Shadow of the Colossus

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2739 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,938 out of 2739
  2. Mixed: 417 out of 2739
  3. Negative: 384 out of 2739
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  1. jeffbizloc
    Apr 26, 2018
    2
    I was super excited to play a classic well regarded game. Couldn't even make it past the 3rd boss out of frustration. The controls are god awful. There is this weird jump before the 3rd boss that is frustrating. Maybe I played too many modern game before this but I am glad we have progressed.

    Pros:
    - Graphics are great

    Cons:
    - Terrible controls
    - The game/puzzles felt too obtuse
  2. Jimbro84
    Apr 29, 2018
    4
    I hate this game. It's just art basically and it's just good on the outside. Nice Music, Nice bosses design, Nice graphics and THATS IT.

    Frustrating controls (notably with the horse) and bad camera angles and little to nothing to do. No NPCs, No loot, No story, No exploration, No items and weapons, etc. Since when ''simplistic'' has become a quality? Those kind of games were    I hate this game. It's just art basically and it's just good on the outside. Nice Music, Nice bosses design, Nice graphics and THATS IT.

    Frustrating controls (notably with the horse) and bad camera angles and little to nothing to do.

    No NPCs, No loot, No story, No exploration, No items and weapons, etc.

    Since when ''simplistic'' has become a quality?

    Those kind of games were good 15 years ago. At the price we're paying, I'm unimpressed.    … Expand
  3. p1nky
    Feb 16, 2018
    3
    Horrible controls. Very bad camera position, shacking, not stable and dynamic with make is impossible to play the game. English subs are bad, impossible to understand.
    Picture is very nice.
  4. panosveto
    Mar 26, 2018
    2
    Very bad camera and but character control . They had to fix the camera the game is unplayble
  5. Mikemar1280
    Apr 29, 2018
    1
    Not all heroes wear capes. I created an account just to warn you away from this 5 hour snorefest. There is literally NOTHING to do besides find and fight the 16 colossi. No other enemies, no other puzzles, no items...NOTHING! The fights are pretty interesting, but you are riding your horse for 5 to 15 minutes through the countryside to find the colossi. My wife asked me why I bought a gameNot all heroes wear capes. I created an account just to warn you away from this 5 hour snorefest. There is literally NOTHING to do besides find and fight the 16 colossi. No other enemies, no other puzzles, no items...NOTHING! The fights are pretty interesting, but you are riding your horse for 5 to 15 minutes through the countryside to find the colossi. My wife asked me why I bought a game about walking and/or riding a horse. These review scores are insane - Thus was the most boring game I’ve played in my entire life!… Expand
  6. gameswithjarlie
    Feb 8, 2018
    4
    Unfortunately navigating the world is abysmal, it’s deeply ambiguous as to what you can climb. Running from place to place takes a long time, and riding the horse led me to giving the horse a unique name: cement. I called it cement because it feels like I’m steering a goat pulled cement mixer. The camera swings around wildly, making it difficult to steer the horse in a straight line,Unfortunately navigating the world is abysmal, it’s deeply ambiguous as to what you can climb. Running from place to place takes a long time, and riding the horse led me to giving the horse a unique name: cement. I called it cement because it feels like I’m steering a goat pulled cement mixer. The camera swings around wildly, making it difficult to steer the horse in a straight line, gaining and losing speed is arduous, and just nothing about point A to point B made me think wow.

    There were several bosses where the events would not trigger properly; one particular boss towards the end of the game tells you to get to higher ground. After baiting the boss into hitting pillars maybe 20 times, the event finally triggered, and a way opened up for me to progress the fight. This was of course after I’d exhausted all other options, as the event hadn’t triggered the first time I tried; it’s deeply dissatisfying knowing your initial solution was right, but the game hadn’t responded to your actions.

    Unless you have a deep set love for this game, I’d recommend giving it a miss. I’m not thoroughly convinced I should’ve bought this game, never mind for £30. You can get bigger and better adventures for less money. The developers failed to change the shortcomings in light of modern technologies and progression, and ultimately produced what feels like at best the concept for a game. It doesn’t even seem like the best version of itself.    … Expand
  7. allwititnowsuck
    Jul 30, 2018
    4
    Sony can get away with making a poor port of PS2 game and slapping word remaster on it's box and they get praised for it?Wow just wow.
    They do really nice job,cashing on people's nostalgia,by making the second re-release of this game and calling it "remaster".It's not like already have made port of it for PS3,with little to no differences to original game.Same here,just slightly higher    Sony can get away with making a poor port of PS2 game and slapping word remaster on it's box and they get praised for it?Wow just wow.
    They do really nice job,cashing on people's nostalgia,by making the second re-release of this game and calling it "remaster".It's not like already have made port of it for PS3,with little to no differences to original game.Same here,just slightly higher resolution and slightly better graphics,yet they didn't bother to fix controls...
    What i did like about the game(this version and original):
    -Looks nice
    -One or two fights were okay
    What i hated about the game(this version and original):
    -Boring and unintersting world to explore
    -Don't really like the story(there was even a story to begin with?)
    -Horrible horse controls
    -Repetive
    -Boring
    I really wasted my money on this one.
    All these good reviews,please guys take off your nostalgia glasses.    … Expand
  8. IkarugaOne
    Apr 26, 2018
    1
    This is a straight port of the old PS2 game, don't get fooled by the graphics, it's just a way to cash in on the same game again
  9. Funkymonk
    Apr 17, 2018
    2
    Definitely some rose tinted nostalgia glasses with a lot of these reviews. In fact it's possibly one of the most shockingly overrated games of all time!!! How a game with terrible controls and camera, empty boring world and repetitive frustrating gameplay can get so many 9s and 10s just astounds me. I mean these aren't even minor flaws you can just ignore - they're game breaking. Maybe onDefinitely some rose tinted nostalgia glasses with a lot of these reviews. In fact it's possibly one of the most shockingly overrated games of all time!!! How a game with terrible controls and camera, empty boring world and repetitive frustrating gameplay can get so many 9s and 10s just astounds me. I mean these aren't even minor flaws you can just ignore - they're game breaking. Maybe on the PS2 it could pass as something different yet flawed but today it's so dated and horrible.
    Believe the hype if you like but bear in mind ther's still a lot of negative/mixed reviews and they all basically site the same flaws.    … Expand
  10. ddiamond84
    Feb 15, 2018
    0
    I bought this game based on the glowing reviews, the gorgeous graphics, and the interesting concept. I'm really disappointed. The controls are really bad- controlling the horse is really difficult. The graphics and scale of the bosses are incredible, but it really is repetitive, tedious and slow. To an extent, I understand why it has such high ratings and glowing reviews. It has aI bought this game based on the glowing reviews, the gorgeous graphics, and the interesting concept. I'm really disappointed. The controls are really bad- controlling the horse is really difficult. The graphics and scale of the bosses are incredible, but it really is repetitive, tedious and slow. To an extent, I understand why it has such high ratings and glowing reviews. It has a unique atmosphere. But I genuinely don't understand how anyone can get past the controls/tedious repetitive gameplay.… Expand
  11. tryandstopme
    Feb 18, 2018
    0
    This game was trash then and its trash now. Bad controls, bad gameplay, and annoyingly long periods in between battles, lets not forget the garbage camera movements.
  12. reuss
    Feb 8, 2018
    4
    Never played ps2 title. So I had high hopes because great reviews.

    Cons: -Boring and dull world to explore (only lizards and fruit to find wtf) -Didn't like the story (I think there was a story?) -Horrible horse controls -Repetitive Pros +Looks great +Some of the fights were fun So this was basically horse riding to a Colossi, get to it's back, stab Colossi and repeat that    Never played ps2 title. So I had high hopes because great reviews.

    Cons:
    -Boring and dull world to explore (only lizards and fruit to find wtf)
    -Didn't like the story (I think there was a story?)
    -Horrible horse controls
    -Repetitive

    Pros
    +Looks great
    +Some of the fights were fun

    So this was basically horse riding to a Colossi, get to it's back, stab Colossi and repeat that 16 times. Can't understand how come this has so good reviews (is it nostalgia?).    … Expand
  13. osan
    Feb 9, 2018
    0
    Boring landscape, impossible to control horse, clunky controls in general, no characters, boring trips. I really wasted my money on this one. All these raving reviews really must have last played a game in 1990s?
  14. sumbodyshero
    Apr 22, 2018
    0
    Major graphical downgrade! The color and the feel of the world is entirely different! Instead of looking like Shadow of the Colossus, it looks like something from Uncharted or God of War. The artistry has been totally deleted. The shadow characters look like bigfoot. Wander looks like some feminine emo teenager. Some of the Colossi look like big squishy teddy bears. The original creatorMajor graphical downgrade! The color and the feel of the world is entirely different! Instead of looking like Shadow of the Colossus, it looks like something from Uncharted or God of War. The artistry has been totally deleted. The shadow characters look like bigfoot. Wander looks like some feminine emo teenager. Some of the Colossi look like big squishy teddy bears. The original creator had NOTHING TO DO with this project. Now one of the biggest arguments for video games as art has been destroyed in the name of "mah graphix".… Expand
  15. traskular
    Mar 20, 2018
    0
    Not happy that the game makes you kill innocent animals. When you realize this, the game simply trains you to have little compassion and learn to lose empathy for life for selfish reasons.
  16. MHWSucks
    Feb 12, 2018
    0
    Just another empty open world running simulator. The boss fights are too easy, long and boring for me to enjoy, the world is beautiful but dull and empty. I would not recommend this to anyone, waste of time and money.
  17. ElSid64
    Feb 8, 2018
    1
    Absolutely appalling. Where have these great ratings come from. I bought this game on the back of fantastic reviews. Repetitive gameplay and unresponsive controls. Really wish I had not wasted money on this. Gave it a one rating purely for looks. If you close the game you have to start the entire sequence again - i.e. ride a tedious and unrealistic horse all the way across a barrenAbsolutely appalling. Where have these great ratings come from. I bought this game on the back of fantastic reviews. Repetitive gameplay and unresponsive controls. Really wish I had not wasted money on this. Gave it a one rating purely for looks. If you close the game you have to start the entire sequence again - i.e. ride a tedious and unrealistic horse all the way across a barren landscape to start the next fight. camera angles are shockingly bad and climbing is ridiculous, wanted to smash my controller on many occasions. Avoid this rubbish and spend your money on a decent open world game instead. Very disappointing.… Expand
  18. Rush--21
    Feb 10, 2018
    0
    For a game that was made "from the ground up", the controls, or great lack thereof, took this rating from a potential 9 to a 0. A ZERO. The horse riding is shockingly horrid, crashing into every piece of ground debris you ride near, the camera instantly resets the moment you adjust it where YOU want it to be, and the general movement and traversal across collosi is subpar at best.For a game that was made "from the ground up", the controls, or great lack thereof, took this rating from a potential 9 to a 0. A ZERO. The horse riding is shockingly horrid, crashing into every piece of ground debris you ride near, the camera instantly resets the moment you adjust it where YOU want it to be, and the general movement and traversal across collosi is subpar at best. Despite finishing the game, I would not recommend it to ANYONE. The controls negate anything positive this title has going for it.… Expand
  19. mctaboo
    Feb 12, 2018
    0
    One of the worst games I played in years, boring and super repetitive, you spend around 98% of the time riding the horse to reach one of the 16 giants then climb and kill'em then back again to that unconscious girl.. Thats all literally!! Plus ugly characters, awful voices, horrible dialogues, super glitchy, the control and camera are one of the worst ever.. I wanted to kill myself.. ThisOne of the worst games I played in years, boring and super repetitive, you spend around 98% of the time riding the horse to reach one of the 16 giants then climb and kill'em then back again to that unconscious girl.. Thats all literally!! Plus ugly characters, awful voices, horrible dialogues, super glitchy, the control and camera are one of the worst ever.. I wanted to kill myself.. This is the first game I ever regret buying and if PS4 allow me to return it I will in a heartbeat... SONY you have to make demos for every game it's really not fair to buy a game by relying on bribed editors.… Expand
  20. cweikert
    Feb 7, 2018
    3
    How could you even think of releasing a game with such a bad camera and bad character controls? 20 years ago Nintendo showed the world how to ride a horse in a video game and the programmers of this game learned nothing from it. Climbing is also a joke. This is not a masterpiece, not even close. Is just a game which desperately wants to be a masterpiece but couldn't even master the basicsHow could you even think of releasing a game with such a bad camera and bad character controls? 20 years ago Nintendo showed the world how to ride a horse in a video game and the programmers of this game learned nothing from it. Climbing is also a joke. This is not a masterpiece, not even close. Is just a game which desperately wants to be a masterpiece but couldn't even master the basics of video game design.… Expand
  21. Darkison
    Feb 7, 2018
    4
    Great OST. Great graphics. Horrible characters, Colossus and a fine history. OVERRATED.
  22. B-Bog
    Dec 5, 2019
    2
    WHAT. THE. F*CK.

    For years and years, I've been reading nothing but glorious praise for this game, both for the original and the remake. For reasons I can't remember, I never played the PS2 version back when it came out, and then over time the prices for used copies became astronomically high. Now I finally got a PS4 Pro and one of the first games I got was this supposed classic. You    WHAT. THE. F*CK.

    For years and years, I've been reading nothing but glorious praise for this game, both for the original and the remake. For reasons I can't remember, I never played the PS2 version back when it came out, and then over time the prices for used copies became astronomically high. Now I finally got a PS4 Pro and one of the first games I got was this supposed classic. You know, take a break from Death Stranding and play something less tedious. HAHA.

    The only thing that seems to have been updated from the 2005 original are the visuals and some collectibles. That's it. The controls are slippery and imprecise, and the biggest battle you have in this game is not with one of the colossi, but with the god awful camera. It still operates under the mid-2000s dogma of: "I'll give you some pretend control with the right stick, but as soon as you let that f*cker go, I'll just go right back to what I want to do".

    Both of these issues are pretty big problems, seeing as the game is basically a puzzle-PLATFORMER.

    What I've never seen other reviews mention: Fighting the colossi is basically a stamina-management-game. You fight these guys by climbing on top of them by holding onto fur and conveniently placed pieces of rock, locating their weak spot(s), and then stabbing them with your sword. The thing is: You can really only move when the colossus isn't doing that much. Which is maybe 15% of the time at best, and most of them don't really telegraph when they're going to start moving/shaking either. Which is problematic to say the least, because that's when you gotta hold on for dear life, which drains your stamina and means you cannot move or stab at all. When your stamina hits 0, you fall off the colossus and you get to climb it all over again! Hooray!! So much fun!!!

    When you're not fighting a colossus, you're riding around in an empty wasteland of a map looking for the next one. Instead of maybe giving you a marker on your map, you've got to constantly be holding your sword up into the air while riding because it vaguely shows you the right direction to go.

    There's next to no incentive for exploring, other than some small collectibles for increasing health and stamina which the game doesn't tell you about. Like it also doesn't really tell you how to save at shrines. It just says: Pray. OK, what's the dedicated pray button again? Would it really be too much hassle to just write "Press R2"? But I digress.

    I'd like to give a special shout-out to the moron who programmed the controls for riding the horse. Ocarina of Time had better horse controls and that came out in 1998 for the N64 for crying out loud. Like, should the horse maybe move forward when you push forward on the left stick? Naaah, way too intuitive, let's have the player press Triangle a bunch of times just to get the thing moving at an acceptable speed. Oh what, you wanted to KEEP riding fast? Oh, then you have to keep holding down Triangle like an idiot! The aiming controls with the bow are absolute dogsh*t, too. In a twist of pure genius, you basically have to use your horse in a couple of battles, also combined with shooting your bow from the back of your horse. Best of luck with that, you're going to need it.

    On the plus side: The visuals are really nice. Not absolutely amazing in 2019 and especially not after playing Death Stranding, but nice. The music though is pretty generic and repetitive.

    All in all, this is one of the biggest disappointments I've ever had in my gaming career. I'm glad I got this on sale and only payed 16€. I'm only on the 7th colossus and I will probably finish the game, but I doubt that I'm going to enjoy it very much. No matter what else the game throws at me, the controls and camera are going to stay sh*tty. At least I'm not the only one who thinks this way, looking at this user review section. I'm just hoping the "The Last Guardian" isn't also such a POS, because I bought that on sale, too.

    UPDATE: Played a little further, until the 9th colossus, rage-quit, and deleted the game. The 9th fight involves having the colossus stand in very specific spots in order to even GET A CHANCE to harm him. So you're completely dependent on the boss AI, which doesn't cooperate with you at all. Then, if you do get him to fall over, he falls over with his fur (climbing spot) facing AWAY from you, because why not just make things a little more tedious if we get the chance. Then you get barely enough time to climb on top with the sh*tty controls governing your "hero" that climbs slower than any snaill. And if you don't quite make it because your stamina runs out, you fall off and get to repeat the WHOLE PROCESS all over again. Fun times! Excuse me, but I'm not into torturing myself with badly designed BS. Downgrade from a 3 to a 2. Sorry, but this is an over-hyped piece of garbage and even the 16€ I spent on this were a _colossal_ (haha...) waste of money.    … Expand
  23. Mattyc96
    Dec 29, 2019
    4
    By far one of the most pointlessly frustrating games I have ever played. The controls and camera break the game for me. I spent most my time flailing around holding r2 on the colossus. Besides being visually stunning the platforming here is terrible and feels obnoxiously daft waiting for your meter to run down well the protagonist fails to execute an simple jump. The boss battles areBy far one of the most pointlessly frustrating games I have ever played. The controls and camera break the game for me. I spent most my time flailing around holding r2 on the colossus. Besides being visually stunning the platforming here is terrible and feels obnoxiously daft waiting for your meter to run down well the protagonist fails to execute an simple jump. The boss battles are laughably easy. Navigation is annoying. The story feels meaningless. If it wasnt for the visuals this game would have no redeemable values… Expand
  24. Phoenix-Prince
    Jun 28, 2020
    2
    On the PS2 this was an incredible game, basically it was a PS3 game on a PS2.
    That's probably why it was still good on the PS3, unfortunately that's no longer the case. Controls are absolutely terrible, camera is terrible, they've done nothing but improve its graphics, they left all of its broken mechanics. Those mechanics were forgivable back in the day but just doesn't hold up today, I    On the PS2 this was an incredible game, basically it was a PS3 game on a PS2.
    That's probably why it was still good on the PS3, unfortunately that's no longer the case. Controls are absolutely terrible, camera is terrible, they've done nothing but improve its graphics, they left all of its broken mechanics. Those mechanics were forgivable back in the day but just doesn't hold up today, I couldn't even finish this time, I quit after The 13th Colossus, because I just couldn't stomach the controls any longer. If you have played this before save your memories and don't bother, you will question how you once enjoyed this, and if you never played it just stay away, it's pretty graphics will mean nothing once you see how terrible the controls and camera Will be.
    I give Shadow of the Colossus a 2 out of 10. What a disappointment.    … Expand
  25. robomartion
    May 19, 2020
    4
    Although nice to look at at first, the photogrammetry used in place of the original hand made assets really take away some of the atmosphere present in the PS2 and PS3 version. The environments become samey very quickly and don't have that sense of world to them. The frame rate on the standard PS4 leaves a lot to be desired and its as if you're playing with an incredible amount of inputAlthough nice to look at at first, the photogrammetry used in place of the original hand made assets really take away some of the atmosphere present in the PS2 and PS3 version. The environments become samey very quickly and don't have that sense of world to them. The frame rate on the standard PS4 leaves a lot to be desired and its as if you're playing with an incredible amount of input lag. I do remember it being somewhat hard to control originally and having a low framerate on the PS2 but perhaps these problems were worse than I remembered. That said controlling the game is NOT an enjoyable experience in any way shape or form and in my honest opinion these are problems that should have been fixed or revised for a brand new release. I think the controls are not acceptable and that's that. Some have said that they are intentional and that is were the challenge lies but I think these are controls that could have been improved by leaps and bounds. Seeing the Last Guardian has exactly the same problems I'm more inclined to think it doesn't matter that much to the developers or they are simply incompetent in that aspect. But saying it is an gameplay design decision to have clunky controls doesn't hold up to me. I honestly think the controls of the original PS2 games were not this bad but I could be wrong. Having enjoyed the original game and actually being enthralled with it and played many many hours of it, coming back to it in this remaster doesn't evoke the same feeling I originally had.… Expand
  26. agent13
    Dec 12, 2019
    4
    Beautiful world but empty, it doesn't have much gameplay or story and it gets boring af after a couple of hours playing. One of the most overrated games ever
  27. hkatbamna1
    Jul 13, 2020
    4
    I've heard great things about this game and decided to give it a shot when it was offered for free with Playstation Plus. I will say the premise of the story is intriguing. However, any redeeming qualities of this game are offset by the most atrocious and poor control scheme I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing in a game. Quite simply, this game is not fun whatsoever. The horseI've heard great things about this game and decided to give it a shot when it was offered for free with Playstation Plus. I will say the premise of the story is intriguing. However, any redeeming qualities of this game are offset by the most atrocious and poor control scheme I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing in a game. Quite simply, this game is not fun whatsoever. The horse navigation makes no reasonable sense. Accelerating and decelerating the horse takes several seconds, and turning is either too slow or too fast. The bulk of colossus battles are climbing up onto them to find their weak points. But this becomes an absolute chore because of the absolute poor control scheme and it's similarly atrocious camera. Often times I would fall off if I let go of R2 for even a split second and would then have to climb my way up again. What should be a fun battle against a giant majestic beast quickly devolves into an uninspiring repetitive task. I tried to like this game, I really did. But it's just not fun. 4/10.… Expand
  28. AgentAnderson
    Mar 3, 2020
    3
    I'll give it 3 because it looks nice. This is like a poor man's Tomb Raider with no enemies and a few big bosses. I was roaming around and found the first 2 Colossi and nothing else. Well, I did find clunky controls. Not much to do other than snore.
  29. lionezzz
    Dec 6, 2020
    0
    Maybe in 2005 this game were pretty good, but now - it's awful. Mostly because of awful controls. Simply can't play normally
  30. thiagoFerreiraL
    Aug 16, 2019
    2
    This game has the clunkiest controls of all the games I've played, specially the camera, that looks like it has a mind of it's own. The camera tries so f*** hard to auto-correct that infuriated me to the point of giving up on the 6th colossus and I couldn't do that for another 10 colossus. It's like the camera is the real boss of this game.

    I gave 2 points for visuals only. The game    This game has the clunkiest controls of all the games I've played, specially the camera, that looks like it has a mind of it's own. The camera tries so f*** hard to auto-correct that infuriated me to the point of giving up on the 6th colossus and I couldn't do that for another 10 colossus. It's like the camera is the real boss of this game.

    I gave 2 points for visuals only. The game certainly is very pretty.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best PS4 Game of 2018
8
#8 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
16
#16 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 100 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 97 out of 100
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 100
  3. Negative: 0 out of 100
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 24, 2018
    80
    Perfectly polished and improved cult game – even with better controls! Killing giant monsters has never been so much (melancholic) fun. [Issue#283]
  2. Games.cz
    Apr 24, 2018
    90
    A tribute to the Fumito Ueda will delight the veterans of the original game same as introduce this classic to the newcomers, who are not tuned on a nostalgic note. An ideal opportunity to improve your video game education and a wonderful experience in the same time. Some clumsy controls and occasionally stubborn camera can’t ruin the great experience.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Apr 3, 2018
    70
    It’s a good remaster, but frankly I find it unnecessary. Those who have already played the game on PS2 or PS3 will find nothing new here, and those who didn’t have the chance to get acquainted with it probably will not understand what we saw in Shadow of the Colossus 12 years ago, when gaming reality was completely different. [03/2018, p.66]
See all critic reviews »