ICO

Review - Old meets new in this stunning adventure...

ICO, like the proverbial oasis in the middle of the desert, comes as a refreshing, invigorating surprise. With its stunning visuals of ornate masonry (the likes of which only Devil May Cry can even claim being anywhere near), and a world so completely beautiful and immersive that the gameplay almost takes a back seat to the daydreams of living in such a place, ICO will captivate players all the way through its relatively short play time while defying explanation as a video game. Playing it feels more like committing an act of pure chivalry; an archaic ideal that one would think was as dead as the old-school adventure genre of gaming. If nothing else, ICO proves that there is quite a bit of life left in both.

There is nothing whiz-bang about ICO. There are no mercenaries, no SOCOM pistols, no spiritually enhanced weaponry, and no trace whatever of anything representing a ravenous undead zombie. However, what it does have is a princess named Jorda, who, while speaking a language you can’t even come close to being able to understand, desperately needs your help. She has been imprisoned in a castle by the minions of a mysterious woman, and must escape before it’s too late.

Those initiated in the old-school era of adventure gaming, (the late 80s and early 90s PC adventure titles from, most notably, LucasArts and Sierra) will take to ICO immediately, and will mentally declare that this was what would have been considered the ultimate adventure title back in those days. Even in today’s gaming landscape, ICO proves to be a wonderful, A-list title experience, albeit an unusual (and slow-paced) one. It would be a fair comparison to say that this game shares a bit of what made MYST such a success with multiple audiences, and yet it expands on those ideas to the point where a player would feel that this is what MYST should have been.