ICO is simply a brilliant game. ICO is an adventure/puzzle game. The thing is that the puzzles are placed within the adventure part of the game so well! This game is not for those with a weak brain as this game requires you to think almost all the time. The idea of the game is to get out of a mysterious castle with Yorda, a mysterious imprisoned girl you find, but at the same time you must protect her. She is frail and so, you must open up paths which she can take. You have to hold her hand to make sure she follows you quickly or you can call her by yelling. You also have to help her up high ledges or distance jumps. There is some combat involved as well, though the combat is definitely there for amusement. It's simple combat. You have one of 3 types of weapons (2x4, mace, sword) with which you must protect Yorda from these evil shadow creatures who will take her away if you are too careless. There is no health meter as you can't be killed (unless you fall from a high area). You have huge areas to explore and you must look around and think of ways to continue on the next area. There will be a lot of wandering for some people but once a puzzle is solved, you feel a sense of accomplishment. The only bad thing about the game is that it doesn't last. It will take about 6-8 hours to complete and there isn't anything extra the second time though. But this game is definitely worth playing though more then once just for the sheer beauty of design.
This game is absolutely magnificent to look at. Beautifully designed environments galore! The polygon count is very high and the detail on everything great. The environments are huge and look amazing. The characters look great and the monsters are pretty cool. There aren't many characters and monsters though that's no big deal. At some points, the environments look photorealistic. The animation and physics are all very real. The real time cut-scenes are done wonderfully. The game runs very smoothly except for some minor hiccups on rare occasions.
The game sounds great and there is very little to complain about in the sound quality. There is voice acting but it's in the characters native language (two of them) so English subtitles are displayed, except when even the main character doesn't understand the language. For most of the game there is no music, only ambient sounds (wind, water waves, etc.) which is great. It really sets the atmosphere of the game perfectly. The few musical tracks (there are about 4 or 5) are excellent though.
The story is rather nice touch. It's not a major part of the story, but it's nice anyway. I won't spoil it as it doesn't really get interesting until the end.
Final words: Though short, ICO is simply a joy to play. A must have title for the PS2.
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