"Shadows of the Damned is a dark, twisted ride and you'll love every moment of it."
However, the experience isn't really heavy metal, but more "punk rock". Either way, Shadows of the Damned is the essential game for the rock genre.
Shadows of the Damned is the child of the creative minds that are known as Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series and Goichi Suda – better known as Suda 51 – creator of cult classics such as No More Heroes and Killer7. A misfortune that people will realise is that the game was unfortunately published by Electronic Arts; however, since the game has no online service, being a strictly single-player game, EA doesn't interfere with Shadows of the Damned whatsoever. That being said, the game didn't particularly sell due to lack of advertisements, which now has labelled the game amongst Suda's other games as a cult classic. This, by no means, is a bad thing, but it's a shame that the game didn't get the recognition that it essentially deserved.
Shadows of the Damned follows Garcia F. Hotspur, whose middle name shouldn't really be said in the review. One night, Garcia fights a demon with absolute ease. He talks to the demon before his death, with the demon threatening that something will happen to Hotspur's girlfriend, Paula. Garcia kills the demon and heads back to his apartment, only to find that Paula has, sadly, hung herself. However, Paula doesn't seem to have successfully died as she "wakes up" and allows her body to move uncontrollably. Her back actually splits open to reveal a demon attempting to kill Garcia. After killing several demons in his apartment, the Lord of the Underworld, known as Flemming, takes Paula to the underworld, leaving Garcia to save her. When he arrives in the Underworld, Garcia's colleague, Johnson – a floating skull that was once a demon – gives Garcia ride to Flemming's castle in order to kill him and retrieve Paula. Johnson turns into a motorcycle, by the way. And it gets more awesome from there.
The characters of Shadows of the Damned are quite colourful, but there aren't really enough of them we get to know completely. We have the essential bad guy and the essential good guy. We also have the worrisome, yet great, assistant, the damsel in distress and, of course, the likeable redneck. Garcia is actually a gentle person, when he's around Paula or he's near something majestic. Flemming is pure evil, but he's actually quite intimidating and fearsome. Johnson is English and seeing that he came around two months after Wheatley from Portal 2, we already know that he'll be awesome. Paula's backstory seems a bit tragic, and we hear about her interactions with Garcia through stories he tells. The redneck, known as Christopher, is a likeable character to the nth degree, however it's a shame he doesn't appear as much as you'd want him to, seeing as he's the shop owner of the game.
Shops appear often throughout the course the game, always having the aforementioned Christopher as the store clerk. Shops are quite resourceful, giving the player what he essentially needs – ammo and health packs. In this game, alcohol is the substance that Garcia needs to stay alive if he is nearing death, as mentioned by Johnson, saying that alcohol isn't harmful in the Underworld. In order to buy things in Shadows of the Damned, the player must obtain white gems over the course of the game, usually earned from killing enemies. There are also other means of shopping, as alcohol vendors are scattered throughout each level, often having two per level. Christopher also sells Red Gems, something that the player ought to find throughout the course of the game.
Red Gems serve as Shadows of the Damned's collectables, affecting Garcia's weaponry and health. The first couple of Red Gems are just given to the player, with Johnson explaining what they exactly do and what they're regarded to in the Demon World – performance enhancers. Red Gems being performer enhancers is no joke, as they're really helpful during the course of the game. You can use them to increase weapon power, capacity and reload speed. Your health can also be upgraded, which is extremely helpful later on in the game when it begins to get a bit more difficult. There's an achievement for finding all of them, and that does include buying the Red Gems in the store.
The gameplay is actually rather solid and smooth for a third-person shooter, not saying that all third-person shooters have rubbish gameplay. The controls don't particularly conflict with each and are rather straight forward, with the right-trigger being the shoot button when aiming and being the run button when you're no aim. The control pad is used to select the weapon you want to use and when holding the Y button, can be used to select what alcohol you want to consume so you can restore your health. Over the course of the game, the player will be put in sidescrolling two-dimensional levels, which are actually really enjoyable as it shows that shooters can be turned into something more and can be quite nostalgic.
A concept that is used quite often in the game is the mechanic known as the "Darkness", a dark force that can consume an entire area. While Garcia is in this area, he begins to lose health and slowly dies. However, fighting in this environment isn't the ideal choice, as while enemies are in the darkness, they're invincible and there's no way of defeating them. However, when you leave the darkness, you then have a chance of defeating them. When they leave the darkness, they still have the darkness on their body, but you can get rid of it by either hitting them with your torch or using the light shot, a function of all your weapons that shooting a little blast of light. In some areas, you have to use the light shot to destroy the darkness either using it on a lamp or, funnily enough, a goat's head.
The humour in Shadows of the Damned is actually really good, with it being clever and not straight forward. From time to time, Garcia might curse, but it's not really used for the comedy in the game, except in possibly a couple of cases. However, most of the humour comes from certain enemies in the game and little extra's scattered throughout the game. For example, there is a scene in the game that actually explains the origins of strawberries, apparently a demon's favourite food. Johnson explains that strawberries are actually made from human tongues and it's a joke on the living. While Garcia notes that this is disgusting, Johnson replies with a statement about "cherry popping", implying that a woman's hymen is actually a cherry. It seems disgusting, but admittedly, no one would actually think of such clever jokes and it's an area that Shadows of the Damned excels in.
Shadows of the Damned deters away from the typical third-person shooter formula, incorporating puzzles as a means of progressing through the game. Most puzzles usually involve a cheaper usage of the Darkness, forcing the player to dispose of it as soon as possible. Puzzles in Shadows feel justified most of the time, but also become repetitive as you'll find yourself solving the same Darkness puzzle over and over again. Later in the game, there come some enjoyable puzzles such as using the light-shot to create a bridge consisting of bookshelves and rotating platforms in order to get around the level, while at the same time finding hidden items, mainly Red Gems. Puzzles aren't very difficult either, thus creating more of a relaxing experience.
The atmosphere is highly commendable and stands out above almost every aspect of the game. Most horror games nowadays give a shoddy, disgusting, dark tone to the atmosphere and the overall feel of the game, giving the design no contrasting colour and little to no interesting personality traits. Shadows of the Damned averts the standard game and makes Hell colourful. The Underworld has never look so beautiful, though the bright colours of Hell are seemingly more frightening than the bland browns and greys. There's always a bright yellow or a sinister red around the corner. Along with these bright colours, the overall scenery of Hell is also horrifying, but in a good way. Bodies hang from wooden planks, which move if you touch them and a certain area has at least over fifty human heads rolling down. Also: you can walk on a giant, topless version of your girlfriend. It's a necessity that you know.
The atmosphere of Shadows of the Damned; however, stands out during the boss fights. As a demon hunter, you slay a legion of pitiful, weaker demons – then a boss is around the corner ready to cause the utmost destruction. As with usual boss fights, there are several weak spots on them, whether it be legs or wings, there's always a method of taking them down. You don't feel like you're fighting the same boss continuously, just slugging on it while it stands still and does nothing. Defeating a boss in Shadows of the Damned feels good and rewarding, with a weapon upgrade as your typical reward. They're actually a challenge when compared to the majority of bosses in modern games, each with unique designs and interesting attacks. Additionally, throughout the game, you'll encounter books which actually explain their origins, often resulting in humourous banter from Johnson and Garcia.
However, no game is perfect and Shadows of the Damned does fall flat in some areas. Unfortunately, the game is very short, usually clocking in at about six to seven hours as a casual playthrough to earn achievements. Along with this, the game is very linear and Shadows of the Damned feels like it could've had several branching paths, with good and bad endings similar to Suda's previous game No More Heroes. Achievement-wise, it's very easy to only have to play the game once in order to complete it and it's possible to gain at least forty out of the fifty on the first playthrough, if not more. There is also no added replayability, with the only unlockables being weaponry which are restricted to each file.
On the whole, Shadows of the Damned is an extremely unique gem that only comes around once in a lifetime. It's vivid nature and quirks make it an adventure worth diving into. While the game is unfortunately short and has no added value to continuously play, the characters are livid and the atmosphere unmatched. Suda always has the habit of making strange, yet interesting games that always has the player wanting more. Each insane piece of writing is joyous and unforgettable, with the overall feel of the game comfortable and strangely eerie. Garcia Hotspur is a complete badass, being manlier than the likes of Duke Nukem. Shadows of the Damned is a dark, twisted ride and you'll love every moment of it.