Sometimes, morbid curiosity brings you to some weird places. Some can be purely innocuous, some can threaten your life. For some, if you're like me and have OCD, morbid curiosity can put you in a panic; what if one morbidly curious thought ends up extremely bad? What if it becomes uncontrollable? I know this is getting a bit dark, and I apologize, but I guess that fits a game as dark and edgy as this. "Shadow the Hedgehog" was a game I tried out of morbid curiosity; it's one of the few 3D "Sonic the Hedgehog" games I never even touched. There are plenty that I didn't get through in their entirety, but this was the only one I had no experience playing whatsoever. So, out of pure fascination with its terrible reputation, I decided to give it a spin. And yeah, it was really bad.
I guess if I'm being nice, "Shadow the Hedgehog" certainly looks and feels the part of a "Sonic" game. Yes, there are things about it that totally contradict this point, but even with its weirder elements, there's enough here that gives me that "Sonic" feel I know. And beyond being a fairly bug-free "Sonic" game (which I know is praising the bare minimum but given this franchise's lows is worth something), I can honestly applaud the game for pretty much sticking to one gameplay style. No matter the quality, so many "Sonic" games go into that "gameplay roulette" style where some playstyles work and some don't, so I'm glad they actually made a "Sonic" game where there's one default playstyle.
Yeah, that's as nice as I can be; the rest of the game is agonizing. Story-wise, the game is an absolute mess of contradictions, character-based inconsistencies, and elements that feel like they just fundamentally don't understand the franchise, as well as Shadow the Hedgehog's character. It's an edgy mess with some preposterous character writing, and some often ridiculous voice acting (not too unexpected from "Sonic," I know). Visually, I guess it looks fine given that it largely follows the visual style of "Sonic Heroes," but the constant obsession with purple and grey washes the game out and makes it lose the vibrance of "Heroes." And gameplay-wise, it's not much better. I don't really mind the integration of weapons as much as others, sheerly for the catharsis and absurdity of it, but the controls are what really kill it. Take the "Heroes" controls and make them even worse, and boom, you have "Shadow the Hedgehog." The camera is uncooperative, the level design is astonishingly boring, and even if the multiple pathway thing is neat, you'll be so drained off of one playthrough that it won't be worth it to play through the game 10 times (because yes, you have to do that).
Overall, yeah, "Shadow the Hedgehog" is extremely bad. I don't know if I dislike it quite as much as others, but that's not really saying much because I despised my time with it. It's definitely the worst "Sonic" game that I've played through and beaten, and one I can't in good conscience recommend to anyone. As polarizing as this series is, there are plenty of better entries to choose from than this insult. If you need your "Sonic" fix, play "Sonic Generations" or "Sonic Colors." Hell, even "Sonic Heroes" would be better than this. Just don't play "Shadow the Hedgehog." It's not worth it.
Final rating: 3 out of 10 "Awful"