While this game seemed intriguing at first, players will soon learn just how boring this game is extremely quickly.
The game is based around a young halfling named Del whose caravan is attacked, and then thrown into the dungeons of castle Shadowgate. After finding a convenient passage into the sewers within your cell, your objective is to escape this hellish village by completing the tasks in each of the four towers. Game play from here on out is simple and really will not test any of your gaming abilities, but rather your brain. Simply pick up any item you can and hope you will figure out how it will be useful later on. You will also need to be trading items with the very few people in the game, and try not to get yourself killed by something as stupid as slipping on the incorrect ring. There are also at least a hundred books, journals, or scraps of paper that you can pick up as well, that don’t really assist you at all other than giving you elusive clues, and rather give more depth to the practically non-existent storyline.
The graphics and sounds that accompany game play are poor. Some items will be unrecognizable until you’ve picked it up and they’ve told you what it is, and other items will be so well blended in with the floor tiles you might not see it at all. The very few people you meet are badly animated and look like they’ve been painted on pieces of cardboard more than anything, and the textures and scenery are really sub-par. The music adds to the already gloomy and lonesome atmosphere, and none of the tracks will stick out in your mind as particularly memorable. However, I will give you that the music does indeed change when you go to different areas, and some of the sound effects sound amazing realistic amidst such a dull and uninspiring world.
Shadowgate64 does have its good points. The game will challenge you to use the items you have in unique ways, and will measure your brain power in giving you riddles and having you recall seemingly unimportant information that some of the people and books you find will tell you. The game also has some tasks for you to complete under interesting circumstances, such as in the room where you must avoid spinning blades while the controls are now functioning backwards to how they should. Some game elements are also delightfully spooky, such as the rocking horse whose ghostly owner will rock back and forth and giggle when you come near it.
In the end, Shadowgate might provide you with a thought-provoking journey, but will probably end up frustrating and boring players with its uneventful game play. Unless you love puzzles and poorly executed games that could have had promise, I would not suggest you pick this game up.