If I had a PS2, SOTC is definitely a game I would check out, if not only for how beautiful it looks. I read this article today that goes into some detail about the making of the game. It's sure to be a very fun read to those game programmers out there, but others should enjoy it too: http://www.dyingduck.com/sotc/making_of_sotc.html
All the creativity that's gone into the effects of the game make you wonder how much more can be done with current generation consoles (which in my opinion, quite a lot)