Sony has finally set a European release date for the sequel to the much talked about but little played PlayStation mythical action adventure, ICO.

Shadow of the Colossus, the new epic action adventure from the same crack development team who brought us ICO, is coming exclusively to PlayStation 2 on 17th February 2006.

Shadow of the Colossus is described as an intense journey of exploration, problem solving and conflict, and the story is as engaging and as barking mad as that in ICO. Your character is a lone horseback traveller, whose destiny is entwined with that of a lifeless young girl, who’s rather carelessly lost her soul. It’s your job to roam around on your trusty steed to find and slay the enormous wandering monsters dotted around this haunting landscape. Only when you’ve killed the lot of them can you find the girl's soul. See? Absolutely bonkers.

ICO was renowned for its thoughtful and involving gameplay experience, and was hailed by many as one of the best games ever created. In reality, it seems that around three Edge journalists actually played it.

However, those who missed the original release will be given a second chance to experience one of the most critically acclaimed PlayStation titles ever made with ICO being cleverly re-released on the same day as Shadow of the Colossus.

Sony has kindly sent us some stunning Shadow of the Colossus art, which you can see here. SPOnG is currently onto its fourth Colossi and will be reporting back with a full review of the game next week.