Shadows of the Damned is the latest game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by EA. The game is the result of collaboration between Goichi Suda (Flower, Sun and Rain and No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil 4 and Vanquish.)
The game follows our hero, a demon hunter named Garcia Hotspur, as he blasts his way through the underworld to rescue his lover Paula from Fleming, the ruler of the underworld. Hotspur is assisted by his redeemed demon sidekick, Johnson.
Shadows of the Damned uses a third-person shooter control scheme in which you can move while aiming and shooting. Johnson, your hand-held demon Swiss army knife, transforms into your weapons: a revolver, machine gun, and shotgun, as well as other useful items like a torch and a motorcycle.
Jumping into the game I was first met with a fast passed tutorial, of the “shoot lots and lots of demons” variety. I found that the controls were very touchy and often while aiming I would accidently pass over the target on the first and second attempt (luckily the A.I. seemed to have a demons getting stuck while walking into furniture and walls as they tried to kill me.) Once those demons had been literally shot to pieces, I was treated to the first of many cut scenes that are actually quite well done. The voice acting in this game is great and the only bad thing I have to say about the dialog is that the writers seemed to make it their personal goal to find every dick joke or reference they could. I mean, you’re literally holding your Johnson is your hand. So much so, that after a while the humour just isn’t funny anymore and feels very forced.
When you arrive in Hell, that is when the survival horror aspect of the game kicks in. Demons attack you around every second or third turn, always making you wonder when they were going to strike. Also at this stage the game introduces “Darkness” puzzles, in which Garcia gets trapped by the darkness of the underworld, which eats away at his soul over time. To find a way to dispel it the player must attempt a varying number of skills including shooting wall mounted goat heads and consuming human hearts for more time.
The most intense moments in the game for me were the boss battles. For “shoot the weak point” fights, these were fast paced a forced you to be very reactive. When I fought the first boss I went into an adrenaline powered trance until I defeated him.
What I believe really puts a damper on this game is how repetitive it gets, basically every level is just more waves of demons that you shoot up then move on. After a while even the Darkness Puzzles feel the same and become very easy to solve.
When it comes down to it, Shadows of the Damned is a third person shooter that you’ll play once and enjoy for the most part, but probably never pick up again unless you really want the achievements.
6.5 GGs
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Release Date: June 21, 2011
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
