Ico
IcoPlatform: PlayStation2
ESRB Rating: Teen
ASIN: B00004YUWA
Check price @ amazon.com , amazon.ca , amazon.co.uk
Features:
• Adventure game
• Incorporates elements of strategy, fighting, and role-playing genres
• Play as a courageous young boy trying to save a princess
• Inventive puzzles
• For 1 player
Product Description: Cast off at birth and entombed, Ico is now Princess Yorda's only hope for survival. Featuring astounding graphics and detail, this captivating adventure challenges you to lead the way through the catacombs and towering ramparts of a strange and dangerous castle. Navigate the maze of passageways, solve mind-bending puzzles and battle the castle's evil protectors. Ages 13 and up. Made in USA.
Customer Reviews:
Buy the UK version if you can play it, November 27, 2002
Reviewer: Robin Lionheart from Pennsylvania
This game is indeed "art in moving pixels", and I heartily recommend it.
However, if you have a modified PS2 that can play PAL versions, I recommend you buy the UK release instead. The UK version has more replay value and better AI. The game can be set to play at PAL60 for a comparable frame rate to NTSC.
Gameplay was improved in the UK version. The positioning of the enemies is less predictable, making the fights more challenging. Yorda's AI is a little smarter, climbing ladders and jumping down short heights with less prompting. The UK version also has an additional puzzle and an optional cutscene which are not in the US/Canada version.
At the end of the game in the UK version, you can save it and play the game again with a few bonus features: Yorda's foreign dialogue is translated in subtitles, a second player can control Yorda with a second controller, and an option is added to play the game with a grainy film stock graphics effect.
I like the UK version's box art better, too.
one of the best, November 9, 2002
Reviewer: Josh a 13 year old gamer from Concord, CA USA
Ico is one of the best games i have ever played. The puzzles are not hard but there not easy either and the fighting system has a lot of cool combos. One of the down sides is the monsters are all black shadows that just take different form. What really makes this game challenging is your protecting a princess from all the mosters and if they get her then you lose and some times that gets really annoying but if you like a good puzzle and a good adventure I highly reccomend Ico: )
Breathtaking, October 25, 2002
Reviewer: nafysmiley from Utah
It seems odd to say about a video game, but Ico is lovingly crafted. It is beautifully simple. It is a work of art. Very few other games can even approach Ico's level of artistic and cinematic presentation. More so than almost anything else, Ico is an evolution in game design. It is different. That is rare. I, for one, would be disappointed if more games of the sort weren't created, though it doesn't lend itself too well to be a new genre. At the very least, I hope it will influence others in the video game industry.
Ico's graphics are good, and they exhibit an impressive unity and style. The lighting and shadows are excellent. The castle is perfect, and lends itself well to chilling visuals of far off areas. There aren't too many cutscenes, but they are fantastic, and they don't drag like so many other games. Some graphical affects, like the shadow monsters, and the little birds all over the place, and the spreading darkness when Yorda is dragged down into the nether, are very cool.
Ico himself is cool, as a boy that was exiled for his villages good fortune, due to his horns. He is an athletic 12 year old, leaping around and climbing chains and such. Yorda is a mysterious woman whom Ico finds soon into his adventure. She cannot be understood by Ico, but he helps her along anyway, as she seems to be in need of help. She is kind of absent minded (as far as AI goes), but she never really wanders off very far. Many complain about her not taking an active role in the adventure, but it felt to me like she was supposed to be mysterious, and not just a normal person. That, and I don't know a single girl of her stature that could climb a chain. I thought it all worked well. When you are forced to leave her behind it is suspenseful, as she is can be attacked while you're gone, which is a terrifying experience. There is also the "Queen", another mysterious person Ico meets. Saying much more would spoil it.
The gameplay itself was surprisingly fun, though not enough to satisfy die-hard action fans. The puzzles, for the most part, are easy and they center around getting Yorda through the castle (which Ico can traverse easily). The combat with the shadow monsters isn't too tough, especially once you've got your sword. There's not too much to it. There isn't a lock on system or anything, just running around and attacking. You can't actually be killed (I think), so the important part of the combat is actually defending Yorda. It is cool when you are swarmed by nearly unstoppable masses of enemies, and your only option is to drag Yorda to safety while trying hopelessly to fend off enemies. Good stuff.
Ico has some of the most carefully done sound I've ever encountered. The music is eerily appropriate and never overpowering. Often, there isn't even music, but just background noises or a chilling silence.
There isn't an abundance of story. Rather, it all just sort of exists. The beginning and set-up are excellent, and it leads to an ending which is breathtaking. It was beautiful. I was left in awe.
All this, and Ico only took five hours to finish, which is the only major drawback. Which is kind of a shame, because I don't know how much longer it could have gone on without ruining it. Some have mentioned that Ico is less a game than a work of art. It is both. You've got to experience Ico for yourself. Unless you hate solving puzzles, play this game. It is worth every moment.
Myst for the year 2001..., October 20, 2002
Reviewer: Brian from Fairfax, VA United States
Ico is a stellar achievement when it comes to environment. Astounding graphics, understatedly perfect sound effects, and the thoroughly haunting and appropriate music with heavy on the strings. Go anywhere in the castle that makes up the game field and you can see the other portions of the castle from the proper persepective. You're truly immersed in this world.
And therein lies the problem...
As other reviews have stated, Ico is short--astoundingly so, for a game that cost $40+ at one point. Any gamer with even moderate experience would complete the game in less than 10 hours; expert gamers might squeeze in under 5. As a result, the game designers never really build a mythology that is the hallmark of a classic.
Oh, don't get me wrong. For the few hours it lasts, you'll get attached to Ico and his wispy companion. The problem is that, most likely, you won't care about them after it's over. The player never gains a clear understanding of why this castle exists, how it came to be in this state of disrepair, and why the denizens of the castle act the way they do.
In other words, the designers failed to construct a mythology as compelling and immersive as their castle. As such, Ico is much like Myst+, a gorgeous puzzle game (with far more logical puzzles) that ultimately turns out to be not much more than that.
this game stinks, October 19, 2002
Reviewer: A 12-year old gamer
i think that it takes way to long to get into the game and it seems that every 10 minutes is a cut seen
!CO, October 19, 2002
Reviewer: James Cope from Sierra Vista, AZ
I could not type enough exclamation points to get across to you how good this game is. You are Ico, a 12 year old boy that was born with horns. Because of this, he is exiled to a Gormenghastian castle (only bigger) where he is locked up in a stone-shelled sarcophagus.
Then the earthquake hits.
His sarcophagus falls to the stone floor and cracks open, letting Ico out. But Ico is unconscious. He has this dream.
When he awakens, the game starts. Some of the rooms in this castle are HUGE. One thing that I like about this game is that you can move the camera around with the R2 button. When a game boasts such beautiful graphics and settings as ICO, this is an outstanding feature to have.
Less than an hour into the game, you find a ghostly but glowing princess locked up in a cage and free her. In most games, you are struggling to reach the princess. In ICO, you already have the princess. But now, the question is How Do You Get Out? The earthquake has caused bridges to collapse, stones to crumble, forcing you to do things that most people wouldn't do--like jump onto windmill blades or chandeliers.
The sound effects in this game are also fantastic. For one, throughout the whole game, Ico breaths heavily. Probably because of all the physical exertion he's putting up with, but one could almost feel the adrenaline going through this young boy's veins, especially when he first breaks out, that sudden urge of I MUST GET OUT OF HERE!
As far as graphics go, I have NEVER seen a tree look so realistic in-game. Every LEAF has light and shadow on it, both of which change when the limb sways back and forth. Also impressive are the effects of sunlight filtering through windows.
Unlike some puzzle games, the puzzles in Ico are logical. There is very little back-tracking, and nothing ridiculous like one of those silly Nintendo-ish find 5 golden banana's to unlock the door. I have never been stumped by a puzzle in Ico, just gotten impatient (never frustrated). And when you go on the internet to find the answer, you will often feel stupid.
But you will not be solving puzzles throughout the whole game. Black Shadows come out of dark pools and attempt to walk off with your princess. The shadowmen are nothing more than 2D shadow shapes that are blurred around the edges, walking around your screen, but they look pretty impressive.
Everything following the events of the opening of the Main Gate is fantastic, especially the last battle. And guess what? Even the last battle is a sort of puzzle. Once the credits roll, hang around, because once they're done the game is not entirely over yet.
The Playstation 2 is my favorite console system. Unfortunately, some of the games that I was hoping to give 5 stars (Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2, etc) disappointed me in one way or another. Ico doesn't disappoint and fans of this game will be glad to know that there is a sequel in the works.
Thumbs up!, September 17, 2002
Reviewer: the_twins80 from Seattle, WA United States
This game has its own value to the gamers. Eventhough I found it's frustrating....it still rocks!!
Sometimes the girl is not cooperating with me(silly program) though.
Overall, this game meets my expectation and so do you.
A letdown. Maybe i'm not a puzzle fan., September 4, 2002
Reviewer: Michael Newberg
I don't really consider this a game. Yes, it is very different. But, what is good in diffrence is bad in gameplay. The princess cannot climb chains at all. Can't she feel a chain? COME ON! The combat is stupid. Look at me! I'm hitting black shadows with a stick! WOW! The puzzles are interesting, but i hate that call that Ico has when calling for Yorda. SQUAWK! Also, PLEASE TRANSLATE YORDA! Maybe i'm not a fan of puzzle games. Oh well.
Romantic adventure with a difference..., August 27, 2002
Reviewer: john carageorgio from Johannesburg, SA
ICO cannot be categorised in any of the common game genres, as this "game" plays more like a romantic novel, engaging the player in an emotional and spiritual feeling that far transcends the boundaries of common "game experiences". Sure, you will need to climb ladders, activate levers, defend against evil shadows, etc. but all these actions will absorb your mind and soul in a truly beautiful way.
The scenery is sublime in its melancholy, the struggle to free Yorda is agonisingly poignant, and the conclusion is a complete surrender to the higher emotions of love and mystery.
very fun game!, August 21, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer from Zanarkand
this is one of my favorite games for the PS2. the graphics are amazing, and the gameplay is very good. the only downside was that this game could be completed in 10 hours or less. but who cares about that right?
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