Shadow of the Colossus
Camera’s a bit shit aint it! I’ve just got so frustrated with the camera on the 1st colossus… that I’ve turned it off.
Grrr very pretty but just so misses some vital points about games.
A) 5 Minute intro before I can play – Games are interactive not some wanna-be movie maker idea of ‘story telling’
B) Visuals are secondary to the game – Don’t put particles or lighting that obscure the players.
C) Controls and Instructions – Don’t tell me to press stuff for no reason (why does it tell you about weapon change before the first colossus, when it wants you to use the sword you already had selected?)
D) Camera – Just get it right or don’t bother. If I can’t see what I’m doing, I can’t play and no its not my job to use the right stick to fix your crappy camera setup.
Enough bitching for now, prehaps I’ll try another day when I’m feeling more patient and forgiving. I’m sure its a good game but so far its not my cup of tea.
Its not unusual for me to not like popular, critically acclaimed game so nothing new here then…
Sunday, February 26th, 2006 @ 11:56 am 
Computer Games
RSS 2.0
Trackback
February 27th, 2006 at 7:19 am
Don’t fight the camera, just let it do what it needs to do. It’s like the horse, when you’re negotiating those winding trails, the horse basically knows how to get through, you just need to keep pressing X and Agro basically does the bulk of the work. Good luck with the game, it’s by far the best one I’ve played this year.
February 27th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
The minute i started playing sotc i fell in love with the camera. Its just too great the way you can control it with the right stick. I had so much fun controlling the camera to make cinematic angles. But i guess that a controllable camera is not for everyone. I remember when my brother gave a shot to the game he really had problems with the camera, he always tried to get it behind the hero. My point is that the camera is not only made to get a better view of the gameplay its also made to enhance the graphical value of the game.
February 27th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
I don’t exactly have the most dexterous fingers, so maybe its simply that… I will give it another chance definately, maybe I was expecting too much… I’d been waiting for its release over here since it first came out, so it was a bit of disappointment to be fighting cameras in my first battle…
Somebody really needs to do some major research on game cameras, would make a really good book just showing all the ‘normal’ styles… kind of like a ‘pattern’ book (used in code) but for game cameras…
Hmmm
March 1st, 2006 at 6:16 pm
Shadow of the Colossus rules néscio.
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:03 am
Let me get this out of my system first. I really really need to say it. You arrogant SOB!!! lol no offense since I’m SotC fanboy. Besides you had it coming anyway from probably someone else so why not me. Kidding!!
Now I’d certainly be wanting to see what your game Heavenly Sword is going to bring to the camera angle procedure. Not that I’m expecting it to be anything better than SotC anyway incase something gets messed up. High expectations means a higher drop if upset. So I’d just cross my fingers that your game really does nail a good camera angle at all times. Good luck mate and give it another try. I’m sure you’ll figure out what to do. You must be doing something awfully wrong with the controls there or what you described really sounds like exaggeration otherwise.
March 2nd, 2006 at 8:41 am
About the story element, you’ll see that the (beautiful IMO) 5 minute intro just serves to set the mood and situation for the game. Beyond that its pretty much straight forward gameplay with the occassional brief cut-scene until the grand finale. But I have to disagree that storytelling cant play a big role in gameplay. If it serves to give the interactive experience deeper context and further ones immersion in the gameworld than sometimes “taking the game away from the player” can actually be a service. At least in my own experience (MGS, Ico, RE4, GoW being good examples IMO). In SoTC’s case besides the intro and the ending its very minamalist (much like Ico), but overall its one of the more sophisticated and subtle fantasy narratives Ive seen in a game. Ueda has a wonderful imagination.
Anyway I hope you end up getting a good feel for the title. Its one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.
March 7th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
About the weapon switch, as I recall, on the first colossus, you have to switch to the bow, to shoot the feet, so it will drop down and you can climb up, THEN you use the sword, so the weapon switch is necessary, unless I’ve got my colossi out of order.