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Review: Shadow the Hedgehog
OMG! GUNS!
Note: This review is based on gameplay on the PlayStation2 Computer Entertainment System. There may be subtle differences between the XBox and GameCube ports of the game. Read reviews on the forums to see if there is a review on one of those consoles.
Shadow the Hedgehog was game that already was getting both praise and scrutiny before it even came out, due to several concepts that had been announced. On the one hand, several fans were hoping to finally have the plot holes surrounding Shadow's "rebirth" in Sonic Heroes, which left several questions.
There were also skeptics looking at the game, already seeing the guns, vehicles, and aliens as a threat to the Sonic-style gameplay. Would they be mandatory? Would they be more of a hinderance than a help?
In parts, both were wrong.
Right as you turn on the game, you are reintroduced to the darker side of the Sonicverse, first seen in Sonic Adventure 2 when Shadow first appeared. Let's say that Shadow's... changed since then.
Shadow, originally the plotting, vengeful, dark hedgehog plotting to destroy the world out of vengeance for Maria, is now in amnesia after waking up (thanks to Rouge) in Sonic Heroes. As the Black Arms invade the planet and start to attack the city, Black Doom confronts Shadow and "reminds" him that the time of judgment is at hand. Shadow's confused now, and he decides to gather the 7 Chaos Emeralds and see if they can help him uncover his past.
Despite the game's E-10 rating (one of the first E-10 games), the story is sadly of a childish and somewhat cliche nature. After all, nobody expects aliens, of all things, to claim to be associated with Shadow. And with a leader named as cheesily as Black Doom, you can tell that the naming department wasn't exactly stellar here. (I mean, seriously. You'd think someone from another planet would maybe have a name that doesn't look like an earthly language.) The story also doesn't do a very good job of filling in the plot holes put into place by Sonic Heroes. All it does is elaborate on events that happened before Sonic Adventure 2, which, while insightful, is far from what fans were expecting.
The 10 different endings (plus the Last Story) give a sense of variety in the story and each has its own strengths (particularly the Last one). It's not perfect, but it's passable.
Story: 5/10
Graphics haven't changed much since Sonic Heroes on terms of gameplay. Some cutscenes (specifically, the CG major cutscenes) are excellently done and enhanced, but these scenes are rare, occurring only at the beginning and end of the game. The other cutscenes are of relatively bad quality, as you could notice after completing the first stage (Normal mission), where Shadow's Emeralds are clearly not actually being "held" by him (somewhat reminiscent to Robotnik's feeding Emeralds 3 and 4 to Chaos in Sonic Adventure). Gameplay graphics aren't too different from Heroes', which aren't horrible but nothing too impressive either.
Graphics: 6/10
Gameplay has its ups and downs as well. On the one hand, Shadow's speed is increased, which adds to the feel of Shadow being Sonic's rival. However, this speed comes at a cost: control. You can be blazing through Westopolis, zig-zagging loosely to (try to) avoid the rampant GUN soldiers and Black Arms, often in failure. You get used to it after a while, but it's frustrating nonetheless.
No problem, you'll just jump over them, right? Not so fast. (Literally.) Jumping's been slowed since Heroes, and the jump dash/homing attack is slower, so you don't really get the boost you got in Sonic Adventure 2, or even Sonic Heroes. Jump dashing is only useful when jumping up to a stable platform that's higher up, so you can get a tiny boost when speedrunning.
Now, with the running speed and (finally) the return of the spin dash, you'd think that would have been improved as well. Sadly, it went the other way around. The spin dash, under most circumstances, is only useful for travelling through red slime and an occasional spin dash jump. Otherwise, don't bother with it. It's slower that every other game with one, and to top it off it's not as easily used as it was in the Adventure series. Yet another disappointment.
That said, the guns do provide an interesting change to gameplay. They're not mandatory by any standards, and most levels can be beaten without them, but often times they prove a great help, particularly when you are moving fast and want to clear enemies away in a hurry. (I'd recommend an SMG or machine gun, though.) The vehicles, however, are pointless. Unless forced (like flying across a bottomless pit), don't use them. They're that slow.
Other miscellaneous points of gameplay just scream to be pointed out. First off, the mission system. It's a decent change, but in some cases the missions (Lost Impact Hero comes to mind) are very frustrating, perhaps too much so for normal gameplay. The fact that you don't lose all your rings when hit is somewhat disappointing, but expected when you're almost constantly being attacked (which isn't necessarily a good thing, though it's true). Lots of standard enemies take multiple attacks to kill with a standard homing attack, slowing gameplay even more. Overall, gameplay could use some work.
Gameplay: 5/10
The one point where Shadow really seems to shine, however, is music. Jun Senoue, for the most part, does another excellent job tuning the music to fit the darker theme of the game. Several tunes, reminiscent of Shadow's levels in SA2, make for decent listening, and for the most part, the vocal tunes are great. Not perfect, however. "Almost Dead" by Powerman 5000 is almost easily the worst vocal theme of the game, as I can't even stand to listen to the whole thing. "I Am" gets repetitive very quickly, with only a couple lines changed between verses. "Chosen One" is alright. The music is what makes the game fun to play in some respects, and can help counter some of the many negatives about the game.
Music: 8/10
In short, a decent game, but certainly not the best of the 3D titles to date. Lots of elements needed work, and often times there was negative progress in areas that were seeing improvement.
Overall: 6.0/10
Remember kids, don't play with GUN.
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