ICO Review!

*cough* *cough* I hope I can post it here.. Cuz its an IGN Insider exclusive :eyemouth:

Otherwise.. Delete the thread..

Te biggest challenge with reviewing Ico is that it
presents a very rare gaming experience that\'s really
difficult to put into words, as it\'s frankly something
that must be played to be completely understood. Try as I
might, anything that I may share with you won\'t
completely do the game the justice that it rightfully
deserves. What you\'ll read in the subsequent paragraphs
will simply be my best effort to try and accomplish this
seemingly impossible task.
It all begins with the game\'s story, or better yet, lack of
a conventional storyline. While most of today\'s
videogames try to capture the emotions of the player by
presenting a game with a cinematic feel that aims to
match the best that Hollywood has to offer through the
use of brilliant CG or a fully developed story, Ico manages
to stir up more emotions than ever previously achieved
with what seems like nothing.
The game\'s basic plot is simple: you control a young boy
named Ico who has been banished to an ethereal castle for
the simple fact that he was born with horns. From here,
with the primary goal of the game being to escape from
this spine-chilling situation, you encounter a young girl
named Yorda. Yorda seems to be in the same predicament,
so you decide to help her out as well.
Simple enough, right? Well, on the surface it is. To be
completely honest, saving a damsel in distress is far from
an out of the ordinary theme for a videogame (or a story
for that matter). However, Ico manages to be much more
than a clichéd plot because of the way it\'s presented. The
basic setting that I just described is pretty much all that
you have to go on, and the story and emotion of the game
is conveyed through means that are rarely used in the
world of videogames.
For one, the game\'s visuals are used to help create
emotions in ways that have never-been-seen before in the
world of interactive entertainment. Through its brilliant
architectural design, seemingly endless draw distance,
atmospheric fog, and countless other graphical effects like
overexposed lighting when in outside areas, the player is
propelled into this universe that actually feels massively
scaled. You\'ll often enter areas that you had only
previously seen at a distance and that had appeared
almost unreachable.
But it doesn\'t even end there. Just convincing you that
you\'re actually in this otherworldly and fully realized castle
setting is just the start of it all. Ico manages to push the
envelope even further via the use of unbelievably fluid and
life-like character animation and excellent character
designs that help communicate emotions like we\'ve never
seen before.


By way of the animation and character design, the
developers have managed to create characters in Ico and
Yorda that have more depth and are more developed than
mere words or a cinematic cut scene could ever convey.
When you see Ico and Yorda move around and interact
with each other, you\'ll honestly feel as if he is a young boy
who is lost in a world he knows nothing of, and that she is
a mystified and frail young girl who\'s almost completely
lost in the world that she\'s in.
It\'s with the combination of these visuals and the
game\'s ambient sound effects and background music
(which are more powerful in their subtlety and silence
than most fully orchestrated scores), that the game will
initially engross the player. However, it\'s the completely
unique, yet basic and straightforward design that will rope
the user in so deep that he or she will never wish to leave.
At its core, Ico is the purest form of adventure that has
ever been conceived for a videogame. It relies almost
exclusively on puzzle solving, and since there\'s neither an
annoying, squeaky voiced fairy nor a pimple-faced geek on
a radio transmitter to tell you what you need to do next,
the player must rely solely on his or her ability to observe
his or her surroundings and to figure out what to do or
where to go next without any obvious hints.
Since the game requires that Ico and Yorda stay
together (if she dies the game ends) you\'ll not only have
to figure out how to get Ico from one area to another, but
you must figure out how to get Yorda there as well. Given
that she isn\'t quite the athletic and outgoing adventurer that Ico is, this isn\'t often an easy task. Yorda can\'t do
things like climb up chain ropes or leap across certain
ledges, so as the player you must figure out how you can
help her get past each of these obstacles.
Even though the game is based mainly on puzzle solving
and adventure, the little combat that is in the game works
well for what it\'s intended to accomplish. Throughout the
game, Ico will have to fend off these shadow beasts that
are trying to kidnap Yorda. Despite the fact that these
battles mainly consist of you continuously pressing a
button to swing a stick, and later a sword, at these evil
beasts, it helps generate an added emotional involvement
between the player and Ico.
You see, as Ico swings the stick with all his might or
wields a sword that\'s much too big for him to use, all just
to try and protect his newfound crush from these enemy
attackers, you\'ll honestly feel as if the kid is giving all that
he has to accomplish this task.
If you\'re not yet convinced that you must play this title,
blame my inability to put into words the way that this
game is able to play with one\'s emotions and deliver a
compelling adventure like one you\'ve never yet
experienced. Ico is a pure adventure game that is more a
work of art and an experience than it is a game. If you
submerse yourself into only one adventure game this year,
you best make it Ico. -- Doug Perry


Ratings ::

Presentation ::9.5
Graphics ::9.8
Sound ::10.0
Gameplay ::9.6
Lasting Appeal ::7.0
Overall Score ::9.4

Thanks to Blaster from GAforum

Does anyone know how long this game is?  Because I want to play it, but if it\'s short then I\'ll just rent it.

[BizioEE]

It\'s mine !!!     I\'m reading again for the second time....

Thanks fastson

I\'m gettng this for sure

Great to see that the Playstation 2 has eventually received a great adventure game!!...The system really deserves it.

Anyway, the loss of RE series is still a loss to me...actually thinking of it...mabe it is a good thing that we lost it.  We need more original games!!:D .....like ICO!!

This game will be mine. I wonder if Ico can dethrone Link?

sounds excellent..cant wait.

whens it out in the uk??? any ideas??!!!!

This game is mine, come to papa.

Man, I still haven\'t even played the demo yet.  Is it really that good?  Well when it comes out this month I plan on buying it.  Another great game for ps2.  Next stop silent hill 2, soul reaver 2, smackdown 3, snk vs. capcom 2, DMC, and the big one in november.................Metal Gear Solid 2!!!!!!!:)

i have been playing the demo of ICO that i got in this months official playstation magazine and so far have found it to be a wonderful game. the reviewer\'s comment about this being art is a good point...this game drips atmosphere, the puzzles are bound to frustrate, and the fluidity of the animations lets you really escape in to the character.

another great reason for owning and playing a ps2!

Originally posted by rastalant
Man, I still haven\'t even played the demo yet.  Is it really that good?  Well when it comes out this month I plan on buying it.  Another great game for ps2.  Next stop silent hill 2, soul reaver 2, smackdown 3, snk vs. capcom 2, DMC, and the big one in november.................Metal Gear Solid 2!!!!!!!:)

What, no Baldur\'s Gate?

hmm, i played the demo, i loved it,
i just hope the entrie game lasts longer than 7 hours

Originally posted by IronFist

What, no Baldur\'s Gate?

Oh I forgot about also Baldur\'s Gate.  Baldur\'s Gate another great game to get this nov.

Originally posted by Toxical
hmm, i played the demo, i loved it,
i just hope the entrie game lasts longer than 7 hours

That\'s what I\'m worrying about.  If it doesn\'t last at least 15 hours, I don\'t think it\'s worth the purchase.

Rastalant, there are way too many games coming out!  I can\'t decide which ones to buy and which ones just to rent.

I\'m going to try to get most of them.  I will get an xbox in nov. as well.  :thepimp: