[REVIEW] Something Wicked this Way Comes: Shadows of the Damned

Have you ever played a Zelda game, and thought to yourself this needs more penis jokes? Or wished that Navi could transform into a gun? Yes? Then you're in luck, because Shadows of the Damned makes those dreams come true.

Hang on... What!? Zelda & Shadows of the Damned? Read on to find out what these two games hold in common...
In this over-the-shoulder shooter you assume the role of protagonist Garcia F*#king Hotspur, Hunter of Demons - you return to your apartment after a day of demon hunting to find your girlfriend being abducted to the underworld by the lord of demons, Fleming. As any demon hunting boyfriend would do you chase her through the vortex and spend the entire game battling your way to Fleming's castle to rescue her. (Did I say Zelda? Sounds more like Mario so far!)

This Lebowski ain't getting his Johnson
cut off anytime soon...

Luckily, You're not alone in this quest. You are joined by your wise cracking ex-demon sidekick, Johnson, the disembodied skull. Johnson is more than just a Navi-esque companion, he also transforms into the various weapons you wield to defeat armies of demons. As the story progresses your Johnson gets upgraded to be... uh... 'bigger' and more 'powerful' and even forms appropriately named weapons such as the 'Hot Boner.'

The start of the game feels like a movie. There's short bursts of fighting and puzzles riddled with dialogue, but as the game progresses, it flips that dynamic, and it feels more like a puzzler/shooter, with clever dialogue to join it all together. That being said, it still weaves an involving narrative for the age old story of boy meets girl, girl is abducted by demon lord, boy fights way to demon lord's castle to destroy demon lord and save girl. Literally the oldest plot hook in games. (Seriously, Donkey Kong had the same essential storyline in 1981. - Jiggsy2point0)

So, back to Zelda. While this game is linear in comparison, and much shorter (you can complete it in under 12 hrs), there are many striking similarities which may be inherent to Japanese game design, and it's no surprise Suda 51 has used them.

The first time I noticed this Zelda/Shadows similarity was during my first boss fight. There was a very familiar feel to the fight, a clear sequence of how and where to hit the boss, and after 3 or 4 sequences the boss changed tactics, and after 3 or 4 more sequences the boss died. It's a trend instantly familiar to Zelda players, and one which was similarly repeated in every other boss fight throughout the game. As in any good Zelda game, this by no means made the boss fights easy - and I often died more times than I would care to admit.

It took me a little while to get used to the controls and start firing accurately - not helped by the fact your line of fire between your up-in-front pistol style 'Boner' and the shotgun-esque shooting-from-the-hip Monocusioner are very, very different. Your aim is helped by a handy laser targeting style beam shooting from the end of each weapon.

Aside from the running, gunning and boss fights, the team at Grasshopper Manufacture have clearly put some effort into providing game play variety - tower defence, 3d architecture manipulation in the 'moor pu dekcuf' (read it right to left, Japanese style) and even some 2d side-scroller sections - this variety and break up was generally enjoyed and if the game were longer, more of this 'mixing it up' would have been appreciated. It is clear that even though the Unreal engine is starting to show its age (Shadows is easily not the most graphically advanced game of 2011), it is still a highly capable tool for delivering a wide variety of game play.

The only thing that really frustrated me were the chase scenes. There are half a dozen sections through the game in which you are being chased, and if you come into contact even briefly with the creature chasing you it is instant death. The most frustrating of these involved also having to kill demons (while being chased) in order to collect the items required to escape into the next section. Fortunately these chase sections are generally fairly spaced out, and there aren't too many of them.

These small frustrations aside, the balance of the game works well - resources are plentiful enough but not so much as to feel unlimited. Different demon varieties forces you to use different weapons, plan your weapon upgrades accordingly, and there are adequate 'rest periods' during which you get a break from combat in order to solve puzzles and advance to the next area.

I found the game very enjoyable, and at times highly adrenaline fueled, dodging demons while running through health-sucking darkness to shoot a button and light up a goat (Yes, you read that right), then turning around to kill the demons you were dodging, hoping you'd have enough health to get to the next check point.

Will I give it a rating? No.

Will I recommend it? Yes, its a fun, short shooter that doesn't take itself too seriously and really has you caring for Garcia by the end, but know this: This is the kind of game that should be a poster child for an R18+ rating. It's somewhat ridiculous that a game with this level of adult oriented content is in the same rating category as a Halo title.


For more on Shadows of the Damned, check out our EA Australia Preview night coverage and Photo Gallery!