A decent buy in a bargain bin, but don't expect more than a couple of days worth of entertainment.
User Rating: 6.2 | Shadow Man: 2econd Coming PS2
Vodoo magic, hot priestesses, blood, gore, and disturbing violence should make a decent title, but Shadow Man: 2econd coming, is at best mediocre. You start out the game as a knockoff Raziel, punching undead creatures until they explode into small watermelonish chunks, and switch off to a Ving Rhames look alike with a chip on his shoulder. During the day you're Mike Leroi, at night you change into Shadow Man (ghetto Raziel) using the game's real-time day/night system, much like Ocarina of Time. Each persona has different abilities and stats, and can actually lead to a small bit of strategical importance. Fortunately, you have the abilty to change at will using the pocket watch, saving alot of headaches having to wait around so you can complete a certain puzzle. At first the atmosphere in the game is great, but it wears thin when you realize that exploring it is a chore in itself. Controls are incredibly clunky, as you'll find yourself performing jumps you should make, but don't, you turn in midair during a jump slightly and you veer off course incredibly. The lock-on function in combat is frustrating seeing as how you can't even pick your targets, the game does it for you. Fortunately, the controls aren't much of an issue, because this game is super flipping easy. Instant respawns in the same area normally mean that if you get killed, you can always go back to where they were fresh as a daisy and take them out. This even includes the final boss, which is just as much of a joke as every other enemy in the game. The graphics in the game are pretty much standard flare for a PS2 title, and fortunately it's leagues above what the original one was. The locales in the game change throughout, and are pretty varied, and kind of fun to explore and run around. The story itself is pretty boring, it's your usual "save the world form armageddon" premise. Bottom line is: If you're bored and want a mildly entertaining game you won't care about, you can do worse than Shadow Man 2econd Coming on PS2.
