With the release of The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection just a week away, I’m still in awe over how awesome the remastered games look and sound. If you’re on the fence about the collection, know that, so far, it has an average score of 91 out of 27 reviews. Game Informer gave it a 9.75, Destructoid a 9.5, Games Radar a 9.0, GamePro a 4.5 out of 5, and IGN an 8.5.
The games are fantastic in their own right, whether you’ll be playing them for the first time or have already played the originals. But I think you’re also really going to dig the fantastic bonus content we’ve packed onto the disc.
Not only do you get to enjoy seeing early concept and prototype footage of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, we’ve also included the original concept video for NICO. If you’ve never heard of NICO, it was the second game from Fumito Ueda and team, and was going to be an online game where groups of hunters tracked, scaled and slayed giant beasts together. That game was never made, but key ideas from it formed the basis for what would become Shadow of the Colossus.
In addition, there are two brand new original videos included on the disc. One is a 20+ minute round-table discussion between key members of the development team, Fumito Ueda (Lead Designer, Director), Kenji Kaido (Line producer) and Junichi Hosono (designer). They openly discuss what it was like to make these games, difficulties and challenges they faced, and even the original US packaging for ICO.
And last but not least is a 12-minute behind-the-scenes video filmed on location at the Sony Computer Entertainment JAPAN Studio offices in
Shinagawa. This video features interviews with key production staff members about the making of ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian, their thoughts on this new HD collection, as well as concept art and prototype footage from all the games. You’ll also watch some never-before-seen footage from The Last Guardian.
Above, you can watch a short sneak peek at some of the cool bonus video content you can look forward to next week when you pick up the game for yourself on September 27th. I hope you enjoy the bonus content on the disc as much as we did putting it all together for you. Don’t forget to check out the preview of the collection in this month’s episode of Qore as well.
Which game are you more excited to play in HD for the first time — ICO or Shadow of the Colossus?