Shadow Of The Colossus Joins The PlayStation Plus Lineup

The PlayStation Plus update today is one of gargantuan size, including the PlayStation 2 Classic, Shadow of the Colossus, as well as deep discounts on a boatload of additional games.

The October Plus lineup is full of tricks and treats geared at sating gamers’ sweet tooth, beginning last week with the massive current gen RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning. Today’s offering is “massive” for completely different reasons, sporting a roster of enemies that would make most games’ bosses tremble in fear.

The spiritual successor to Ico, Shadow of the Colossus was released to critical praise for its unique gameplay, awe-inspiring titular characters, haunting story and intense mechanics.

The premise is simple: In order to save a young girl, you must travel the land in search of monstrous beings known as the Colossi and destroy them. I won’t go into any further details, as what little story there is to be had is best experienced in its own time.

In an age when games are getting more and more complex, Shadow of the Colossus manages to be an exercise in simplicity. There are no minions to hunt down and destroy, just the handful of boss characters. The world you explore is pretty straightforward and, rather than a map, you’ll use light glinting off of your sword to point the way to your next target. Controls consist of climbing, gripping and stabbing. There’s almost no dialogue throughout.

Yet, despite all of that, Shadow of the Colossus manages to be a big, big game, full of breathtaking moments, epic battles and gameplay you’ll likely remember for years to come. There’s a reason many-a gamer consider this to be one of the best titles of all time, making the never-ending wait for its own spiritual successor, The Last Guardian, all the more heartbreaking.

While the HD-ified Ico arrived on Plus earlier this year, subscribers can now add Shadow of the Colossus to their collection at no additional charge.

But wait, there’s more! It wouldn’t be a Plus update without some discounts, and this week’s offering has got them in spades. For the full list, you’re going to want to check out the PlayStation Blog, as there are simply too many to list here. Discounted games include the likes of Deadpool, Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. The real standouts for fans of classics, however are the entire PlayStation One collections for the Crash Bandicoot series, including Crash Team Racing, and the Spyro series. Each of those seven games typically go for $5.99 a pop, and you can grab them starting today for just $2.99 each.

Now if only Sony would announce proper compatibility for those games on the PlayStation Vita, we’d be set.