SORE THUMBS: Gigantic Fun

Simple Shadow of the Colossus is exhilarating

Matthew Scott Hunter

Technically, this game is nothing more than a series of 16 boss battles. There are no armies of identical henchman to fight in between. In fact, you'll find yourself riding your horse across foe-less landscapes for 10 minutes at a time just to reach the next boss. Yet, this adventure contains some of the most thrilling moments you'll ever experience in a video game. Enemies or not, this world is mesmerizing, and each towering colossus is a level unto itself.


As you scale and slay these mountainous beasts of stone and moss, you'll run through the entire gamut of human emotions: everything from fear to exhilaration to frustration to awe to sadness. Each colossus is so magnificent and lifelike you'll eventually start to wonder if killing them is wrong, despite your noble cause. You'll forget they're made of stone, and more importantly, you'll forget that they're made of pixels.



DOOM 3: RESURRECTION OF EVIL (M)

(3.5 stars)



Activision

Xbox


This expansion picks up a few months after the events of Doom 3, and technology has advanced to where the military now knows how to fasten a flashlight to a gun. Unfortunately, little else has changed. If you felt Doom 3 was a few hours too short, this game will help you make your demon-slaying quota, but that's all.



DEVIL KINGS (T)

(3 stars)



Capcom

PlayStation 2


What a mess. Whether you're wielding swords, six-shooters or laser beams, this wacky, anachronistic, hack 'n' slash adventure gives you a bevy of outlandish characters to kill with. And kill you will, since the two-button combat system lets you effortlessly button-mash 200-move combos.



FIFA SOCCER 06 (E)

(4 stars)



EA Sports

PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube


Soccer is the world's sport, and with 500 teams, there's a world of content on this disc. But it's quality rather than quantity that makes this the best entry yet in the FIFA series. This year, you can even select a control scheme stolen from the superior Winning Eleven franchise.



SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA 2 (M)

(3 stars)



Atlus

PlayStation 2


Those who like their RPGs very Japanese got a treat last year with Digital Devil Saga, and the postapocalyptic—not to mention cannibalistic—high jinks continue here. Unfortunately, the additions of back-tracking and even blander environments keep the series from advancing.



Matthew Scott Hunter has been known to mumble, "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start" in his sleep. E-mail him at
[email protected].

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