Shadows of the Damned, is finally released. From the crazy creativeness of Suda 51 with the help of Shinji Mikami with the score from Akira Yamaoka, Shadows of the Damned is sure to give you the ride to hell and back. EA publishes this infernal macabre experience which will scramble your brains with its deranged story and with the help of your Johnson; you will blow things up, Garcia style. The game feels of a mix from a Tarantino or Grindhouse movie to make it a crunchy in the way possible.

The game is viewed from a third person shoulder view. Since the game has the touch of Suda 51, you will instantly identify elements in the gameplay that resemble the style of No More Heroes. The game has a mix of action, seriousness and all the dark humour you can get and it’s well balanced not to go off point. The story takes us to the real world where you will be playing the part of Garcia Hotspur who is a demon hunter. His crazy girlfriend Paula has committed suicide by hanging herself. The lord of demons, Fleming, has claimed her for himself and won’t give her back to our hero… except to one condition.

Garcia slayed a lot of demons from Fleming’s army of demons and he’s willing to give Paula back if Garcia will admit defeat and he has challenged a greater power. While Fleming leaves with Paula to the underworld since Garcia admitted that Fleming is a dick, and Garcia following his path. Alongside Garcia, Johnson will guide and follow. Johnson is a skull like ex-demon who helps Garcia in his demon hunting. Johnson is the counter part of Garcia since it can transform in many object i.e. torch light, shotgun and a steamed-punk motorcycle. Johnson also provides guidance for Garcia in the Underworld and of course spits a lot of jokes all the way like he’s bored of his retirement from being a demon and he’s bored of metal jokes and being used as a pirate flag. Dick jokes are a part of the game and such jokes between Garcia and Johnson will make the game fun and more interesting.

The game although serious since there is a lot of gore and action is pretty funny and the dark humour between the characters is great and well balanced. The game feels right with its action to poke exactly the experience that one would expect from this game including a great shooter, great story, great graphics and comedy. The game has a great personality and having great story books telling stories about ghost with commentary from Johnson and Garcia are a must. The story is great and how it is presented it really makes it as a movie like when you start off it’s like a movie along with credits and stuff and then you make your own road movie to the castle of Fleming to get the girl back. As the plot and scenarios the game has a strong, full of character and charm and original creativity in it.

Graphics are great its style makes it a very cool game, although sometimes character moments seem a bit mechanical. The game gives a new view of hell and the gameplay is surely interesting. Graphics are without comparison and the creation of hell was without comparison. Each scene is filled with originality from the monster’s design to the demonic strip club. The underworld occasionally falls into this darkness out of the normality that consumes any living entity and the monsters will be invincible. You can either escape the darkness or shoot the Johnson Light shot to the goat head piece hanging in walls… now that’s weird. Shooting the Johnson Light shot into lamp will lighten the lamp and scare demons away, coming in handy when you don’t want to fight them.

Fighting can be fun and challenging. Garcia uses Johnson as his main weapons which can be transformed into shooting weapons or a torch which both can be used against demons. The weapons can be used to shoo the Johnson Light shot. In the underworld everything is upside down. When you are low on health you must replenish your health bar by drinking alcohol. Don’t take this seriously since in real life it’s the opposite. When Garcia drinks, he will get a bit dizzy but saying ‘That felt good’. 

The gameplay doesn’t feel unique since it’s like a mix of Resident Evil and Devil May Cry type of game which isn’t a bad thing. Liked the part that when you do a head shot on an enemy the view will change into the bullet view and splats into his head. Although the shooting feels natural with the nifty weapon upgrade, the gameplay camera may tick you off sometimes. The camera while fighting may get awkward and it can be a bit un-cooperative when having monsters on your side or behind you.

Boss fights are the climax of the game as you deal with enormous monsters with a challenge to find its weak spot. Some of the bosses have obvious weak spot which are clearly visible on them like a big red thingy, but most of them will challenge your ingenuity to find their weak spots.

The in-game sound effects are fantastic with mellow guitar tunes with screams and other spooky sounds really do the scene. The soundtrack feels great and hoping to get my hands on it as soon as they release it.

Conclusion

Shadow of the Damned is a hell or a ride and the creator along with the sound and storyline people have done a great job. The game feels rightly balanced between seriousness and comedy. Apart from some weird camera views, the game is a must and along with the Mexican accent of Garcia and the British accent of Johnson, it’s a great road movie.