A highly underrated game that carries the best of it's creative team into a strange and fantastic world.
Garcia Hotspur is a demon hunter whose lover has just been taken to hell. In order to get her back, he heads out on a road trip with his trusty weapon/shape shifting skull thingy former demon, Johnson, to chase down the king of demons. And hell is certainly not quite the place you'd expect. While it's depiction in terms of architecture isn't anything that we haven't seen from, say, Devil May Cry, it's the little things that separate it from the pack, like the flame pooping eyeball demon that helps light the way or demon-catnip like strawberries that seem to act as a drug to demons. Little things like these, and so much more, make this game unique and entertaining.
And the makers marks are all here. As stated, the game is quite strange and unexpected, with plenty of scatelogical humor, but in a way that feels natural to the world. It IS hell, so the humor doesn't seem out of place. Suda 51 has certainly created a story befitting of his name, with a presentation that resembles a grindhouse film and plenty of unique and odd little things that give hell flavor. Likewise, Garcia is one of the coolest new characters to grace a video game, being one of the very few Spanish protagonists of a video game. Shinji Mikami's gameplay style shines here, borrowing elements from Resident Evil 4 and 5, as well as Vanquish. It's a third person shooter that plays as RE4, being able to shoot off limbs, with similar aiming and firing mechanisms. Weapon variety and selection is varied and easy, making the game a blast. Just as well, there is enough variety in gameplay elements to make it a joy. Adding to this is Akira Yamaoka's score, which adds overall to the experience and presents the familiar mix of rock, industrial, orchestral, and eve lyrical songs that anyone familiar with Silent Hill will recognize.
Yes, all of these producers bring their best to a game that they clearly had a lot of fun making. The translation is perfect, with the voice acting for both Garcia and Johnson not only very well done, but with a great relationship between the two as they trade quips. It's truly a buddy-buddy road trip pair to admire. The grindhouse style adds a unique flair that is rarely seen in video games and I think someone like Quentin Tarantino would be proud. Shadows is the most fun I have had playing a game in a while and a unique gem that deserves more attention. Sure, it's not perfect. The level design is a little bland and some of the gameplay seems slightly repetitive, mostly cause it isn't too different from what we've seen in the latest of Shinji Mikami's games. But it's still quite a fantastic game and one deserving of attention.