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Oh my gosh ... *wipes tear away*. I just finished ICO at 1:35 in the morning, and I must say that was the most emotional game I have ever played.
I don't really know how to describe it, which is why I suppose no one has given me a good enough description in order to purchase before now. Everyone just says, "Wow dude, yeah that's a good game." Sorry, but I don't make a $50 purchase on that line.
The game play is similar to Tomb Raider. However, there are no weapons other than a stick and a couple of swords. You have no health gauge and nothing can strike you and kill you. There are only two ways to lose the game ... fall from a very high place to solid ground, or allow Yorda to be captured.
Yorda is this girl you find early in the game. The two of you do not share a common language. But you find out that it will take the two of you working together to survive.
Where are you, what are you doing? Well, you've been imprissoned because you are a boy with horns. Pretty racist eh? And you find Yorda in a cage as well. And there are these mean black shadow creatures trying to take her away - but you don't let them. And a bond is created between our two characters. Yorda can not do all the tricks that ICO can, so as ICO you must create paths for Yorda so that she can come along with you. These are the puzzles, and the basis of the game. You encounter a LOT of puzzles while trying to escape from the island castle that you are imprissoned on. Very subtly Yorda becomes more trustworthy of ICO. She begins to be a bit more daring, and more intelligent in her actions. Initially she panics when the smokey shadow creatures come for her, but she learns that ICO is going to protect her. Oddly enough, I became attached to both of the characters in their struggle to survive.
The sounds in this game are really interesting. There isn't a whole lot of music, and the sound effects are pretty slim because there really isn't a whole lot going on. You can hear pebbles and dirt being kicked around, and when you beat something with a stick or sword it sounds like you're beating something with a stick or sword. When you fall, or Yorda falls, the characters make fairly accurate 'pain sounds' and body thumps. But they just kept the sound very simplified.
The Land: Oh my gosh! Yeah the game is old, and the textures could be a whole lot higher quality, but the game is still incredible. The design of the castle, the island, and the way the two interact is amazing. I found myself running along endless stone causeways, my mouth hanging open, as the camera angle would rotate around ICO and Yorda showing the landscape to me. Un-****ing-believable. I think the majority of us are familiar with Halo. You know that feeling you had the first time you saw the Warthogs driving around the island and the ocean stretched out on one side and the cliffs rose high above you on the other? Yeah, like that. I think I said it outloud - I'll say it again, un-****ing-believable.
I think the game was just about the right length. I could beat it in probably five or six sittings. My "saved game time" was right about six and a half hours, which I triple for actual 'sitting time'. So it was right about a 20 hour game, which is about right for that style of play. (Gran Turismo 3 is about a kajillion hour game, but definitely a different kind of game). I think they quote Halo as a 20 hour game on a standard difficulty.
Visuals:
According to release date - 9.5/10
According to today's standards - 7/10
Audio:
Environmental Sounds - 9.5/10
Music - 9/10
Story - 8/10
Player Captivation - 14.3/10 (I'm telling you, it's amazing.)
The boys at Penny-Arcade had good things to say as well --
2001 / 07 / 23
2001 / 09 / 28
And I think the strips are both funny, and accurate One and Two
Overall: 9.7 / 10 (I don't know if that actually computes, but I think this game is incredible.)
