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Ico Sequel Revealed
Jonathan Prugh writes "1UP has a story on Wanda and the Colossus, the "sequel" to Ico (formerly referred to by Sony as Nico). Screenshots are available at Namako Team, and IGN has an article on the sequel as well."
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Ico is pure art in a game. I'd almost consider it an interactive graphics demo.
The lighting, textures, and animation are the most realistic I've seen in a game for the PS2. When I first played it I couldn't get over the extent of the detail that the Ico crew put into the game.
Don't knock it till you try it. And just because YOU haven't heard of it, doesn't mean nobody else has. I recommend you play the game.
Ico had an emotional element to the game that is so completely absent in this medium. It pulled at your heartstrings. I remember actually giving a damn about the boy hero born with horns and the frightened spectre of a girl he was trying to protect. It also had a signature look and mood and it would surprise me if they could somehow upgrade the graphics and still maintain it's intangible qualities.
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In that case the screenshots don't do it justice.
That was horrible. All grey and washed out.
Didn't look like there were many weapons.
Lame character model.
Are you sure it looks good and this was just
inept screenshot taking?
OMFG !!! This teh R0KZ !!!
Wait...
Ok, I feel better now.
But still, this looks amazing. The screenshots are from a movie made in the Ico engine, so if they just work on the anti-aliasing they already have a beautiful and moody engine in hand.
The story is of a boy (no horns) on a quest to awaken a girl. No details on the relationship are given. The player roams a vast lonely plain with only his trusty horse for companionship. Some of the enemies are huge and need to be climbed on; the gameplay for this will involve some maze-like elements and platforming elements to find a path up to the monster's weak point.
And there's some sort of colossus involved.
I'd say the outlook is for another critically acclaimed game that should sell pretty well based on Ico's word of mouth.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
Okay, so I'm a big Half-Life fan, I really can't wait for the sequel to that game to be released. But my OTHER favorite game of all time has to be ICO. This game approached, more than any other that I've ever played, the sort of ideal achievement that a video game should approach: it coordinated an atmosphere, along with an explorable world, and a simple objective with interesting puzzles, and deep characterization--although, ironically, you never really learn too much about any of the characters in the game. The sound cues are beautiful, and the graphics were extraordinary for the place and time (an early release on the PS2).
I realize this is kind of a fawning review of this game but really--if you think this is anything like something you would appreciate--check it out, and be excited for the release of the sequel. I believe ICO came closer than anything I've played before to being a work of art.
Go rent Prince of Persia. I had both from Gamefly at the same time and I was struck by similarities. The PoP developers have definitely played Ico. It could be called an homage. If only this team had done Enter the Matrix...
The PoP guys had the advantage of more PS2 experience and a larger art department. They had more animators for one thing.
The graphics in PoP are very good. If Wanda and the Colossus (incidentally, that's an unofficial translation of the Japanese title) can do as well, they'll have a beautiful game. Ico needed only a little antialiasing; they did things with light and shadow that really only PoP and Splinter Cell have approached.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
It's not so much the antialiasing that neededs work, but the fact that the game run in the Playstation2's low resolution (something like 320x240). If you go back and play it and then any other PS2 game you'll know what I'm talking about. But other than that, yeah, the engine for ICO was really pretty, especially considering that it's a first gen game.
"Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."
Rather than sell the "community" copy of ICO to gamestop, it keeps changing hands from player to player for what the previous person paid for it; usually $15. I currently own the community copy, and I'm the 6th owner, with about 4 more people that are waiting to play it. Sales numbers for a one time playthrough game mean nothing when it comes to overall market penetration.
moox. for a new generation.
Its one of those games where you want to show it off to your friends, something I'm guilty of when I play a great game.
Now imagine the depth that ICO had but without the confinements of the castle walls - I can't wait for this unofficial sequel even though it may have no relation to the previous story. The thought of a new world with the style of ICO excites me. I think I can easily speak for all ICO fans when I say this makes US all giddy. =)
*604x