Shadow of the Colossus is a video game poem. Sixteen towering colossi, a majestic silent landscape and a faithful horse. A Team Ico masterpiece to experience without fail.
Your verdict
Category
Adventure1 player12+
Description
A Team Ico and Sony adventure released in 2005, a masterpiece by Fumito Ueda. Wander, a solitary young man, must defeat sixteen giant colossi to revive young Mono in a forbidden land empty of humans. No towns, no extra enemies: only the colossi as living puzzles to climb. Stripped-down melancholic aesthetic, a timeless interactive work of art.
Shadow of the Colossus review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Vast deserted expanses, veiled light and titanic colossi: the game composes landscapes of a sublime, almost sacred solitude. The spareness of the settings and the crushing scale of the giants reach an unequalled contemplative beauty. This art direction, minimalist and grandiose, remains an absolute masterpiece.
Epic and heartbreaking, Kow Otani's score unfurls a grandiose orchestra and vibrant choirs that turn every colossus battle into a sacred moment. Between the solitude of the plains and the fury of the clashes, the music reaches an overwhelming intensity. This symphonic richness, of rare emotion, remains a peak of video games.
To bring a young girl back to life, a lone rider agrees to bring down sixteen colossi that asked for nothing. Almost wordless, the tale questions sacrifice, love and the price of despair with unheard-of tragic force. A peak of environmental storytelling, this melancholy epic haunts you long after the credits.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Scaling a living colossus by clinging to its fur, reading its movements and aiming for its weak point turns every battle into a physical riddle of singular intensity. The animation and the sense of weight remain striking. A few camera and framerate troubles linger, but the boldness of the concept and the emotion of each clash have lost none of their power.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Long"
Technical info
💾2,3 GB📅18/10/2005
Published by Sony Computer Entertainment
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) price, value & rarity
A masterpiece by Fumito Ueda and Team Ico, a stripped-down adventure where only sixteen colossi serve as bosses and puzzles in an empty, melancholy world, the PS2's artistic summit. Its appeal lies in this aura of a founding classic of games as art and an immense legacy, sustaining lasting demand despite wide distribution. A cornerstone piece for any serious PS2 collection.
Memorable bosses
Pared down to the essence of the boss fight, this masterpiece pits you against only sixteen colossi, living mountains you must climb to reach their vital points. Each giant is a platforming puzzle as much as a duel, set to a stirring score. The solitude, the scale and the melancholy that radiate from it made it a singular experience, never truly equaled.
A cult cover
Tiny beneath a colossus that blots out the sky, the rider Wander raises his sword in a golden, dusty light. The vertiginous disproportion and the sepia palette instantly convey the solitude, the sacred and the melancholy of a forbidden land. Restrained and grandiose, the image sums up in one shot the whole contemplative vertigo of this cult work.
Is Shadow of the Colossus still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2005 on PS2, Fumito Ueda's project at Team Ico remains one of the most striking works of the medium. The pared down concept, in which you cross a deserted, melancholic land to face only sixteen gigantic colossi, turns every battle into a climbing puzzle and a duel of overwhelming intensity. The misty art direction, Kow Otani's score and the heavy silence create a rare emotion tinged with remorse. The control of the horse Agro and a few framerate drops show their age. An absolute peak of video games, recommended for anyone interested in the artistic reach of the medium and in design stripped to its essence.
