Shadows of the Damned Review

Shadows of the Damned is a fun-filled action shooter game which, despite its somewhat limited gameplay, makes for an entertaining and unique ride. This Suda51 game takes place in the Underworld as Garcia "Fucking" Hotspur chases after the hellishly sex-bent demons who kidnapped his fiancee. Armed with his trusty Johnson (a talking, morphing skull spirit), his less-than-substantial grasp of the English language, and a foul-mouthed-take-no-shit-from-anything approach, he decides to bust down the doors of Hell and take back his dearly beloved. The gameplay style is very similar to a somewhat smoother over-the-shoulder Resident Evil 4 with a quicker demand for shooting and reactions but a lesser demand on ammunition. Where this game shines, however, isn't its gameplay or its story, but the atmosphere and the bizarre comedy that this game is filled to the brink with.

"Demon hunting! Yay!"

Despite the somewhat underwhelming introduction animation and the strangely off-putting remarks by the Big Bad about how Garcia is unable to perform satisfactorily in bed, the game starts picking up as soon as you enter the first "real" area. After scaring a one-eyed monster named "One-Eyed Willy" (this game's not big on subtlety) who turns out to be Johnson's second cousin removed (or something) and also your means of saving your progress, you are greeted by the sounds of munching. That munching turns out to be a goat head. This goat head.

"Just warn me if I have to fuck a horse to unlock a door." --Garcia

Though it is somehow contentedly eating...something in Hell, this quickly changes when another major aspect of the game is introduced. Though you are able to roam willy-nilly around Hell as if nobody but the random hellspawns give a toot, the final boss randomly decides to be a dick by sending Darkness your way. Darkness is a slow-spreading or sudden change in the environment during which enemies are invincible and Garcia is constantly losing health. In order to counteract this impending doom, players must seek out and shoot a nearby Goat Head (which is now freaking out for its life and bleating in confusion...despite the fact that it must constantly be exposed to this, making it one of the saddest creatures in Hell...aside from the burping baby doorheads). Various other little tastes of Suda51's perverted genius peek out at you throughout the game such as a "sexy, sexy bitch" boss whose singing and beauty something something, a crazed killer whose only discernible words can be pieced together as "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!", a cannibal with a harmonica stuck in his mouth whose panted breaths come off as dissonant chords, giant creatures who die and release hellspawns from their orifices (ALL of their orifices) in Darkness, a Red Light world where Johnson transforms into a Big Boner, and countless other moments.

"You'll need to use both hands. I guarantee it."

Though I did enjoy the comedy filling that the game had, there were a number of downpoints that made the game not as enjoyable to play as it may seem. The gameplay, though finely tuned was quite repetitive and lacked the tension that Resident Evil 4 maintained. Towards the end of the game, the powerups that weapons received also either made the weapon uber-powerful or uber-pointless. Such scaling made the weapon variety seem somewhat stinted and near pointless. Some of the level designs were also a tad on the frustrating or lackluster part. For example, the Big Boner part, though comically amusing the first time, quickly loses its charm when you're forced to battle through three rounds of the same, slow action. The fact that it's followed by several stages of slow-paced 2-D randomness made that section of the game rather painful to play through and somewhat of a letdown. The end of the game also felt like more of something to work through than to enjoy, which brings down the overall impact that the game had. In addition to the short length of the game, all these aspects make Shadows of the Damned feel less thoroughly planned out than it was.

"Oh, throwing a girl into that formula would probably help too..."

I did have fun with the game. Have no doubts, it was a fun game to enjoy. However, I most likely wouldn't buy it for the full price that it's offered (around 35 dollars). It's a fun rental, but the lack of replayability and the listed shortcomings make buying the game a difficult desire. In terms of gameplay, I'd give it a 3.5 since it followed off of a good formula and added some new aspects, but it fell a little short of maintaining a fresh, fun feel for the entirety of the game. For atmosphere, I'd give it a 4.5 because the crude humor was well planted throughout the whole game and the mood never broke, but this humor could be very hit-or-miss based on those playing the game and could come across as limp and stale. Music gets a 3. It would add decently to the atmosphere, but I don't recall any moments where it spectacularly added to the playthrough experience. Replayability gets a 1. This game is just not a replayable one...though there are a lot of upgrading gems that you can find, there is little feel of reward for getting them, and a typical playthrough will find far more than enough gems to upgrade weapons satisfactorily. Plot gets a 1.5. The plot isn't great. In fact, it isn't good. I appreciate the fact that it HAS to be bad to keep humor of this caliber around, but if I were to submit a story of this sort into my Comparative Literature class, I'd not only get accused of sexual harassment, but my competence and mental stability would likely come into question. Therefore, Shadows of the Damned will get a 2.7/5. I'd say that it's a really fun rental if you're looking for a series of crude laughs and a unique experience (heck, I loved it), but I wouldn't personally recommend purchasing the game if you're looking for one that will leave a positively lasting experience.