In Short
When the names Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami team up to make a game, any well-heeled gamer will take notice. Shadows of the Damned features Mikami’s spot-on and balanced gameplay, with a humorous [in a totally warped way] storyline. It’s Japanese; so expect many, many one-liners. The gameplay is as solid as it gets making this a hugely fun and satisfying title. The artistic design is pleasing on the eye [again, in a totally warped manner]. As far as the humour goes – I personally thought it tries too hard.
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Electronic Arts
For fans of: Dark humour, wacky humour, Resident Evil titles
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Also available on: PlayStation 3
If we had to give it a numerical score: 7.5/10
Overview
Shadows of the Damned is an action-horror featuring Garcia Hotspur as the shallow, tattooed Mexican protagonist who tackles the spirit underworld to rescue his damsel in distress… or her spirit… or something. Paula is dragged away by demons in the opening scene and appears to Hotspur is visions thereafter.
Hotspur is aided by a floating blob, thingy… a reformed demon with one hell of an active sense of humour. Together they fight the darkness [literally] and all sorts of demons, monsters and other outrageous bad things led by one freaky Fleming. A multi-eyed montster, demon… thing.
Shadows of the Damned is filled with blatant innuendos, typical Japanese humour and one of the most outrageous storylines in an action-packed, stylish and beautifully design package.
Gameplay and Features
Shadows of the Damned is a singleplayer experience where you play in third-person view. If you are familiar with Mikami’s previous titles like Vanquish and Resident Evil 4 you will recognise his work immediately. The controls are so tight, intuitive and generally of the highest quality. The classic ‘hit- a-button’ to 180 degree turn works like it did in RE4, and helps in those claustrophobic battles where you are surrounded with enemies. The character’s movement and shooting mechanics, again carry Mikami’s signature, with everything happening in fast-forward mode.
You have a host of weapons to use, suitably unrealistic guns that shoots all sorts of weird ammo, and a torch sort of thing which doubles up as bat which you can swing at the demons. Since the darkness drains you of health, you need to stay in the light and so you will need to shoot a ‘light-shot’ at various objects which give light. Sometimes amongst other tasks, you will need to fight certain demons in the darkness so you can collect these realistic looking hearts which give you more time or health in the dark.
Being a Japanese title, albeit nothing like I have seen before, there is the obsession with score and the collecting of items for bonuses, health etc. Shadows of the Damned combines puzzle solving with savage shoot and beating-em- up gameplay.
Sound and Graphics
Shadows of the Damned is powered by the trusted Unreal Engine, and is apparent in the texturing and overall look of the graphics. That said, the art design is very deferent to what I’ve seen – it suits the wacky nature of the game. The art design is not realistic at all and tastefully put together in a ‘dream-like’ overall look, for lack of a better way to describe it. The use of dark colours and then very bright ones create a pleasing, rich gaming world – haunting and wacky at the same time. The Cinematics are again of a high standard, and while there is quite a bit of them, they’re never too long.
The sound and sound effects come courtesy of Silent Hill sound designer, Akira Yamaoka who crafted the strange, eerie and interesting soundtrack that really helps set the playful horror mood. The voice acting was well done, polished and completely unexpected – from Hotspur’s accent to Johnson’s constant banter. The sound effects are again, typical and unmistakably Japanese.
Overall the sound and graphics take second place to the gameplay, so while it was not the highlight for me, it certainly did not detract from the experience.
Conclusion
Shadows of the Damned is unlike anything I’ve ever played, and I would describe it as the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ of games. It’s playful, crude, vulgar, violent and way over-the-top, in a rich design with solid mechanics.
Like the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, some will see it as absolute genius, but for me it mixes two genres I never like to see together – horror and comedy.
Storyline and design aside, the gameplay is fun, rewarding and of the highest standards. So while I played through the ten or so hours mostly rolling my eyes at the constant one-liners, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a positively memorable experience.
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