Ico

Prepare for the next chapter in car combat. Designed and developed by the makers of Twisted Metal and Twisted Metal 2, Twisted Metal: Black sends players on a deranged journey through a world rife with horror and desolation.

The infamous Calypso returns to host the ultimate contest of wreckage and devastation. Calypso has plucked a motley crew of contestants straight from the lunatic asylum, promising these otherwise doomed souls a chance to have one wish granted, should they emerge victorious in a deadly battle of twisted metal. As the carnage unfolds, so does the horrifying tale behind each of these tortured souls. Discover why these manic motorists were locked up. Slip into their minds, take a walk around their mental anguish, and come out screaming for more!

Amazon.com Review
Ico weaves the tale of a young boy trying to escape his imprisonment in a large, vacant castle. Along the way, he discovers another captive--a beautiful princess named Yorda. Players control Ico with the goal of escaping the castle with the princess safely in hand.

Although it looks like an adventure game and has some rudimentary action sequences, Ico is mostly about solving puzzles. Players will run, jump, and climb their way through the gargantuan castle as well as figure out which objects and environments are interactive. Yorda is very much a damsel in distress, and isn't nearly as capable as Ico. A great deal of the puzzles require the player to create a safe path for Yorda, who isn't physically able to get to the places Ico can. The puzzles are quite brilliant, although a few are so tough that players will feel like ditching the princess.

Graphics, particularly the lighting effects and animations, are fantastic. The developers did a superb job of conveying the enormity and beauty of the castle. When Ico and Yorda move and interact, their actions seem totally lifelike. The ambient soundtrack and simple controls let the player focus on the tasks at hand. Sony has crafted a very unique game that anyone can play. Few games are as elegant in their simplicity as this puzzler from Sony. --Raymond M. Padilla

Pros:

• Excellent puzzle design
• Aesthetically and stylistically brilliant
• Appropriately understated sound

• Most players will finish it in fewer than 10 hours
• Battles are too easy

"ICO" at its core is a platformer and puzzle-solver with some basic combat elements, but its deeper aspects make it far more than that. The title character, Ico, must lead a young girl called Yorda out of a rundown castle and protect her from shadow creatures that try to reclaim her. The gameplay is very simplistic and yet contains one of the richest experiences ever found in gaming. The way Ico leads Yorda around is so beautiful, so powerful than it makes the player forget that he's playing a game and is instead living a dream. The dual-shock controller adds to the experience by causing the player to "feel" Ico leading Yorda by the hand. Add in realistic body physics, and the feeling is one that remains etched in a player's memory.

Adding to the unforgettable experience are superb graphics, some of the best the PS2 has seen. While the characters can look a little hazy sometimes, they always look, act, and seem real. The environment itself is a work of art. Unlike games like "Myst", where puzzles are just put there with no purpose other than to be solved, the castle is a living and breathing puzzle that is there for a purpose. Textures, lighting effects, and water effects all add to the magic the gameplay already casts.

Soundwise, there isn't a lot of music in the game except during cutscenes, pause menu, and the ending. But had there been music duing gameplay, it might've actually ruined the experience. A whistling castle with dripping water, crackling fire, and the footsteps of Ico and Yorda is all that's needed here. It simply adds to the experience. Also, the original voices were left in the game, and subtitles have been provided.

With all the good that "ICO" has, is there bad? Unfortunately, yes. The game is sadly quite short. Seasoned players can finish this game in 7-10 hours or even less, and replay value isn't very high for some players. The battles in "ICO" are very easys, usually requiring hack-slash-and-retreat tactics (although, personally, I feel a grandiose fighting system would've been ridiculous). Also, there is a small bug in which the pause menu sometimes pops up and freezes the game. I've only come across this once, but it is there.

But in the end, "ICO" outshines all its faults. From beginning to end (the ending was one of the most satisfying endings I've ever seen in gaming, far more satisfying than the ending of "Final Fantasy VII"), "ICO" is a masterpiece, albeit sadly a short one. Some players will want to buy this game and relive the experience again and again. Others will only want to live it once through a rental. Either way, this game deserves to be played by anyone and everyone.


a great game that holds up over time   May 5, 2003
chris romano (Topanga, CA USA)
44 out of 44 found this review helpful

I bought ICO over a year ago, but never completed it. That is, until recently. This weekend I popped it back in to my PS2 and finished it off...and boy, am I glad I did.

ICO is an absolutely wonderful game. It has impeccable art direction, superb gameplay, and a very charming story. I was blown away by the scope and design of the environment. Even today.

The story is simple. ICO is a small boy out to rescue a fair princess in a huge, daunting castle. Finding your way out of the fortress is just half the battle, as you are able to do things and go places the fragile princess is not. You must figure how to get her out, too, while fending off the dark spirits out to steal her back. The game is a moderately-paced fairy tale in the absolute best sense. From opening to closing credits, this game is top notch.

If you like puzzle adventure games, you have to play ICO. It's vast, cinematic, and wonderfully played out. At it's current retail price it's a bargain. The used prices are just too good to pass up.

Really. Do yourself a favor and play this game if you never have. It's an early PS2 title, but it's still one of the best, and probably one of the most genuine games you will ever play.


The best demo I've played   July 24, 2001
33 out of 33 found this review helpful

The demo is amazing.. if you look for the "summer jampack" disk which is only 7.99 - then you can experience this (if it sounds like your kind of game). What follows has no spoilers.

It starts with a good setup movie, which explains how the horned boy got locked in the castle (inside an urn).. the movie is rendered with the game engine! (it is not silicon graphics pre-rendered footage).

After the movie setup leaves the camera alone in this huge prison room in the castle, the floor crumbles and your urn spills open tossing you (the boy) onto the ground.

The initial room is *huge* with 36 of these mysterious urns lining the wall. Since one assumes each urn has a (presumably dead) person in it, this is a spooky setup indeed.

The sound of ICO is very striking.. there is no music while playing, but with brilliant footfalls, torches and other sound effects who needs music?

Movement of the boy is almost flawless.. beautifully animated he walks, trots, runs, trips, jumps and a dozen other things with high realism.

The resolution of the view inside the castle is high (unlike the comment left by another poster), although the rough hewn stones that form the walls and floor, slightly shifting camera, and misty corners to the rooms can give a negative impression to some.. but if you take time with the 2nd analog stick to move the view up and around, looking at the high roof and the detail you will be amazed.. having a quality TV with S-video or better connections helps a lot as well.

Moving through the demo you are required to solve some very simple puzzles and bring down the cage holding the mysterious girl, who is animated with a soft glowing quality that is quite wonderful..

It is only when one reaches the outside of the castle (with girl in hand) that the power and resolution of the ICO graphics engine reveal itself.. the view distance is astounding, with moving clouds in a bright super-white sky, and shifting sea far below.. the grass is almost floro green in the sun, but dark in shadow. A spectacular windmill rotates (with creaking sounds) over a pool of clear water .. the water reflects the windmill and also bounces wavering suns rays onto the wall above it..

If you leap into the pool, the waves spread from your impact, changing the reflections correctly and in real time .. its quite quite stunning, and the best in-game water possibly ever seen.

Shifting the view around one can appreciate the vastness of the castle surrounds, and get an idea of the adventure that awaits the boy and his strange friend in the full game.. there remains only one more puzzle to solve (how to help the girl across the bridge).

Ending the demo reveals an amazing cinema (once again, all in-game clips) that shows night, rain, waterfalls, explosions, trees with leaves waving in the wind, more switches and puzzles and demons. The 1 minute music track that goes with this cinema is also spot on.

Playing the ICO demo (which can be done in little over 10 minutes) over and over again I've spotted more things each time and cannot wait for the full game..

Some (kids) will undoubtably think ICO is "boring" or does not involve blood or guns and so is not for them.. but I'm convinced ICO is going to be one of the top 5 games on all platforms for the year 2001, and will be a game for adults who still have a child inside, and can still lose themselves in a fairytale world.. especially one as beautifully rendered as this.


ICO - Very Creative and Fresh   October 15, 2001
Karen H. O. Brien (Chandler, AZ)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

I finished the game a week ago and have to say, I miss playing it. I even got a little misty-eyed at the end (make sure you sit through all the credits). If you don't use a walk-thru, you'll find it plenty challenging. Most strategy games are "Every Man for Himself" or "Kill or Be Killed." This is such a nice break from all that. The designers simulated a friendship and trust between your character and Korda's that their relationship seems almost real. The scenes are beautiful, you sometimes have to stop just look around and listen. If you rest in a grassy area, you may hear a bird fluttering by and watch it land near Korda's feet, and she may run off to capture it. The graphics are amazing, something like Riven but not so static. The special effects: sunlight, shadows, smoke, fire, and the sounds are the best I've come across. I recommend this game to both children and adults. The spirits may be too scary for children under 10, but for older kids it is challenging and engaging (even for us much older kids). I watched a 10 year old boy playing the game at a department store while his mother was shopping for CDs. I stood behind him and found myself saying, "you need to stretch out your hand to help her up." His mother saw the game and walked over, she was immediately engaged in the scenery and obviously pleased to see Ico rescue Korda and take her by the hand; she asked, "what game IS that?" I would be surprised if anyone says, after playing Ico, that they dislike this game.


It's not a game. It's digital art ; a painter's envy.   September 27, 2005
louis
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I used to be a dedicated gaming enthusiast years and years ago in the final fantasy 7 PS1 days. Just when I thought in my mid-twenties that I had totally and forever lost any real significant interest in video games, I get laid off from work.Hmmm. I begin pondering how to use some spare time; nothing like a bit of video game playing to pass the time and ease the frustration of job rejections. So I borrowed a friend's PS2 and rented Ico. I'm not really sure what nudged me in the direction of this game. Maybe it's the fact that I remember years ago when it first came out how much of an impact it's lush graphics had on me and I only played a demo version of it at Wal-mart for 15 minutes. I remember thinking to myself one day I got to really check this game out.To say that Ico has restored and quickened my interest after so long is an understatement and an ultimate testimoney to this game's power. This is the first time I've ever reviewed a game and it is rather befitting that Ico should be the one to make me write it.

Obviously who ever reads this has a general idea what this game is about so I won't elaborate into detail about territory that has alreday been covered in depth by so many people. The bottom line is this. Rescue a frail girl from a mysterious castle by controlling a horned boy named Ico through puzzles and obstacles all the while fighting shadow creatures that appear from time to time. There! I think that about covers it.

The graphics are just extraordinary. Colors are so vibrant. I've never seen sunshine on a game so golden and crisp and trust me thats saying something since my old tube TV has seen better days. The game play is very good although it cannot compare with other strong games solely intended for an action format. The movements while being very lifelike and fluid border on the surreal as the frail girl Yorda is dragged along by Ico. Colors are often used as a washy haze which another reviwer from a different site described as having a bleached type look. It's fantastic!

There could be some better use of the scrolling/viewing ability in the game ,but it's not a hinderance whatsover in the grand scheme of it all. If you are looking for riveting fast moving action based graphics and gameplay you won't find it in this game. If you play it, you will however find something you probbaly haven't found in any other game though..

The most noteworthy aspect of Ico I'd like to share with people is the intense emotional impact this "game" has and how well the designers so eloquently convey it in this work of art. I've only been playing this game for a day [4-5] hours and am totally blown away by it. This game is very much the epitome of experiencing what so many other game designs in the same genre fail to deliver and that is emotonal communication. Like great movies, great art, and great music, this game trully transcends a fundamental human message and discovering that message yourself is a deep and rich reward. It's very inspiring. I know,I know. I'm starting to sound all sappy ,but I just can't help it. I honestly think this game can make someone a better person after playing it. Can video games do that you ask? This isn't a game my friend...It's ART!

I'm very glad I went back and experienced Ico...

You will be glad after you have experienced it too!