I'll be Damned…
The game is your typical spin on what most consider a "B-Movie": something with low production values and intentionally bad writing. It follows a demon-hunter by the name of Garcia Hotspur, and his weapon called Johnson (or Boner, if you will). Garcia's girl gets kidnapped by a demon overlord known as Flemming, and Garcia has to follow him to hell in order to claim back his woman, and also kill Flemming. On the way, you get to experience this games take on hell, which is a bizarre place covered in darkness and demons, while giving us new ways to think about some of the standard conventions that might come to our head when Hell is the topic.
Most of the complaints one would have with Shadows of the Damned is the plot and execution. The plot of this game is very simple, and traditional: a tale of a man who goes to a dark, foreign place to save the love of his life with his wise-cracking friend. Where this game isn't typical is in its need to be as over-the-top, and in that regard, this game far succeeds the top. I wouldn't be able to count the number sexual references in this game's first hour on both my fingers and toes twice over, let alone over the span of 7 hours. This is one of the crudest games that you will ever play, and this will either drive a player to finish the game, or just shut it off all together. That's what could be considered the biggest problem with this game, and is something that I actually condone with most games: it was made with the intention of pleasing a certain crowd instead of generally everybody. I have a problem with this game in particular because the over-the-top formula of Suda 51 games is slowly starting to lose its appeal. This game can be very funny, but between all of the slapped on d*ck-gags that are forced, it's really hard to come out of this game with a comprehensive grasp on what it's really about.
As I've said, this games plot is relatively simple, but the execution that feels somewhat botched at times forces its pizzazz on me, which is never really a good thing if someone is trying to tell you a story. In a literal sense, it's like trying to make your story more dynamic or humorous then it actually is, with your friends leaving unimpressed and/or underwhelmed by it, so much so that you pretty much forget the whole point of the story in the first place. This game lacks the taste and effort that a lot of other successful games have, like Portal 2, which never losses your attention due to its poor humor, and never really tries to drive your attention away in the first place. There are parts of Shadows of the Damned that work as far as story goes, but they're lost in the effort to make this game stick out, when all that it needed was the one thing that it abandoned entirely: subtlety.
This talk of subtlety might lead you to believe that I didn't enjoy the story, which isn't true. While I would technically consider this to be a mediocre story, I still enjoyed the interactions between Garcia and Johnson, even if most of it felt forced. It's like watching an old public domain movie and finding you enjoying it. While this story structure might be dated too by most accounts, like it acting as an excuse for the writers to not try and create actual good dialogue, I still enjoy it when it's being offered. But I could probably get this type of experience from a game with a much better story too, like Alan Wake. Regardless of comparisons to other games that succeed where this game doesn't, this games narrative can be enjoyable when you're not really analyzing it too deeply like I am. Plus, there are some generally inventive aspects about this games interpretation of Hell, like the story books and posters that you find scattered throughout the Underworld. I like a lot of what this game is conveying, especially when it feels like being legitimately creative with its world, which is something that I definitely appreciate.
The game is split into 5 acts, with multiple chapters in each act. Each stage usually comprises of shooting, mild puzzle solving, and humor that is trying to be shoved down our throats. It's hard for a game to nail consistency as far as quality goes with each level, and you unfortunately won't find this consistency here. While some levels were an absolute blast to play through, others felt more like a chore. When this game was at its best (Acts 2-4), I found it really hard to stop playing. The games clever set pieces and enemies made this game such a joy to plow through. It's also nice to see that there was a lot of variety put into each of the segments in the game, like the side-scrolling shooter section found in Act 3, or the large scale puzzles that put a lot of power in your hands that happened towards the end of the game. Even when the game is at its worst, you can still tell that was a degree of effort put into making the levels something special. And to that, I feel as though those levels weren't really intended for my pleasure, but more for people who enjoyed Resident Evil 4. For example, the village towards the end of Act 3 felt like it went on forever, yet the way it lapped over itself and the constant feed of smart enemy placement and puzzles will make you realize that this game is giving depth to elements that it introduced to you.
That brings me to one of the biggest strengths that this game has: it's faith in the characters intellect. I might notice that in a lot of games today that a tutorial seems to be there for just about every instance that you could imagine, like in Assassin's Creed Revelations, or Batman: Arkham City. While I don't hate it when games do that, I much prefer seeing the game teach you its basics, and then let you take control of the metaphorical vehicle known as "The Game". Once you get past the tutorial stage that tells you the basics that you absolutely need to know, you thrown into Hell, where you use these skills to your advantage as you go through the games clever darkness mechanics. It's hard to do this, yet Grasshopper Manufacturer seemed to do this, while also reinventing a few mechanics found in other games, like The Darkness.
Other than being a game that doesn't constantly hold your hand, the gunplay in the game is also relatively strong too. The game takes after games such as Resident Evil 4 and 5 (thank you Mikami), where you can only shoot while you're aiming. I really liked this set up in Resident Evil, and I also really like it here, especially since the game thankfully added the factor of walking and shooting at the same time. Also, rolling will definitely be one of your best friends in this game as far as non-essentials go, as it can almost always be used to dodge certain situations. Let me tell you, had this game not let you walk and shoot at the same time, it would've been impossible to beat on its hardest difficulty. But thanks to this addition, I couldn't really call this a challenging game, even on its hardest difficulty, which I beat in little over 7 hours. Although I certainly think that it's a better game because it's much more accessible then its spiritual predecessors. It isn't as smooth as something like Vanquish, but then it really wasn't meant to be; it's an action game that creates tension with its stiffness, which is something that I generally prefer in third-person shooters.
Boss fights in the game are about as awesome as they come. The scale of some of them is just pleasing, plain and simple. Thanks to this games clever use of the color red, you'll rarely be confused when it comes to figuring out how to defeat bosses, or even bigger lackeys for that matter. The enemies in this game range from basic demons that walk on two legs to rolling demons covered in spikes. There's a ton of diversity in this game, more so than something like Resident Evil 5. This diversity not only comes from the various enemies and bosses that you find in the game, but also in ways of killing.
The game lets you have 3 basic weapons with you. You'd pick what would best suit a situation and be able to change whenever a new situation arises, kind of like El Shaddai's system of giving you three power ups to choose from when faced with a new encounter. Going back to this game not constantly holding your hand, it's quite rewarding finding the right gun for each situation that you encounter in the game. Trust me; there are tons of different set-pieces that will require you to use every single one of your guns. Also, thanks to the considerate (but not overbearing) amount of ammo they give you, you'll always have to fall back on other weapons, making the games multiple weapons feel much more fleshed out, especially since there are only three to choose from. The upgrades also help considerably in this regard to, especially for your machine gun known as the "Teether". This game, as you could probably tell from my description, has had a lot of thought put into it. This isn't just some run-of-the-mill action game for people who don't understand that the left analog stick moves you. It just feels like a work of genius, finding a difficulty curve that won't turn you off, and plenty of game that will motivate you to press on.
I've barely even mentioned darkness in this game too, which plays a huge part in a lot of this games brilliance. It acts like it did in the game "The Darkness", except here it's light that is your sanctuary. The light acts as a center point to most of the puzzles in this game, usually involving a switch you can only activate in the darkness. The game forces you into rough situations to find out how to solve certain puzzles in this game, which is something that rarely happens with games that aren't survival horror. Besides that, the darkness brings another variable that greatly increases problem solving in the game: the light shot. This is your essential attack that you absolutely need if you want to beat this game, and it is used in generous doses, once again proving that this game doesn't leave any aspect in the dust, but rather further improves upon it. Enemies that come out of especially dark areas can't be killed, unless they're shot with the light shot. Also, it's used to light up goat-heads that vanquish the darkness (you'll have to play the game to understand that bit), which is pretty much essential if you want to beat this game. You may have realized at this point that there's a ton to what might appear as a relatively simple game. When you break it down though, you can really tell that this 7 hour adventure obviously had a lot of thought put into it.
Shadows of the Damned has something of a unique take on hell, combining the dark atmosphere of a typical Tim Burton movie with the crude humor of an Evil Dead movie. The depth of the gameplay matches that of the dark and grueling scenery found in this game, with a lot of unique ideas popping up in the midst of Hell. The colors are vibrant, especially for a game that's using Unreal Engine 3, an engine that really needs to stop being utilized by so many developers. I say this because it limited a lot of what was being offered in this game. For a TPS, I found an unnecessary amount of bugs and crashes. There was one instance where I was left in limbo as my character fell through the whole level, which was both interesting and annoying at the same time, considering I was already in hell to begin with. Aside from that, the games stability is highly questionable. When the game automatically saves, it's almost a death wish to push any buttons while the save is happening, as it might kill the game all together and make you restart your PS3.
Other than the technical issues that pop up more frequently than they should, this is a generally nice looking game. The only other thing I can really knock this game for are some of the animations, which are kind of stiff. Other than that and the bugs, everything looks and runs very smooth. The environments, while not perfectly rendered, really pop out, and make the setting of hell stand out as a painting that incorporated water-paints and someone's blood. The weapon and enemy designs in the game are very creative, as when your weapons grow bigger and more complex, so do your enemies. Nothing really feels half-baked in this game, as the environments drastically change from act to act, as you traverse hellish cities, to zombie infested lakes, to scaling a grim castle surrounded by flying monsters, all of which feel fully realized. The culmination of different environments being mixed with different enemies with unique, vibrant designs really make this a good looking game, despite some technical performances that I mostly blame the engine for.
The music in this game is simply phenomenal, so much so that the composer (Akira Yamaoka) is given the next slot in the credits right behind Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami. The tones of each of the tracks fulfill their purpose in creating both dramatic and horrifying atmospheres in each of the unique areas in the game. Given the overall gothic style of this game, the soundtrack almost has a jazzy feel to it, and sometimes ratchets the intensity up when action picks up. It's one of the few times where I actually turned off heavy metal from my computer just to listen to the tracks in this game, which is usually a very rare thing for me to be doing in this generation of gaming. The sound effects work, but aren't nearly as memorable as the soundtrack of the game. But then, that's a pretty high standard to meet. It's definitely a solid game as far as sound goes.
Overall, it's really easy to recommend this to a variety of people… as far as gameplay goes. As I've said, the story will only attract certain crowds, and even then those certain crowds might grow tired of the continuous profanity that is found in the game. Aside from ones mixed opinion on the plot and follow-through of the story, just about everything else comes wholly recommended from me. It feels like Resident Evil 5 if it was smoother, with a more realized setting. While this game only took me 7 hours to beat for a single play-through on the normal difficulty, I'd definitely recommend this at the price of 30 dollars or so. It's definitely one of Grasshopper Manufacturer finest games, and one that you should definitely pick up.
Review by Cal Burkhart