27 Jun, 2011
Title: Shadows of the Damned
Platform: 360 / PS3 (reviewed on 360)
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: EA
TL;DR: Shoot things. Run. Shoot things. Innuendo. Shoot more things.
Family Friendly? Click here for more information.
Get ready for one rock and rollin’ roadtrip through Hell, because Suda 51′s latest mind-tripping offering is a quick and dirty one. Perhaps a little too quick, but boy does it deliver a punch to the gut while you’re down there, and it’s a real dirty one.
And I don’t mean in a light sense either.
In a world where mutilated corpses, walls painted in blood, and the deepest depravities are illustrated, some might find it completely overwhelming and horrifying. Others might just do what protagonist Garcia Hotspur does and make a dirty joke about it.
While some might find the frequent innuendo jokes a bit off putting or tasteless, it certainly was a reminder that Garcia is a hardened demon hunter and it takes a lot more than a couple of bloody body parts to make him do a lunch review. It also served well to lighten the mood, especially for those of us who felt just a tad queasy upon first stepping foot into the world of Suda 51′s Hell.
I must confess, one of the things that drew me into this version of the underworld was the utmost attention to grotesque detail. Sadly, due to the rather linear nature of the world and the shortness of your quick journey, much of the areas that might have looked appealing to explore were locked away. It’s perhaps one of the many drawbacks to this game, but I digress. Artistically speaking, this game is made of Win, and it is great to see such effort put into making everything as disgusting as it looks.
The artistry in this game is only one of the great things about it. But of course, like every game that’s out there, the good doesn’t come without the bad. Shadows of the Damned has a couple of bad things in it, quite frustratingly so. For one, again the game is incredibly linear (even claustrophobically so) and short. If you think that path over there is going to take you to a little secret area for some upgrades, too bad, because it’s not. Pretty backgrounds can be so deceiving, but I suppose that’s just a reminder that you are in Hell.
Why are you in Hell in the first place anyway? You’re a demon hunter, that’s why. Well, that’s the general gist of it. You play as Garcia Hotspur, a passionate man about his weapons, his lady, and his dirty jokes. Upon killing a demon on the streets of an unnamed city, Hotspur is issued a warning, and hurries back home to check on his hot girlfriend. Well, she’s not doing so well, as Hotspur finds her in a precarious situation. She’s dragged straight into Hell and Hotspur gives chase. Thus, your descent into the Underworld.
Perhaps one thing that players might immediately draw upon is how similar in stance Garcia takes to Dead Space‘s Isaac Clarke. The third-person over-the-shoulder angle and the tilt of the screen definitely lends to Visceral Games’ style. Even the lack of a clear crosshair is quite indicative of Dead Space‘s display and style. However, this particular style in Shadows of the Damned‘s context makes it frustrating to attack legions of Hell monkeys, as Hotspur calls them. With the forever bobbing and weaving of some demons and their penchant to get up close and personal, it’s a little hard to fire off a shot without getting your face punched in first. In the latter portions of the game where at least four or five of them come running at you with the addition of Darkness, you have the recipe for a perfectly maddening disaster.
So what exactly is Darkness in this game? It’s a rather crucial component, but it becomes stale pretty quickly. As Johnson, your trusted demon sidekick, first explains to you, the Darkness is the stuff of dreams for demons (and nightmares for humans lucky enough to still be alive). Being enveloped in Darkness disables you in many ways, namely you can’t fight off the demons that come running at you. Your life is also constantly being taken away from you. Bringing light back is an easy enough task, as you have to relight lamps that are in the shape of goat heads. This chases away Darkness, and then you may dispose of demons as you please.
However, sometimes the light is hidden away, or sometimes you’re simply forced to fight for extended periods of time against the clock when the Darkness comes along. As you can tell already, this becomes a frustrating object to deal with in the later parts of the game, as demons appear that can randomly turn off the goat lamps. If you think trying to shoot skittering monsters on the ground is hard enough, you’re going to have a harder time trying to focus on relighting lamps as monsters assault you front and back. It’s maddening, and it doesn’t help that the camera is skittish itself. Moving behind colums, into barrels, and behind doors that you can’t get behind lends to the confusion.
And what’s with your girlfriend running at you to kill you? Like any self-respecting horror game, there’s plenty of these sequences, borderlining excessive at times. Once or twice, sure, I can live with that. But more than that, and running away like a sissy starts to feel a little campy. Even Johnson had a thing to say about it, quipping, “Do you get the feeling that we’re in a movie of some sort?”
Enough of the negativities though. While the actual fighting itself could use a lot of work, the story, raunchiness, and big weapons of the game is enough to make you chuckle and enjoy Shadows of the Damned. With each scene that depicts something grotesque and unsettling, Hotspur comes along to fix it by telling a joke. As if the writers were anticipating squeamishness, they do a fine job dispelling it by reminding you that you play as a badass man who couldn’t give much of a damn. He’s down under to find his lady, and – in a few plot twists – it makes for some fun.
And of course, I can’t let a game that features guns go without a comment on the weapons. At the behest of sounding like a trigger-happy little maniac, I must confess that one of the most satisfying things was upgrading my weapons to the maximum and watching things explode in a bloody mess. It’s a lot of fun, and ultimately will make a lot of the frustrations go away as you smash your way through little Hell monkeys.
Is it sounding good yet? While Shadows of the Damned might have a few harrowing points in the game, don’t let that deter you. The creep factor mixed with the psychotic play of light versus dark was promising enough to rope me into it. If you’re looking for your Suda 51 fix, then you’ve got the game to do it for you.
The Good
Fun story, fun ride. Psychotically tripped-out and detailed imagining of Hell. Guns. Lots of them.
The Bad
Frustrating fight sequences Shaky camera makes you wonder where exactly are you going Expansive backdrop leaves you wanting to explore more of Hell
Shadows of the Damned is available now for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. For more information on the game, ride over to the official website.
Family Focus
Surely thou jests! Shadows of the Damned is rated M (ESRB) and 18 (PEGI) for raunchy humor, lots of blood, disturbing imagery, and a whole hell of a lot of weaponry not suitable for the little ones.
Recent Comments