Shadow the Hedgehog – Review

As a franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog has an enduringly notable history, and with the arrival of Shadow the Hedgehog, Sega attempt to widen demographic appeal beyond the staple of kiddies while remaining true to tried and tested gameplay mechanics. With a slightly more mature plotline, the inclusion of weaponry, and continual ‘good’ or ‘evil’ mission choices that affect the story, does Shadow successfully shroud Sonic with moody originality, or merely provide an ineffectual distraction?

The game opens with a seemingly amnesia-struck Shadow watching with contempt as an alien force invades the city of Westopolis. Shadow is abruptly shaken from his disdain as the alien leader materializes before him and demands he make good on a promise to assist with the destruction of mankind. And how? By the collection and delivery of certain vitally important Chaos Crystals. However, it quickly comes to pass that perpetual good guys, Sonic, Tails, and co. also need the crystals to stem the alien flow. Who will Shadow help? With no recollection of alleged promises, and no love for mankind—perhaps he’ll help himself?

Core gameplay in Shadow the Hedgehog is set in a linear 3D world that follows all the familiar Sonic themes. Ring collection, enemy bouncing, crate breaking, moving platforms and looping tracks are all present and accounted for. The game’s opening level promises a somewhat unusual deviation from expectation though, by placing Shadow in the midst of a sprawling Westopolis and within easy reach of destructive weaponry. Of course, bouncing on enemy heads, and spin rolling are still sure-fire attacks, but pistols, machineguns, laser blasters, and grenade launchers certainly make things more interesting in terms of action. At set points during each level, Shadow will intermittently come across an accompanying manifestation of the nefarious alien leader, and also a physical ‘good guy’ partner. Both of these level guides will direct Shadow to follow their own specific cause—and the player is free to choose one, both, or neither. If treading the realms of evil whets your appetite then military troops are your set target, whereas if serving mankind is your preferred route then everything alien is fair game. Either way, a kill counter/targets remaining meter appears onscreen for whichever path you take. If you choose to follow a solo path, then it’s an immediate case of indiscriminate attack—which may well prove beneficial seeing as both parties fire on Shadow, regardless of his affiliation.

Despite the interestingly gritty opening and its definite distancing from the standard Sonic blueprint, the game’s unique flavor is all too quickly lost for the sake of more recognizable surroundings. The first level’s welcome urban themes admirably mask the structurally pointless floating platforms, road loops, and pinball bounce pads, but the franchise’s glaringly colorful aesthetic soon runs riot across any preconceived notions of atmosphere. Within just a few levels, Shadow the Hedgehog’s beautiful and moody rendered introduction sequence is forgotten amid vividly cartoon environments. The impact of weaponry inclusion is crushed beneath childish peripheral details, mundane bouncing and jumping, and the frantic re-collection of lost rings. And the intriguing story choices between good and evil are soon of little importance as the lack of intelligent and consistent allies means Shadow’s self preservation becomes the only real choice.

Once initial gameplay disappoint is replaced by the sensation of franchise familiarity, Shadow the Hedgehog’s presentation is thoroughly acceptable for what it is: a relatively uninspiring 3D platform game. Graphically, design and animation is always thoroughly competent and befitting Sonic’s world, but the sad abandonment of the game’s promise for the sake of safe and secure known quantities certainly damages the overall impression. Game sound is also typically cartoon in nature and, with the exception of the alien leader’s ominous tones, all the character voices remain true to the game’s undoubtedly preteen feel. The most damaging facet of Shadow the Hedgehog lies with the character control. General movement is, by turns, unresponsive where subtlety is required and hard to govern when sudden bursts of speed occur. However, it’s the temperamental jump mechanics that coax the greatest amounts of frustration while you watch helplessly as Shadow falls—again—to his death.

Girl gamers are offered no playable outlet in the form of strong female characters, and Shadow himself exudes bucketfuls of glowering manliness—he even says “Damn it” when robbed of his collected rings. Gamers with hearing difficulties get gameplay subtitles as standard, and keeping up with the unfolding storyline is never an issue.

If there’s one thing worse than a disappointing game, it’s a game that disappoints when you truly wish it didn’t. Sega and Sonic Team showed ably with the game’s opening Westopolis level that Shadow the Hedgehog could bring a new perspective to an otherwise predictable genre, but then abandoned that achievement while falling back on safer ground. The game’s marketing and packaging, and the public interest spawned by the inclusion of weaponry, would have you believe that it walks new paths while offering an accessible avenue to the more mature gamer. It doesn’t. Shadow the Hedgehog is a missed opportunity to broaden the horizons of an enduring franchise and to introduce a new daring counterpoint character to the colorfully innocuous product safety of Sonic. Shame.

Review by Stevie

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment