| abstract
| - Five O'Clock Shadow the of the Colossus is a video game for the Slaystation 2, revolving around a hopelessly lost juvenile barber and his seemingly improbable mission to track down sixteen, not shown to scale, colossi for a quick shave-and-a-haircut. Armed with only courage and a comb, our young hero must battle for his life, and some tips. Set vaguely around 2,500 BH (Before Hairspray) and based loosely on hairdresser folk lore, our protagonist, bidden by an oddly ambiguous yet obviously trustworthy voice from the sky, is instructed to seek out and shave the numerous Colossi who routinely drop in for no apparent reason. If he succeeds, he gets the girl. If he fails he gets his brains smashed out by a 60 foot furry with a club. Your business cards not yet printed for distribution and your barbershop missing its pole, basic gameplay involves locating each beast individually, then scrambling all over its body in an effort to trim its excess filamentous outgrowth for fun and profit. With no magazines or reading materials provided, however, the giants' need for distraction resorts to rendering your attempts futile by shaking you off, crushing you, and complaining about your preference of aftershave lotion. No two patients are same, so you'll need to strategize and continually re-figure out how to combat the overgrown Widow's Peaks and out-of-style goatees. Fans of the game proclaim its dramatically different experience as fuel for the "Games can be art too, Biznatch!" foundation. Every hair has been meticulously detailed and mapped, and a constant stream of cheerful elevator music is always present in the background of even the most bloody scene of a customers discontent. Some would dare so far as to say that it feels like you are actually combing the beasts. Perhaps the most fearsome creature combed in the entire game is the goat whom the young barber rides on as he attempts to dress the colossi. Although it appears to be unthinking, beyond a basic S and M relationship, it actually harbors a deep hatred of all things barbered. In the final section of the game, it attempts to throw the hero into a pit full of rusty shaving razors. However, the barber succeeds in realizing the goat's intent, and shaves it before it can strike. The goat is horrified by this action, and after failing at legal action in court, pitches itself into the pit. The ESRB rated this game T for Trial and Error.
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