Review

First released to universal acclaim back in March 2002, this has gone on to become one of the most sought after titles on the PS2. These last few years you’ve stood more chance of winning the Euro Millions jackpot than you have of finding a copy of ICO to buy, but now that is changing and Sony are re-releasing it to coincide with the arrival of Shadow Of The Colossus. So this gives us the opportunity to go back and play it once more and see if it still stands up today.

You control the 12-year-old child of the title, left to die in a deserted castle by the people of his village. You're not the only one trapped there, however, there's also a Princess named Yorda, and it's your goal to find a safe route out of the castle for the pair of you. Many sections of the game involve you literally leading the distressed damsel by the hand. You handle all the rope climbing, switch finding, block pushing and puzzle solving while Yorda just waits for you to get on with it, but isn't that always the way!

Atmosphere pours out of the screen, I'd swear that at times you can feel the wind as well as hear it during play! There's no music constantly playing, just the ambient sounds you'd expect. Birds chirping, rustling leaves and flowing rivers are all here and provide a relaxed gaming experience quite unlike anything else around. This is also reflected in the muted colour scheme used in the graphics.

What makes this game such a joy to play however is the attention paid to even the smallest things. How many times, for instance, in other games have you had to press an action button just to get on a ladder? Not here. Approach a ladder in this game and you'll automatically get on and start climbing. It's such an obvious thing that you'll start wondering why other games have made our lives so difficult!

This is also a game where it's almost impossible to die. Falling too far will end the game, but you'd have to be pretty stupid in order to do so as you tend to stop and wobble when you approach the edge of a platform. Yorda is your primary concern as occasionally some shadowy beasties will appear and try to drag her into the ground, and this will be the most common way your game will be over. Fortunately these can be fought off with a small selection of weapons and pressing R1 at anytime during play will call out to her and keep an eye on Yorda’s safety.

None of the puzzles are overly complicated, despite first appearances. Some lateral thinking and spacial awareness should reveal what's required of you. Most will involve simply trying to find the right way around the room to reach a switch that opens up a gate allowing Yorda to pass though. Some solutions are so obvious that you really kick yourself for not spotting it when you eventually stumble on the solution!

With most games being concerned with killing, and increasing elaborate ways of doing so, ICO is a very welcome change of pace. It may steal ideas from a whole host of other games but the designers have pieced them together in such a way that it still comes across as unique and original. Any true gaming fan will find ICO mesmerising, don't allow it to pass you by a second time!

About the Review

Platform

Sony Playstation 2

Developer

Team ICO

Publisher

Sony Computer Entertainment

Released

17th February 2006