ShtH happens. Kenri reviews Shadow the Hedgehog!
Whoever’s bright idea it was to give Shadow a gun needs to be shot (to increase your villain gauge), then brought back to life (getting you some hero points), then shot again (for fun). I’ve got to wonder if giving Shadow a gun and allowing him to steal vehicles was an attempt to emulate Grand Theft Auto or Halo, but either way, it works better here than whatever game it stole the idea from.
Never played a Sonic game before? Don’t worry, I’m sure there are one or two other people like you. The basic premise of just about every “traditional” game in the Sonic series (not pinball, for example) is to get from point A (which will hereby be known as “start”) to point B (“finish”). Finish is represented by a giant glowing ring. Instead of health, Shadow will collect bling… I mean rings. Right. Gold rings. If you’re hit and you have gold rings on you, your rings are scattered and you get a grace period where Shadow is invincible for about five seconds. During this time you can probably grab at least one of the rings you dropped, which makes any good player all but invincible during combat. However, if you get hit and you don’t have any rings, you’re dead.
Another thing that is well known in the Sonic series is the tremendous sense of speed. At least, this is what Sonic fans will tell you. I always felt like I was moving faster than, say, the square ball in Pong, but still overall going too slow. Especially for controlling a character who can move at the speed of sound, and arguably the speed of light. The speed of light means you can circle the Earth about seven times in a second, but it will take Shadow about ten minutes to finish a level. You’ll run loop-de-loops, grind on rails, and jump from platform to platform, trying to make it to the finish without falling into the great blast abyss of doom that seems to follow you around. I had no idea that large, urban cities had so many bottomless pits.
To show true “innovation” in the Sonic series, in this game Shadow is allowed to pick up guns. It has nothing to do with his black fur. Really. Sega does not condone racism. Yet. The shotgun, the machine gun, the rocket launcher, and the odd laser shooting alien guns are all there, but they all seem to operate the same way and have no real differences between them besides how difficult it is to get a bead on your enemy. Sure, you can hit an enemy in the air from a mile away, between the eyes, with a shotgun, but it’s really annoying to try to catch the huge, bulky monster that’s right next to you in the giant explosion your bazooka will create.
Taking yet another mechanic from recent, popular games, Shadow is allowed to jack…I mean, borrow, vehicles that he sees. These include the slow moving jeep, which serves no purpose whatsoever; the platform, which is a platform that you can control; the little hopping robot, which hops; and the bird enemy, which is so damn hard to control that you’ll feel like you’re playing a rail shooting game without an analog stick/D-Pad. Some of the vehicles are nice, especially because they take hits for you, but they leave something to be desired. Maybe it’s that you have to use normal handguns while in them. Somehow I think that a high profile war machine owned by the government would not require its driver to bring a gun with him, but hey, what do I know.
Regardless, the game plays well. All the jumping, running, dashing, shooting, and general mayhem causing maneuvers are slick and feel natural, even if trying to get to where you want or hit what you’re shooting at is sometimes a hassle. Anyone who’s played Sonic Adventure 1, 2, or Sonic Heroes will pick this game up quickly. And if you haven’t played those games, you should, because they’re all excellent and cheap. The learning curve is a bit higher than previous games in the series, but still far better than in pretty much any other game released recently.
My main issue comes from the camera. Okay, I realize it’s a Sonic game, but instead of adding guns, why didn’t Sega fix the trademark bad camera? Especially since people tend to follow you around in most levels, and the camera tends to get stuck in their head and or chest and or privates.
The game is short, though. After just playing for about an hour and a half, I had already almost beaten the game on one of the paths. Despite the hero/villain system allowing for multiple endings and a branching game path, I can’t imagine it taking a Sonic veteran more than, say, a week to finish the game. Really, this is the biggest flaw of the game, and that shows that the actual game is good while it lasts – it just may not be worth $50.
The story borders on “late night ‘horror’ movie from the 1950s” – I personally like the story, but you almost have to laugh during any scene with any attempt at emotion in it. The characters are the Sonic characters, so that can’t be the problem. Perhaps it’s the ridiculous voice acting, which is good, by all means, but is also really, really annoying.
So, the story starts with Shadow hanging out in a field overlooking the city at sunset, when a newspaper blows by and hints at an alien attack. Shadow proceeds to comment on the alien attack that is happening as he speaks. See what I meant by late night movie? If you don’t, you should stay up late tonight and flip through channels until you come across a movie called “The ____ from the ____”. You’ll appreciate the story on a whole other level after watching it. Shadow comments on his past, how he can’t remember anything, and on how he’s generally emo. This is when the boss of the aliens shows up and asks why Shadow isn’t collecting the Chaos Emeralds for them. Shadow is confused. Get used to Shadow being confused, it happens a lot. Apparently Shadow made a deal with the aliens – at least, that’s what he thinks must have happened. So he goes off to collect the emeralds in hopes of it restoring his memory.
As for the graphics, the cutscenes look amazing. Except for when human characters walk during the cutscenes. It looks like an old man in the middle of a heart attack trying to reach a phone. Seriously. But other than that, the detail shows. Individual blades of grass are shown blowing in the wind and other such pretty effects.
And then you start playing, and you wonder why your GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox suddenly became a Dreamcast. Mind you, the graphics during play are still good enough, but after the cutscene it just feels like going back to Albertson’s brand soda after drinking a can of Coke. Any levels with neon lights look especially well done. Sega seems to have a thing for neon lights. You’re never alone when you’re with a neon light, though, so I’ll deal.
The music is catchy and serves its purpose, but it’s nothing to write home about. The idea that I’ve been playing for a good while and haven’t heard a single Knuckles rap confuses and infuriates me, though. Where is my Pumpkin Hill theme?! The other sound effects are very good, fortunately. The general idea that everything can explode means that they have to be.
The game has multiplayer, but it’s not online, and I haven’t had a chance to test it out. If multiplayer is a deciding factor for you, it is there, but I can’t offer any insight.
So, should you buy it? I recommend waiting for a price drop. The game is certainly good and worth owning, but I wouldn’t pay $50 (well, *I* would pay $50, but you probably shouldn’t). Then again, if you’re one of the people who paid full price for pretty much any console game that’s come out in the past two months, go ahead and buy it right now. Take that last comment how you will. If Sonic Heroes was any indication, though, this game should drop in price in about three months, so wait if you can.
Shadow the Hedgehog gets an above average seven out of ten.
Kenri of the Yuri is just this guy who writes silly things, sometimes. He is profoundly embarrassed about a good 60-70% of the stuff he's written. You might know him better as your friendly neighborhood Level 43: Editor. View his or her author page or author profile.
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