Next week marks the return of the cult classic Shadow Man, and ahead of its release, the tech experts at Digital Foundry have gone hands-on with the game.
This remaster, as you might already know, has been done by the talented team at Nightdive - the same studio behind the re-release of Turok 2, and is running on the company's KEX 4 game engine.
The console versions of Shadow Man Remastered come with an extensive list of display settings, which would typically be limited to PC releases. There's antialiasing, ambient occlusion, motion blur, anisotropic filtering, shadow mapping, film grain, depth of field and more.
In terms of the resolution - in docked mode, the game is 1920 x 1080 and in portable mode, it's 1280 x 720 - with dynamic resolution scaling, that can scale as low as 50%. Depending on the display settings that are enabled, the screen will either look sharper or softer.
With all settings disabled on Switch (except HD textures) - you "generally do get your 60 frames per second" but there are some "skips and drops". And with all settings enabled, the game's frame rate drops into the 50s more often. Nightdive is looking into the performance issues, and has apparently found some solutions - with a fix expected around launch.
Check out the video above for the full rundown. Will you be returning to the Deadside next week? Tell us below.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 14
THIS is how you properly re-release an improved version of the game. Take the weakest hardware to its fullest capabilities, run the rest with no struggle. Sure, a few dips in frame rate and resolution here and there, but at least they considered it.
Liked this a lot back in the day on N64. Looking forward to revisiting it.
Having played the remaster on pc and seeing how well it runs on switch, I would surely recommend this game to those who like horror games, old school cult classics and retro gameplay.
It is a flawed game that is a product of it's time but once you adapted to it's quirks it is a great game with an amazing soundtrack by Tim Haywood (the deadside overworld music is amazing and the music in the area called 'the Playrooms' is the most demented piece of music I have ever heard.)
Nightdive did an incredible job on the remaster but the people who developed the original also deserve credit for this little gem.
Gonna get this.
@khululy I cannot agree more. The game had one of the most unsettling soundtracks / audio I have experienced in all of my gaming years.
@khululy Can't wait until Nightdive finishes with the System Shock Remake! 😁
I dont wanna be that guy but did people actually like this game?
It just warmed shelves at every video store in the 90s. The cover art looked so generic even my friend wanted nothing to do with it.
Is htis one of those so bad its good games?
Or is it just genuinely a hidden gem that I'm being a jerk about?
I feel like of all the PS1 games that have gotten remasters and all the ones that SHOULD get remastered, this game just doesn't feel like it deserved one.
Einhander deserves this kind of love. Don't @ me.
@AugustusOxy I’d squarely put it in the “hidden gems” category myself. It reviewed really well upon release. At the time that Nintendo was struggling with realizing a 3D Metroid, particularly in third person, and I felt this game achieved that feeling. I always felt it needed a remaster and can’t wait to check it out.
Can i Play it on n64 controller ?
I love Nightdive's entire philosophy behind remasters. They make old games look relatively good on modern displays, while still keeping — and sometimes even enhancing — the original vibe and look. They're also allowing me to discover lots of gems I missed back in the day. I bounced off on Turok 2, personally, but Doom 64 and Quake were incredible.
@AugustusOxy After reading about it in gaming magazines, I had to have it. And I loved it. So much that I still have Shadow Man stickers on my N64 console and controller.
I was never able to finish it back then (it was so confusing at 13), but I 100 %ed the remaster on PC and enjoyed every second of it.
@AugustusOxy maybe you saw the PS1 version littering shelves back in the day because that version was awful and the PS1 just couldn't handle it but amongst N64 and PC gamers I remember it being held in pretty high regard at the time.
Shadowman was one of my favourite N64 games. I remember N64 Magazine put it on the cover twice. I read the preview to death… ‘Zelda’s Evil Twin’. Final review gave it a 93 score. Obsessed back in the day.
Needed all those Dark Souls!
For we are many
Oh no, Shadowman dips into the 50 fps rate?!
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