Sonic's rival Shadow gets his own game which is considered a "darker" look for Sonic games.
Shadow the Hedgehog, whom is Sonic's rival, got his own game with the same high speed Sonic fans crave, same ability's we have seen in the previous Sonic Adventure titles, and a new weapon system which is third-person shooting. The first time in Sonic history, guns are present. It's not that the weapon idea is bad, but the weapons themselves are actually rather dissapointing. They are, however, optional, but if you don't use them, get ready to bump into enemy's non-stop.
What starts out as the black hedgehog is standing around trying to remember his past, soon finds the sky to turn red and watches strange aliens come from the sky and destroy the city. Shadow then meets Black Doom, who is a the leader of the alien army and commands Shadow to help him get the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow is now debating either he should help Black Doom destroy the world, or help the heroes save the world from the destruction. The choice is yours.
The gameplay is slightly faster then any other Sonic title, but the amount of enemy's in the game is what causes you not to be able to experience full speed. So that's where the guns/swords come in. If you want to experience Shadow's full speed, then it's reccommended that you use the crappy guns found floating around and shoot anything in sight. The weapons, as said above, are dissapointing. Each gun in the game is more or less the same thing, but with different damage taken away and different designs. The bullets, however, are exactly the same which really drops the grade. And if you prefer not to use weapons because their crap, then stick to the good old homing attack and the crappy thing they call spindash in this game.
The graphics aren't much different then what they were in Sonic Heroes, but tweaked up a bit and with better cut-scenes. However, it isn't all peachy, there are an excessive amount of glitches with the game it isn't even funny. But the graphics is one of the main things that keep the grade of this title going up. Since you're running at high speed, it's unlikely that you will actually look around and examine the objects.
The music in the game is sweet with actual lyrics for each path you take. However, they forgot to didn't bother getting in a song for th sub-dark ending. But with every stage having a different tune, no problem with high-pitch problems, and overall catchy tunes, you'll probley be buying this game mainly for its music.
So overall, Shadow the hedgehog is definitly a darker look for Sonic games, and is dissapointing yet enjoyable at the same time. This title is probley more of a rent, unless you're a Sonic fanatic (like myself), then by all means buy the game if you really want ot know about Shadow's past and want to kick some alien or even human butt. But Shadow the hedgehog definitly could've been better, but you may still find it enjoyable.