terrain looks superb and breathtaking, encouraging exploration while also immersing the player in an entirely new world that even veterans of the original game might find eye-opening. The incredible level of detail of each area intentionally overwhelms you from the moment you take control and stumble upon them, brilliantly keeping you locked into that world for hours on end.

The remake also surprisingly fixes all of the discrepancies and minor inconveniences of the original. The controls, for example, are greatly improved as they now fix certain prompts to single button presses as opposed to a combination of them. The evasive roll now simply requires the push of the circle button instead of R1 and jump, removing the needless complexity of performing an incredibly helpful maneuver in the heat of battle. Riding your trusty horse, Agro, is far less cumbersome as he responds to your controls more responsively instead of seemingly possessing a mind of its own.



Navigating the Forbidden Land feels far more rewarding as the upgraded graphics present a photo-realistic style that lends to the masterful atmosphere on display. Fans who felt strongly about the over-saturation and glaring brightness of the original game’s art direction might feel cheated by the remake’s cleaner presentation, but the creative liberties taken by Bluepoint actually add a superb, rich texture to the scenery and colossi. As a result, the remake succeeds in creating a visually refreshing yet recognizable fantasy world that leaps off the screen – a natural evolution in technological power that benefits the original vision by creating the most stunning open world I've seen in a video game.

Like the original, the battles against the various colossi still play out the same way, yet feel remarkably fresh due to upgrades in both sound and visual quality. For example, the eel-inspired colossus, Hydrus, features new glowing spores across the side of its body, making it easier to track the enormous creature beneath the murky lake. The game’s iconic towering knight, Gaius, also leaves mounds of dirt with each step and plummet of his concrete sword, allowing the player to predict the extent of his lumbering walking pattern and wide hitboxes. Clearer sound cues also benefit more audio-focused fights like Dirge, who uses the desert sand to mask his body, leaving the player to rely purely on audio to track his movements. These are just a few examples of why the remake not only improves the battles, but also subtly touches up the design of each colossus so they are more defined and expressive in motion.

Armed with a new engine and attentive development team, Bluepoint has accomplished the rare, almost insurmountable task of remaking a classic – and bettering it in almost every conceivable way. Evidence of this can be found in the tiny, but notable details sprinkled into the core gameplay. Wander moves in a far more convincing manner, and reacts to the environment realistically. Footsteps in shallow water leaves ripples, the crunch of thick forestry beneath your feet is audibly distinguishable, and the subtle echoes of your breathing - even rustling of clothing - in large indoor arenas is absolute bliss for the ears. It adds several layers to the immersive experience of an already absorbing game. Bluepoint deserve to be commended for their stellar work, and Shadow of the Colossus should be the standard to which all video game remakes aspire to from now on.



However, this isn’t to say that the original Shadow of the Colossus doesn’t have a presence in the remake. The controls can be reverted back to the original if you find the new ones don’t suit your taste, or you just want to relive the old, admittedly more clunky button prompts. The beautiful, legendary soundtrack by Koh Otani has not been touched on at all, meaning every musical cue from the score is exactly where it should be, especially in the heightened emotional moments towards the climax of the game. It all gels together perfectly and suits any style of play, while making sure it doesn’t stray too far off the path set out by the original.

One small but entertaining new inclusion is the Photo mode, in which players can freeze the action at any given time and position the camera for that perfect shot. Each photo then goes through several filter options and tweaks before you upload and share it. It might sound like a shameless gimmick, but rest assured, there’s tons of fun to be had here, especially when taking photos in the moment of a glorious kill pose/stab animation.

Bluepoint’s terrific reimagining of Shadow of the Colossus is one for the history books. Not only is it the best video game remake ever made, it has also sets the bar incredibly high for future remakes. Game director Fumito Ueda can sleep peacefully knowing that his coveted magnum opus has been given the treatment it rightfully deserves; a massive improvement on all technical fronts that also manages to improve the gameplay without compromising its powerful artistic vision. One of the greatest video games of all time now has a new home on the PlayStation 4, and it is more than welcomed.