Shadow of the Colossus has it all. Not only is the gameplay something that most action, adventure, or puzzle fans have been looking for, but the audio and visual style are outstanding.

Colossus takes place in a vast, free-roaming world that has everything from rocky cliffs to rivers to oceans and deserts. Each environment blends seamlessly into the previous making it feel like a real world instead of just entering into “the desert” where rolling green fields suddenly become harsh sands. With a very specific light and shadow style, Shadow of the Colossus almost feels like you are watching the events unfold in an ancient painting – as if it is something a great artist brought to life on a canvas instead of just using a 3D editor.

Colossus doesn’t back down in the audio department either. All the voice work is kept in its original Japanese (at least I’m pretty sure it’s Japanese) with subtitles below. The game’s musical score is very orchestral and full of flutes and other wind instruments.

Shadow of the Colossus is the story of a hero looking for a way to bring back a dead loved one. His journey brings him to a forgotten realm at the edge of the world. As he lays the body on the ancient temple’s altar, he hears a disembodied voice telling him that the only way to achieve his goal is to topple the 17 idols that line the hall our hero is standing in. But the task is harder than it sounds since these giant statues are impervious to mortal attacks.

Instead, you must seek out each of the idols’ guardians (the Colossi) and defeat them, and only once all of the statues have fallen will the voice be able to bring back the dead loved one. Now, with your trusty steed Agro, a magical sword, and a bow, you will travel the 2,000 square mile world looking for these giants and trying to defeat them any way you can.

So how can a little fighter possibly take down these monsters? Well, when you hold up your sword in the sunlight, the beams of light focus on where your next target is. That’s how you find your next enemy. After you’ve actually gotten to the Colossus’ playground (which can be a series of puzzles all on its own), you raise your sword again to reveal the monster’s magical weak spots. You then need to climb onto the giant and work your way to these locations and send a powerful jab into the glowing area. Each hit takes down a substantial portion of the enemy’s health, but after a while these critical attack points will deaden and you will have to find another safe search point in order to make the next target appear.

But getting onto (and staying on) the Colossus isn’t as easy as just sticking out your thumb and hitching a ride. With a few exceptions, you will have to drop the monster to its knees or cause it to show its soft underbelly or perform some other task before you can even grab onto a climbable surface. This is where your horse and bow can come in handy. Not only does Agro allow you to travel across the vast land, but he can also provide you with a fast means of following your foe as you shoot your bow at some point that will make it easier to grapple on.

Once on the giant, you will have to work your way to various safe ledges where you don’t have to physically hold on. Why you might ask? Because the longer you hold onto the side of something (be it wall or beast), the more your strength lessens. Eventually, if you hold on too long, you will fall back to the ground and most likely get trampled. As an added effect, as you annoy the beast (especially when you start making your way to the creature’s head), they will start shaking and trying to throw you off. It’s all about timing and positioning because most likely you will lose your grip and you want to make sure you land somewhere on the beast’s body that won’t force you to start all over again.

Since Shadow of the Colossus features only a handful of enemies, and each of those are essentially a boss – it is no wonder that each Colossus is radically different from the next and the tactics you must use to defeat them are different. You will face smaller, faster beasts that are harder to catch up to, slow giants the size of a mountain that barely notice your presence, and four-legged beasts that can’t easily be climbed. Other challenges include getting onto Colossi that fly or swim, or even trying to get past the enemy’s armor as they swing giant stone swords down upon you.

Each battle is fierce and will get your heart pumping in just the normal play, but just when you think it’s almost over, you unlock Time Attack mode, which essentially challenges you to play through it all again with a time limit pressing down upon you.

Shadow of the Colossus’ difficulty is a gradual incline. The first couple of Colossi are fairly easy to get onto and identify. The hardest part of those creatures is not being stepped on while trying to climb up their legs. As you progress and run into Colossi with armor that blocks your ascent, or beasts that fly and swim, the difficulty increases as well because you then have the extra obstacles to get around as you search for the giant’s weak spot.

Shadow of the Colossus has a very simple control scheme. You use the Left and Right D-pad buttons to switch between the sword and bow. The Triangle button is what you use to jump (something that took a while for me to get used to), and grabbing onto ledges or Colossi while jumping is done by holding down the R1 button. While holding onto a ledge, you can jump higher or in specific directions by using the Triangle button in conjunction with the Left Analog stick. When positioned over a weak spot, you need to poise a sword over the area in order to gain power. This is done by holding down the Square button. You call Agro (or spur him if you are already mounted on him) with the X button. Tapping the Triangle when you are standing next to the horse lets you climb on top of him while tapping the button again dismounts.

Another small game mechanic detail that just helped the overall feel of the game is the limited control you have over the camera during the in-game cut-scenes. Though you don’t have full control over the camera’s position and direction, you are able to pan the camera around, which is nice if you wanted to try and focus on some piece of scenery as the character goes by. Though this doesn’t add anything to the actual gameplay, it was a nice little detail that I felt was worth mentioning.

Also, the little details like arrows that you shot into the giant still being there when you climb up to the targeted area help to keep the game’s realism persistent. For that matter, it is possible to take down a giant with just your bow and arrows or normal sword swipes. Though this would take forever and you will probably get trampled or otherwise maimed in the attempt, this is just one more of those little things that add to the game’s feel.

Shadow of the Colossus is a unique game in that there are only 17 enemies, you will not gain extra armor or weapons and you will not get stronger as the game progresses. What you have at the beginning of the quest is what you will have at the end. And since this is the case, the developers (the same team that brought us the critically acclaimed ICO) have made sure that each enemy is vastly different and that everything from getting to the beast’s location to stopping the monster itself is a challenging puzzle that will leave most gamers begging for more.