Understanding Shadow of the Colossus

It’s rare that a game can focus specifically on just one thing and be successful at it. If anyone had come up with the idea of roaming an empty plain and battling just fifth teen creatures no one would believe in its appeal. Thankful someone was brazen enough to do just that. Although I had played Shadow of the Colossus a year ago it still has left a big impression on me. At the time it seemed revolutionary, changing the way everyone saw big creature battles forever. It certainly influenced games like God of War 2. I am hoping that other companies will take note of how the game was done. There’s more to it than just having a giant thing for a player to climb and stab at. I believe developers have not really grasped what was really going on.

There is a very noticeable cinematic technique employed in the game for those of us who watch movies. Shadow of the Colossus used an old camera trick that worked quite well in the Lord of the Rings series by Peter Jackson. Notice that the three hobbits appeared quite small in comparison to the rest and very conspicuously to the wizard Gandalf. Pausing and rewinding the DVD will show that all shots of Gandalf are taken from below. The panel is looking upwards. All shots of the hobbits are looking down. Some may notice that already and may even know the implication. Clearly Gandalf was a big man and the hobbits small. However, the missing link that separates seeing from knowing is the principle.

Camera angles create points of view. There are three points of view: first, second, and third person. Combining all three creates an illusion that can make a small man big and vice versa. It can go as far as creating other attributes such as courage which is often personified in body language. Of course, it’s not as simple as switching between the different points of view. A good movie director always knows when to switch between each view. First, the scene has to be set so the audience has an idea of what and where. Usually these are panned out shots of the location. Many are bird’s eye view shots. Second, the camera focuses in on what is going on in closer detail. A conversation of some sort or some kind of interaction is going on at this point. The audience is in a third person view, casually observing what is going on. Then as the interaction reaches an emotional or intense state the shots quickly changes to first person. This allows the audience to connect on a personal level and not just as mere observer for a moment. Many movies will have shots showing each person’s facial expression while he/she is speaking, rotating first person shots as the conversation goes from one to the other. This personalizes and connects the audience with the situation.

It is easy enough to know the principle of how points of view work. It is another thing to understand why. It comes down to knowing how the human psyche works. If a person is blindfolded, taken to another location and dumped he will have a reaction that is natural no matter the social or individual characteristics he may possess. Without a doubt his first thought would be “where am I?” People are by nature hardwired to seek and understand his surroundings and he goes about it in defined steps. How all this relates to Shadow of the Colossus is quite simple. There are very subtle details that create the illusion of colossus and man. The emulation of the idea without an understanding of its psyche is just a bad imitation.

As Wanderer, the protagonist, wanders throughout the desolate plains on his horse the camera will zoom in closer on him and his horse to give a perspective on his size for the audience. As he reaches a colossus the camera will slowly zoom out to maintain perspective on the colossus. It creates the ratio of size difference. This is the most important secret of the videogame. There are other subtle details that helps build this motif. Dust will foam out of the woods much higher than Wanderer. Trees will crumble and fall to the side. As the colossus comes slowly (because he’s big and slow) the audience can see how small Wanderer is and how big the colossus is by observing its outsole. Nothing says small like seeing the bottom of someone’s feet. Wanderer will climb up the colossus much like an ant on our bodies and he’ll swing side to side just as we try to shake ants off our own bodies.

Fumita Ueda the lead designer had a hard time working with the development team because he perhaps did not organize the motif of the game. He obviously knew what he saw in his mind but could not convey it. This is a field more akin to psychology than videogame. It’s not a surprise to see why he dropped the idea of battling underling creatures and skipping right to boss battles; unheard of in videogame thus far. Small underlings took away from the perspective and would have distracted the developers from holding on to this motif of colossusism. He should have taken the whole team rock climbing. As a child I often went to Yosemite National Park with giant cliffs, waterfalls, and redwood trees. The trees were big enough to be hollowed and serve as a tunnel. Waterfalls seem to be coming down from heaven. Cliffs disappear into the earth. Truly, nothing teaches a person perspective as well as experience.

Herein lays the method for the entire videogame. Using points of view aptly creates the perspective of the game. God of War 2 tried to copy the giant colossus idea but failed because the designers did not realize the cinematic connection between audience and videogame. It is mostly due to the fact that the engine for God of War 2 does not allow for shifting camera angles, which makes the colossal battle out of place personally. A good game designer should be aware of the available technology and how the dynamic works with creativity. However, this is asking a person to analyze himself; a feat I fear too great for anyone.