Team Ico PS3: The Impossible Jump

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Article Comments for [link=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/115/1152899p1.html]Team Ico PS3: The Impossible Jump[/link]
by Ryan Clements

Summary: In the Team Ico Collection, two classic games from the PS2 are coming to the PS3. How do they look? And how do they make a group of international games journalists cry out in failure? [link=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/115/1152899p1.html]Read Full Article[/link]

 

[angleonstuff]

last -.-

 

[stefman666]

wow seriously?? there is only 3 main buttons you need to know. any fan of shadow of the colossus knows the grab button is kind of important. i know you are using this somewhat metaphorically, but the example is a bad one.

 

[KeijuKaze]

Cool. Gotta put this on my games to get list whenever its released.

 

[tiny_tim31]

thats hilarious

 

[nilops1995]

Actually, it is become hardcore died long ago! Casual rules our industry now!

 

[joney3jonez]

Xbox gamers might be missing out this year, last guardian, shadow and ico, Uncharted , Infamous2 ....

 

[DarthBrian]

Sounds like you gaming journalists are all idiots. The Grab mechanic is one of the main mechanics of the game. It's even something you can level up over the course of the game. If anything, games like Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia are designed for babies.

 

[McSpazza]

lol SotC is awesome but swinging your sword (normally, not stabbing) only serves a single brief purpose in the ENTIRE game. You can't even hit the lizards or eagles with it. Its just for jiggling some giant glowing teeth.

 

[CallSignStarbucks]

Hm, hopefully ICO will polish these mechanics a bit before they release the collection. It would be sad for people to go back to these wonderful games, only to be frustrated by dated gameplay.

 

[jimlockey]

I found that jump difficult to make first time around.

And as for the mechanics- I think that Shadow & Ico have a greater demand for precision even when compared to their contemporaries. This is particularly true in Shadow when a lot of the thrill was made up of constantly thinking 'will i be able to hold on' The challenge was not just the puzzle of how to defeat a colossus but the intricate domino like timing of making sure you nail each step perfectly.

I think its not quite right to suggest that this is the game ageing, when for me those mechanics had always set it apart from other games. But maybe the frustration comes from elsewhere... i.e. we've already played the game once and so we know how the solution should play out, where as first time round your working it out as you go. This means that moments that break the fluidity of your motion are more noticable - I certainly get that when I've returned to the game on my ps2.


...All that said, thanks Ryan for your awesomeness.

 

[jimlockey]

Oh, thinking further, I remember how wander would do a little stumble over every piece of uneven ground. It feels like a fight sometimes to get him to move in anything like a controlled manner- but after the frustration, i liked this fact- it made him seem even smaller and emphasised his human frailty against the gigantic colossi

 

[jimlockey]

'You can't even hit the lizards or eagles with it' - McSpazza

you could hit lizards with it. It was just really hard

 

[Nickinator23]

No, maybe it's neither jetlag or the aging, maybe it's just that it's original all over again. The mechanic has only truly been done in Shadow of the Collosus, so how could it be aged badly? An original mechanic of a PS2 classic that had original concepts. BAM!

 

[Spydr331]

its just that we have become to complacent as gamers. the games are supposed to do everything for us and that makes things very mechanical.

sometimes its nice to have the assassins creed run in a straight line and let things happen mechanic or the batman smash the same button but get different results systems but in a game where there is climbing to be done you cant just let things happen.

what if i want jump but NOT grab onto the first thing i can reach and instead slide down a bit and grab a lower ledge that leads somewhere else? i would have to angle and jump and turn and avoid when instead i could just NOT hold the hold on button. i love that mechanic and wish it were used again

 

[padfoot7726]

I'd say the gameplay isn't dated, it's just not done often enough to be second nature. Movement in shadow took some practice to get right back in 2005 as well.

 

[mbrown333]

This is a completely pointless article. The game isn't finished yet (supposedly, and disappointingly), and those kinds of issues may be solved by adjustments to the control scheme, sensitivity, etc. Also, I'm assuming that the game will have some kind of tutorial to clue you in as to how to do things like this. So while I can see how someone may not know what to do to make a large jump if they haven't just gone through such a tutorial...so what? What is the point? To display how an upcoming game may not control like other recent games? Why is that significant? What a waste of time!

 

[relaxive]

Yeah, I don't think being coddled by automated mechanics means that the SotC controls haven't aged well. Once you're in a proper playthrough, you'll get used to how the game feels again.

Maybe they haven't aged well, but I don't think that example is any proof of that.

 

[Fragems]

This guy spent so much time complaining about a single jump that it ruined the entire article . Ico and Shadow of the Collosus are both great games and im glad to see them being moved together in a single collection to the PS3. I highly recommend this collection to anyone especially because of Shadow of the Colloseus theres nothing else like it and ive played it all the way through about 8 times now.

Also the whole automatic jump arguement this guy was having is just retarded. The grab button is there to make the game more realistic and you use it so often that it becomes second nature after a while. If the grab function were automatic then this game would have no challenge at all because it would have take all the strategy out of climbing the bosses since the grip meter wouldnt be able to function properly with you auto grabbing everything.

 

[xxXMANOWARXXx]

@clements
dude don't you know that anything made by team Ico is a fanboy sacred cow. How dare you be critical of this game, even though it is your job.

Good read, BTW.

 

[HAMMOND5555]

Disappointing, thought this game would be perfect for the amount of time it has taken to become available.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

Or maybe you just forgot what the mechanics are supposed to represent - namely the effort that you have to put into the actions.

Shadow of the Colossus' controls were always a little clunky even back when the game was new, because they were supposed to be, the idea being to increase the amount of effort put into the actions you're taking. Its not supposed to feel smooth and easy to climb the colossi its supposed to feel difficult, like you're madly hanging on for dear life.

Same reason why Agro doesn't always respond to your commands perfectly all the time - because its suppose to feel more like controlling a real horse.

 

[SBJeddy]

If you're making a long jump in Assassin's Creed, you DO have to hold the grab button to catch ledges. So... what are you talking about?

 

[legacyAccount]

doesn't nearly every game have that one part or aspect that should have been fixed or left out?

 

[rootveldt]

oh so you were forgetting how to play the game, thats what they get for assuming a room full of gaming journalists could produce one person out of 50 who knows how to play SotC. the controls for this always took getting used to and character gait was really well animated and responsive, with an emphasis on controlling a person or a horse so a little more detailed than assassin's creed where you platform on anything within about 10 yards of your character. maybe they should have a journalist mode where the jumps are automatic and you can just critique the story and character development.

 

[lionheartcs]

Wow, you guys were stupid.

And this is a stupid article. SOTC's movements were never that fluid to begin with. There were always missed jumps. But that isn't because it has "aged" it's because the game is like a big action/puzzle crossover. If the controls were as tight as you'd like them, it'd be too easy.

 

[Deleted member 3544079]

Oh good.
Another opportunity for me to purchase a PS2 game to play on my PS3 because Sony didn't want to just make the console backwards compatible.
Why charge me for a game only once when you can get away with twice?
Hell, if we're lucky there'll be DLC for it too so we get to spend even more cash.

I can't wait 'til someone figures out a fool-proof hack for the PS3 so I can start stealing games and feeling like I'm getting a bit of money back.
C**ts.

 

[SlickSindred]

"Or maybe you just forgot what the mechanics are supposed to represent - namely the effort that you have to put into the actions."

This exactly. Just because newer games do everything for you, doesn't indicate that older games have dated mechanics. I loved that at times I realized I was pressing the hell out of that hold button because somehow I thought that it would actually make Wander hold on tighter. It works. You just forgot how to play it, plain and simple.

 

[NightX-2]

Seems perfect to me. It sounds exactly the same as the PS2 version. Isn't that what a remake is?

 

[PITCHBLACKVOMIT]

First of all, what Ico and Shadow so called "lack" in character development and storyline complexity they both more than make up for that with breathtaking visuals and in depth controls and most of all game play. Secondly the way that Shadow is played has had such a lasting impression on me, the instinct to try to use R1 to grab ledges and such has plagued many of my gaming experiences since. Timing is a huge key to this game, whether its doing a victory jump of the cliff after the first colossus and landing on Agro, great success, or riding on the side of him to let him take most of the blow from a projectile during that bastard by the field of geysers, its the little things that make this much larger picture of a game more than just amazing...its timeless.

 

[DecoySS3]

I think we'll get used to it just as we've had to adapt to each game we play. For example: Uncharted makes you use the jump button for things that would just be automated in Assassin's Creed. I'm sure that movement is going to be a little out dated though. I actually was playing the original ICO a few months ago and I felt frustrated at times that the movements weren't as fluid as I thought they were when I first played it back when the PS2 launched. It would be nice if the character movements in both games could be tweaked to give them a more natural feeling, but I don't see it as a game breaker since mostly this re-release of the games is for the fans. Also, I don't think it's necessary to change the controls for climbing just because platformers we currently play don't use a button to make sure our character's have a hold on ledges. Lara Croft never used a button for climbing so this isn't really something that is new to platforming. Taking away the grab button in SotC would make the Colossus battles pointless if Wander just held on automatically.

 

[Marty_Mcfly1.21]

I love SOTC... probably one of my top 5 games of all time. I had alot of great moments playing through this game for the first time. That being said, i dont really think it will be as good with a little HD update in the graphics. Its still a 10 year old game, and I'll plug in my ps2 if i really want to play it.

 

[eloquentrave]

But, but... I pressed the "Power/On" Button!!!

What more do WANT from me, yea cruel video game gods???

YOU MEAN I GOTTA PRESS THE "WIN" BUTTON TOO???

Pathetic.

 

[quaternio]

As someone who scaled the tower after Shadow of the Colossus' endgame, I don't think that it is a bad thing that actual coordination is required. This assertion about "aging mechanics" is something I hear often about throwbacks. While I understand some complaints, I think it is more about failing to remember than it is about dated control schemes. I mean I actually do remember struggling with the mechanics, and I even remember struggling with that particular jump in SotC. Nothing has changed, and the overall experience of succeeding in the game is something that I don't expect will diminish, either.

 

[zool152004]

lol oh dear, just because a load of swaggering game journalists forgot shadow of the colossus doesn't play itself, they suddenly think "it must be the outdated mechanics", i'm just poking fun not being aggressive...

I'm not gonna go on a giant rant or anything but just to put gamers at ease who maybe haven't played SOTC the main reason jumps aren't automated is due to the grip/stamina system for colossi battles, being that to stay on even when horizontal requires careful balance between recovering stamina stood up and draining it to hang on while being shaken each way from Sunday. This system also applies to how long you hold down the jump button which i think is the main culprit here for the guys above as they were probably all just tapping it which wouldn't give them any height or length.

Long story short, the game only has a few mechanics to it but they have alot of depth, all explained before the moment in question in a tutorial. Have no fear fans and newcomers alike, i played sotc again around early Jan and it held up remarkably well, as for ico however, i couldn't say as its been awhile...

 

[Ghostd1969]

Hey Ryan... I agree with you on the mechanics... try going back and playing prince of Presia "the sands of time" even though the grab is automatic the wall run isn't... but in the newer version almost every thing is automatic. Everything was organic when it was brand new... I've grown to like games that add in extra actions like aim or re-load instead of games that are a mere series of timed buttons and you finish the game.... meh...

 

[crash426mnb]

ive played through shadow of the colossus i think 7-8 times since it came out in 2005 and loved every moment of it. i do recall that particular jump being a problem at times, this however was based to a weird camera angle and a broken controller. however, i realize that the game industry is evolving and that new mechanics replace old ones but does that mean older methods are bad?

i know a few people who thought the platforming in assassins creed was to simple and mindless and they claimed it was as if they were holding the do cool stuff button.

now as you said it could be jet lag or bad mechanincs, but just to throw this out there. maybe its like when you come back to a game you havent played in years and you forget how it controls and just assume its like game *A* or game *B* so it would controll the same way.

like devil may cry is an action game but the jump button is Triangle. not many other games use triangle as the jump button because at it stands X is the default jump button.

i think that when the HD release of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus comes out that it will be just another good excuse to play through these two great games. besides after you get back in the swing of things will it really be a problem?

 

[poncho_carajo]

Does this mean that when us current younger games become older, we're gonna grow up to be retarded gamers and forget forget simple gameplay mechanics? Or will games just become retarded and cater to an easy mode desiring audience?

 

[Delorean1980]

It's awesome to hear so far that the tweaks promised by the Team Ico developers for making both games run nice and smooth have been fulfilled. Now it's just a question of this collections release. I originally thought this was coming out at the end of this month in March, but now some online retailers have listed it as being the end of the year, which I'm sure isn't true, but that means it could be months out. I hope not.

 

[Bushido_Philosopher]

Uh... You had to hold down the grab button in the original. You're just lazy gamers.

 

[ilfito]

this is a retarded article is he really complaining that you need to hold the grab button??? How else is the game going to time the stamina if there is no input that indicates you are holding onto something just like you have to hold on to a colossus. It is not that way on other games because it is not an integral part of gameplay that you hold on to ledges and stuff.

 

[BasketCase_57]

I don't remember having many problems with the controls. The only one I remember was trying to get on the horse and jumping instead of mounting.
As for holding a button while climbing, I think it mostly has to do with the stamina guage.
Nice article though Ryan, I really hope the game holds up.

 

[HeartlessNero]

@Crash426
what devil may cry are you talking about?... triangle was sword and X was jump...

 

[Edpayasugo]

Oh dear.

 

[neerGnayR]

I agree with HeartlessNero, Triangle was never Jump in Devil May Cry

 

[rootveldt]

it would be a shame if a game like faxanadu or river city ransom was marked down because the control was "outdated". theyre both kind of limited but really the gameplay is deep and well paced. SotC is as good as those games, and probably has among the best, most engaging character control and movement scheme of ps2 generation. the attention to realistic detail in character animation resembles nothing that came before it or after and really is an important factor in making this such a special title. i've been stuck on that jump before where it took as many as maybe 5 tries. more than that would be a little embarrassing but if you start at that point cold turkey I could probably use a refresher course too.

 

[clutch9k]

This is will bought day 1!

 

[HeartlessNero]

when is this coming out though?
it was rumored that it wouldn't be til 2012...
and i wanna pop this baby in ps3 before we all die lol

 

[RealSquidVicious]

The official IGN review rules for ps3 games memo to ign staff:
1.mark it down 1 full point if its exclusively for ps3.
2.Find some bs reason to blame it on.
3.Take payment from microsoft.
4.Talk about some random issue no one cares about.
5.Admit that the graphics are superior but play it off like it doesnt mean anything.
6.Kiss masterchief helmet from special edition halo and rub xbox remote for goodluck, then submit review to the masses.

 

[HeartlessNero]

@RealSquid
Hahaha reminds me of the Killzone 3 review