Shadow the Hedgehog is not a bad game but is marred by a lacklustre effort on Sega’s half in the presentation.
People say that times change and it’s true. If Shadow had come out almost immediately after Sonic Adventure 2 in 2001 and it had been exactly the same as it is now people might be giving it a nicer score. Sega have taken the best bits of the engine from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes and pushed them together, which is supposedly a winning formula. It’s a nice idea but it lacks originality, the game doesn’t feel fresh it feels the same as that old classic you played five years ago. On top of that Shadow moves much to fast, now I can still control him and the levels are designed to accommodate his speed, but apparently some other gamers claim to have difficulty. They might not even by trying, who knows, but I can’t blame them if their not because that is by no means the only problem.
So, what’s fresh and new to the franchise in Shadow? The answer is simple; everything. Sega have taken their old engine and added little extras, in PC gaming this is no more than an add on, think Yuri’s revenge to Red Alert 2, the same but with more Added to the old dated engine we have a selection of weapons, which work well in their own right, vehicles, which are okay, and other gadgets. Some of them show initiative, the heal gun is fascinating and healing all the GUN soldiers really turns the game around, but sadly it’s not enough. You only have these guns, vehicles and whatever for half the time, and even when shooting your still using the old Gameplay mechanics. The saving grace is everything is optional, and I mean everything. If you think guns have no place in sonic, fine, you don’t need them. If you don’t think riding a motorbike is appropriate for someone as fast as Shadow, just don’t get on it. Shadow is really a game that the player makes what it is, it wants you to play it in a number of certain ways and if your prepared to play it like it wants you, then you can get a lot out of it. Camera problems aside Gameplay is solid if temperamental…
The game has a long lastivity, which if you hate you might not care about, but it will take hours off you. Not only do you have to complete six levels (in an order you choose) which affect the plot (in a way you choose) to produce one of twelve different endings, but then the true ending has an entire extra level and final boss added on. Some people don’t like the system, but it doesn’t force it on you and you can skip movies you’ve already seen. In level mechanics the only downside is both sides of the war your in the middle of are attacking you, so it doesn’t matter if you join the aliens, your still target practice for neighbouring Gun Soldiers… Also, your partner is only slightly above useless, although you can take over some of them with the secondary controller for added amusement. Voices are new, and different, some improving and some being horrendous. Best served is Tails whose voice finally fits, but beware Vectors one level, it hurts…
Story wise it all flows nicely, explains some questions you probably never asked about Shadow and finishes off his story, so hopefully we’ll never see him again.
Oh, I forgot, he’s in Sonic Riders :p