It was only a couple of years ago that Sony announced their first HD collection starting with God of War, and it didn’t take long before people everywhere started asking for a Team ICO collection. Fast forward a few months and the title was publicly announced to be in development, something that excited thousands of people worldwide. This year’s E3 provided us a chance to go hands on with the collection, and after enjoying it for nearly an hour, it was clear that it’s just what the doctor ordered.
The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection was playable in a demo within Sony’s press area. As expected, new hardware has breathed life into each of these extremely appealing games. Shadow of the Colossus in particular pushed the PS2 to its absolute limit, and as a result visual hiccups existed. Now that it can take advantage of the PS3’s powerful hardware, not only does the game look better than before, which means a lot, but the framerate is consistent. Even nearly six years later, these visuals are competitive within the market. The collection will be a true testimony to how far both of these games were ahead of their time.
3D was also available in the demo, and there was even an option to define its intensity. Implementation was clearly added post-development, and comparing it to something like Motorstorm: Apocalypse would be unfair. With that said, several of the effects, from dust kicking up, to the blood shooting from stab wounds, popped out of the screen, and made the presentation that much better. This probably won’t be the hallmark of 3D gaming, but simply having the support is a welcomed move.
Each of these games have won awards across the board, with Shadow of the Colossus being argued as one of the greatest of its respective platform. That same, quality experience translates directly to this collection, so even those who have already beaten both will have a reason to pick it up. Throw in the trophy support, and you have yourself two extremely high-caliber games that will provided dozens of hours of content at an affordable price point.
My time with the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection was very satisfying, and this will likely be one of the greatest HD collection packages of all-time. Its release will be a great way for Team ICO to generate momentum going into The Last Guardian‘s release next year. We can’t wait.
