***This review contains some spoilers from Sonic Adventure 2.
It's kind of hard to know what to think about Shadow after Sonic Adventure 2. Personally, I actually thought he was pretty cool in Sonic Adventure 2. Once he was revived in Sonic Heroes, he suddenly became the emo kid who made everyone roll his/her eyes whenever he made depressing comments. "This weather looks like an omen." "What is the meaning of my life?" This game simply emphasized that.
The story takes place after the events of Sonic Heroes. We see Shadow pondering about his past, and then a bajillion aliens fall from the sky and bring destruction upon a nearby city. The leader of the aliens then comes to Shadow and asks him to bring him the seven Chaos Emeralds. After that, you decide where the story goes.
I'll admit that the story does have some good things about it. It allows you to have a better idea of Shadow's past (if you care to know), and you're also able to better explore some of the places that were in Sonic Adventure 2. There are several endings that you can unlock depending on how you choose to play each level, but is it really worth playing through the game a dozen times to see the different endings?
Like Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog looks like a glorified Dreamcast game. The graphics really shine in some of the cutscenes, but other than that, they look rather dull. The consoles of the sixth generation were definitely capable of better graphics, but games aren't all about graphics, right?
While the overall quality of this game is questionable, I have to admit that the soundtrack doesn't fall flat. It's dark, and goes along well with the game's overall tone and atmosphere. Music is something that Sega has always done well, no mater how far its games indulge in mediocrity.
I have very mixed feelings about this game. There are some short bursts of fun, but at other times, it just isn't very good. One of the major issues of the game is its controls. Shadow runs around as if he's skating on ice. I know that he has rocket-whatever shoes, but he controlled well in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, so I'm not sure why Sonic Team decided to make Shadow control so poorly in this game. Another thing that threw me off was that rather than using the B button to perform the spin dash and grind on rails, you use the X button. If you've previously played Sonic Adventure or Heroes, then this takes a bit of getting used to. The B button is instead used to hit and kick and fire weapons. You can definitely get used to these quirks
The game isn't speed oriented, but do keep in mind that this is a Sonic spin-off. Almost all major video game franchises have a few spin-offs. Shadow the Hedgehog is what it is. For what it is, it's... okay. The neutral mission in which you're getting form point A to point B are the best parts of the game, but the hero and dark missions can be quite frustrating with the tedious collecting and backtracking. The designs of these levels are also pretty sub par and unexciting, which just makes the backtracking even worse. Some level designs can also get pretty confusing, particularly the ARK levels. The weapons and vehicles also don't do any favors the games because they're poorly implemented and generally serve no purpose. Plus, the guns don't even have a good targeting system.
"This game says damn! NOOOOO!!!!" Yes, this game says "damn." Admittedly, I find it strange that this game curses because it was supposed to be aimed at a younger audience, and children are generally sensitive to the word "damn." Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Is this game worth buying? That depends. It's short, but because you can take different paths each time you play it and get multiple endings, there is some replay value. However, this game just isn't good enough to play through multiple times. That is, unless, for whatever reason, you just love it that much and want to play through it a dozen times. If you can find it for a dirt-cheap price, then it miiiight be worth it. If you're a Shadow fan, then it also might be worth it for that reason. Other than that, I see very few reasons to get this game, especially when you could get yourself a nice copy of Sonic Colors. Plus, Sonic Generations is just around the corner.