Shadows of the Damned
Few games that have truly insane ideas and the gameplay to back them up. Shadows of the Damned has found a fantastic balance between shooting, interesting puzzles that change up the pace and completely bonkers designs to boot. It extends much further from your companion Johnson, the floating British skull that is all your weapons and tools. Doors with the faces of babies requiring certain items to be feed as keys, Goat Head lamps that need to be lit to proceed and crazy bosses are just some of the great experiences.
The combat is fast paced and very intuitive, although the controls might take a little bit of time to get used to. It feels like a faster and more fluid iteration of Dead Space’s control system, implementing things like a roll and a “Light Shot” that can stun enemies and strip away the darkness of others (ala Alan Wake). The weapons themselves are also unique and you’ll find yourself dabbling in each version of them as they upgrade throughout the game which is extremely good when you get the hang of it.
There is a fantastic variety of different enemies to encounter throughout your time in the demon’s world, all of them having a very different strategy to kill them. These can range from the simple demons with headshot preventing helmets, to more complex enemies with weaknesses to exploit, revealing a red orb weak spot. Even the bosses are fun and interesting to fight, making you think before you just waste a ton of ammo.
As well as ammo pickups you also collect White Gems, which act as the game’s currency. These drop from enemies or are found in boxes and barrels you can destroy. Rarely, you’ll come across Red Gems. These let you upgrade your weapons and health, increasing stats like damage done, reload rate and capacity. A third gem, Blue in colour, specifically from bosses, is given to Johnson to upgrade your arsenal. Health, however, is regenerated with alcohol, which you can also get from vending machines. Coming in three varieties, these replenish your health once drunk. It’s a good mechanic as it still manages to keep the pace high, without resorting to that trend of regenerating health.
The story actually starts off pretty cliché, with hero, Garcia Hotspur pissing off the leader of all the demons he’s been slaying. In retaliation, said demon, named Fleming, steals Hotspur’s girlfriend Paula and brings her to Hell. This sets up a very intriguing world, with Hotspur clearly being tortured as he sees Paula being mutilated and killed multiple times. Even seeing her in some sexier outfits doesn’t stop the fact that something else is clearly going on. It also rounds up nicely and easily stays interesting throughout the campaign, which lasts around eight hours.
The world is populated with a vast amount of different looking demonic environments, from a strange town to a strip club. Among these are story books, which are read by Johnson or Hotspur. These can be hilarious, not for the content (which is insanely twisted) but for the characters reading them. It genuinely inspires a few laughs as you hear them react in a similar way to you, as you hear the story. There’s even a half-human, half-demon called Christopher that sells you ammo, alcohol and red gems for your precious White Gems.
Shadows of the Damned is definitely one of a kind. Running through darkness as it eats away at your health keeps tension up without having any fighting taking place, the comedy value is there, if you can handle the insane amount of sexual references, and the story manages to keep you hooked. It’s full of style and it knows it, even breaking the fourth wall a couple of times to very good effect.
