X360, PS3 (Reviewed)
Released: June 21, 2011
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture have the wonderful ability to create games that fans will absolutely adore, but they have virtually no chance of appealing to the mass market. Killer 7 and No More Heroes both offered experiences that were uniquely Suda, with captivating art styles and a disregard for conventions and, in an industry drenched in sameyness and supposed sequel fatigue they managed to sell as well as a pork roast on Hannukah. If any of his games would have a shot at mainstream acceptance, it should've been Shadows of the Damned.
Everything you encounter during your hellish journey helps to build Suda51’s demented portrayal of hell. Story books scattered throughout recount the tales of various demons you’ll be faced with; their existences in hell defined by their lives as humans. The back story provided for some of these fiends can instill a tinge of pity for the poor soul. George Reed, one such demon, was tormented by his constant hunger to the point of eating his own flesh. I walked away from that story with a real sympathy for the character. Then he charged at me, twin machetes flashing, and that tinge of pity dissipated quickly enough.
Shadows’ sound design is easily my favorite piece of this package; Akira Yamaoka’s work is near perfect; everything, right down to the sickening squish of an exploding demon head is delightful. There are moments when Shadows of the Damned seems to straddle the line between psychological thriller and goofy b-movie horror and, in those moments, Yamaoka’s work establishes it as the former.
Standing in opposition to this twisted world is the dialogue shared between Hotspur and his cranial companion Johnson who will often discuss the finer points of erections or exchange one liners at a particularly tense moment.
“Boner” might be the most used word in the script, if only because of Chapter 4 which contains a series of variations of the phrase “Taste my big boner.” In some cases, humor like this is tasteless and generally unfunny. It’s base and we as a society have evolved our comedic tastes beyond such infantile nonsense. Except we haven’t, and Shadows of the Damned delivers its crude, tasteless humor in such a way that it’s legitimately funny, not sad like some other games out there that may or may not involve a self-absorbed douche with a healthy appetite for bubble gum and women.
While I’m not convinced that Shadows should have been an over-the-shoulder shooter, the combat is executed extremely well aside from having to switch weapons with the directional pad - something that I absolutely detest in shooters. The Resident Evil 4 style combat is considerably faster and offers the ability to move/shoot which, I’m told, is everything Resident Evil fans have always wanted... or something.
Intermingling with the basic combat is a darkness mechanic that, while not particularly novel, manages to not feel as stale as you might think. Frequently an enemy will arrive on the scene and drench the game in life-draining darkness. Within this darkness, demons will become invulnerable. Where the combat is an evenly metered, skill-based affair, the darkness plunges the game into something far more frantic.
When the darkness hits, your goal switches to one of frenzied searching. The various methods of dispelling the darkness, which include shooting a Goat Lamp and shooting red switches to remove “demon pubes,” are often immediately apparent, but not so easiliy achieved. A few of these sequences give you just enough time to complete the puzzle, but not enough to solve it. Trial and error ensues.
This feeds into what is, essentially, my only real hangup: Shadows of the Damned has a nasty habit of becoming painfully repetitive. Were it not for the bosses and mini-bosses breaking up chapters, I’d have a hard time remember what I did over the course of the game. With the exception of Act-4 -- a complete “what the fuck?” moment on its own -- and the beautifully done Evil Dead tribute sequence, much of the gameplay is a blur of darkness puzzles and monster closets.
Over the course of the ~6 hour journey, I fluctuated between annoyance at doing the same thing over and again, and being completely in awe of the genius. I've never played a game that is so adept at instilling both frustration and adoration in equal measure. I truly do love Shadows of the Damned, and the repetition is hardly enough to squelch the fun to be had (so much fun!), but I almost wonder, for the slightest of moments, if I'd prefer it in a graphic novel or film.
