You can bitch and moan about Electronic Arts’ business practices all you like (really, Battlefield 3 will be worth it, kids), but once in a while, the company does make a genuinely good business decision. Case in point – it immediately leaped on board Shadows of the Damned when it was pitched. And what a pitch it must’ve been. Featuring the talents of the provocative Suda 51 and his team at Grasshopper Manufacture, with some help from Resident Evil’s Shinji Mikami and music maestro Akira Yamaoka, it was definitely something leaning on the quirky side of gaming. But EA gambled anyway – and it looks like it paid off. What we have here is a game that’s part Resident Evil, a slight part of The Darkness (without the cool demon arms, mind you) and all Grindhouse. It’s a game so far over the top at times, it’s enough to make you pause it and laugh at the silliness of it all. Seriously. The sexual double entendres stack up here, to the point that Duke Nukem Forever seems tame.
You’re in control of a demon hunter named Garcia Hotspur, a guy that talks a lot of trash and backs it up with the help of his former demon friend, a wisecracking, flaming skull named Johnson. One night, a six-eyed demon by the name of Fleming pays him a visit, shortly after it appears his girlfriend Paula kills herself. He drags his poor woman into the depths of Hell, and follows him down. The game then has you traversing through demon-filled worlds, killing everything in Garcia’s path as he attempts to save Paula. Fleming, however, isn’t so easy to stop. Garcia has some great moments, but Johnson really steals the show here. He’s a great character, with lots of great zingers (“Demons are buttholes!”) and excellent abilities, including transforming into guns, motorcycles, and other handy tools. You’ll need to upgrade your character to take advantage of these opportunities, but that’s real easy to do, since the game is overloaded with gem currency, among other things. Keep an eye out for the red ones.
As for the gameplay itself, it’s very much inspired by Resident Evil. You can roam around freely using Johnson as a torch, trying to keep the darkness at bay (if you’re surrounded by it, it can easily kill you). At any time, you can switch to your gun, which fires both regular demon-killing ammo and special light shots, which you use to burn darkness off a demon’s body and occasionally shoot goat heads (a nod to Drag Me To Hell, perhaps?) to light up a section. In addition, you’ll also run into occasional 2-D segments, which are equally enjoyable. They have a slight Ghouls n’ Ghosts vibe to them – but without the hearted underwear. For the most part, the controls are very functional, though aiming can be an issue in tight corners, or if a demon gets right up in your face. (You can use your torch to melee them if they’re too close, but it doesn’t really do much damage.) There are other times the movements of Garcia can be off, particularly with running. A couple of times, while trying to escape demon groups, we somehow ran into a wall or two. Not the end of our world, mind you, but you would think a demon hunter could comprehend where walls are.
This feature review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see our final thoughts on Shadows of the Damned.
