Shadows Of The Damned
“Taste my Big Boner!” Garcia Hotspur grips his Boner firmly with two hands, thrusting forward with his hips as he fires salvo after salvo from its throbbing shaft. Around him, demons with televisions where their faces should be crash to the ground amidst neon spires, overcome by his weapon’s penetration.
(26/08/2011) Shadows Of The Damned is a silly game. With a relentless sense of humour that regularly crosses the border from innuendo into plain absurdity, it’s never as funny as it thinks it is. Still, it’s a rare game that entirely eschews sanity in favour of balls-out (sometimes literally) zaniness, and while it caters for a very specific taste, it should be applauded for the effort.
It’s hard to escape the feeling that Shadows Of The Damned should be better than it is. A joint effort from two of Japan’s most influential developers, Goichi Suda (Killer 7, No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (God Hand, Resident Evil 4), it should have been extraordinary. Instead, for all the silliness and attempts at humour, it’s disappointingly ordinary.
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| Bosses are a highlight. |
That isn’t to say it’s a bad game. It’s a solid, simple, and satisfyingly old-school third person shooter. It says something for the prevalence of modern gaming tropes when a lack of chest-high cover and regenerating health can feel refreshing. Big chunky power-ups, bosses with a plethora of glowing red weak spots and weapons that develop wacky secondary-fire options over the course of the game give more than a nod to a now-lost era of shooters.
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| This ain't you father's underworld. |
It’s clear the developers had fun designing the game; the number of ludicrous set-pieces they’ve dreamt up play out like the fantasies of an adolescent drunk on Red Bull. Their vision of the underworld is a colourful departure from the standard bleeding-red-walls portrayal so often depicted in games. Garcia will run across the giant undulating body of his captive girlfriend to find himself in the middle of a demonic Las Vegas strip, surrounded by towering demons. You rarely have the chance to look at one thing long enough to get bored.
In fact, the game seems so terrified of the player getting bored that it becomes a bit schizophrenic at times. Some of its attempts to distract from standard shooting work – a rotating-room puzzle late in the game is surprisingly well thought out, and underused – while some do not – multiple run-from-the-instant-death-girlfriend sections are purely frustrating, and a shoddy but ‘hilarious’ side-scrolling section overstays its welcome. An interesting light-and-dark mechanic adds welcome variation, while ‘find the key to put in the door’ puzzles derail into tiresome plodding about.
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| You will learn to dread this. |
Shadows Of The Damned is a decent game; it’s as serviceable as any other almost-AAA shooter out this year, and a lot more visually interesting than most. Its grindhouse-inspired vibe goes a long way to raising it above the competition, but it’s hard not to wish for more, given its developer pedigree. Good as it is, is doesn’t come close to either Suda’s or Mikami’s finest work. Through no fault of its own, the game feels like a missed opportunity.
