Yes, I know… I'm still old school, I'm afraid. I still haven't been able to save enough pennies to acquire an all singing, all dancing PS3 - but that's a whole other story that I won't go into here and now.

As Wander takes the girl - named Mono - to the altar, he encounters several shadowy, human forms that materialise and seem to wish to attack him. When Wander presents an ancient sword that he carries, they disappear. Suddenly, a voice booms down from the heavens to Wander. This is the voice of Lord Dormin - who speaks in an intertwined male and female voice. Dormin is surprised that Wander has this sword. When Wander demands that Dormin return the dead girls soul to her body, thus bringing her back to life, Dormin states this is possible - but only if he can use the special sword to destroy sixteen huge beasts named Colossi that are found across the vast landscape surrounding the shrine - and so begins Wanders epic quest - and that of the player!

If Wander raises the sword into the sunlight, the rays reflect back from it and depending on the direction that Wander faces, the beams may either be generally spread out or pinpoint into a beam of light that indicates the direction where the next Colossi you must find and defeat lies in wait. Before you begin to think this sounds far too easy, bear in mind that the beam of light may point you in the direction of the next enemy but doesn't take into account any hurdles that may stand in your way. Your path to the next Colossi will rarely ever be straightforward, with many obstructions such as hills, mountains, valleys, canyons and forests in your way. Another factor that adds to both the realism and difficulty of the game is that when Wander enters a darker area where the sunlight doesn't reach, the ability to use the sword to find your way in the direction of the Colossi is removed.

The gameplay in SOTC is all in all a very fulfilling experience with a good learning curve. When you start a new game, the path to the first Colossi is full of little tutorial messages which let you get to grips with some of the basic manoeuvres such as jumping, climbing and rolling etc.

When you are up against each Colossi, you must try to think about how they can be defeated. As the Colossi are all different shapes and sizes, you must try to establish how to get onto them as well as finding out where their weak spots are. Some Colossi have one weak spot whereas others may have two or three - all of which must be stabbed with the sword in order to bring down their energy bar. Once all of their energy is depleted they are defeated (that rhymes… I'm a poet and I don't know it!). Their weak spots are virtually never on display (although you can usually use the sword to find the weak spots with reflected sunlight) - some Colossi have armour that must be depleted or destroyed - usually using the surrounding environment. Some Colossi have what appears to be fur or perhaps even grass on their bodies that Wander can grab hold of and climb. The Colossi are very enigmatic and leave the player questioning whether they are alive, machines or something else entirely. Every Colossi that you encounter is thrilling to fight and requires a different approach from the last to defeat. The sensation of "being there" is remarkable as you have Wander holding on for dear life as the Colossi tries to violently shrug you off.

GRAPHICS

The landscape itself is so enormous that it is quite desolate in places. Rather than ever coming across as a limitation in the programming, it is undoubtedly deliberate in order to make the player feel alone in this strange and fantastic land. Often, there are nice touches to be seen on the journey - from lizards scampering around the ground and the occasional eagle swooping in from above before soaring off into the distance. There is so much I could tell you about how beautiful the graphics are but I wouldn't be able to cover it all here. There are eye-popping water falls and views from cliff tops. The draw distance isn't perfect but nine times out of ten you can see far enough into the distant horizon to marvel at the incredible world the game designers and programmers have created for your gaming pleasure.

Agro is a life-like and utterly convincing digital interpretation of a horse. Again, he is very well animated and nicely detailed - right down to a mane and tail that blow in the wind as he gallops around.

MY CONCLUSION

However, we both survived my Colossi related outbursts and found that as the game reached its finale, there were some big shocks and surprises in store. Obviously, I am not going to reveal any of them here. What I will say, however is that I think it safe to say that I have never felt so emotional when playing a video game before - and I have played a lot of them for pretty much most of my life.

I spoke to Kate about the question as to whether or not we could ever be surprised if Hollywood ever decides to spew out a SOTC movie. What I would be extremely surprised about is if it can even capture a fraction of what makes the game unique and truly spectacular. Without the interactive angle of playing a video game, it is highly questionable how on earth anyone could make a movie of this work.