When it was announced back in 2010, Shadows Of The Damned seemed too good to be true. A supergroup of creators teaming up to make a game in the genre they helped define. Shinji Mikami, father of the Resident Evil franchise, joining Suda51, one of Japanese game development's most unique voices. Akira Yamaoka, beloved composer of the Silent Hill series, was also on board. How could this possibly not be another survival horror masterpiece?
Unfortunately, publisher demands twisted their collaboration into something more commercially viable. Starting as a traditional horror experience called Kurayami, Grasshopper Manufacture's anticipated title ended up being a gonzo shooter in which Mikami and Suda’s signature was diluted. A flawed yet enjoyable experience that has since garnered a cult following, Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered joins Suda 51’s Lollipop Chainsaw RePop as a flawed yet enjoyable Switch remaster.
When we meet protagonist Garcia Hotspur (played by Steve Blum and his familiar growl), his girlfriend Laura is being kidnapped by Fleming, lord of the underworld. A demon hunter by trade, Garcia travels to hell in order to save Laura's soul and defeat Fleming once and for all. Our hero is joined by his sidekick Johnson, a talking skull that’s also Hotspur's gun…and his torch…also his bike.
The writing for Shadows of the Damned could not be more early-2000s if it tried. Hotspur is a foul-mouthed quip machine. He’s never far from a pun, movie quote, or sardonic banter with Johnson. Oh, and if you think naming a character that turns into a gun 'Johnson' is on the nose, you’ll be shocked to find out that his main weapon form is called Boner. The tone aims for a B-movie irreverence that recalls No More Heroes, but a bit more mean-spirited.
Garcia’s journey to find his lingerie-clad lover takes the form of an over-the-shoulder shooter in the Resident Evil 4 mould. Hotspur can move around freely but aiming pulls the camera in close and restricts movement. Demons can surround him easily, so a dodge and quick turn are handy. Johnson’s torch form can also be used for melee, to bat away enemies, and charge up for crowd dispersal.
As a shooter, Shadows of the Damned is a mixed bag. Aim sensitivity was mostly awful in the original title and that hasn’t been solved by the remaster. Stick sensitivity settings will allow you to fine-tune, but ultimately the frantic pace of most battles smashes head-on with the precise shots you will need to down enemies. Boss battles are a particular frustration. Each has the traditional glowing vulnerability that is sometimes horrible to get a bead on when they're charging toward you.
Along the way, you'll pick up gems that unlock new forms for Johnson. Assault rifle and shotgun variants make aiming less of a concern. The skull-firing Monocussioner in particular is worth upgrading, its power comes in handy in the late game. Guns also gain powerful alt-fire variants at key milestones throughout the story.
A darkness mechanic breaks up combat encounters with some (figurative and literal) light puzzling. Throughout levels, darkness will consume an area and Garcia must find glowing goat heads to shoot and stop the blight eating away at his health bar. Demons can become enveloped in the darkness and they will need Johnson's light shot to dispel the gloom and make them vulnerable to regular bullets (or teeth, in this case). Along the way, the dark will spread in a variety of ways, even acting as your ally in some instances.
It’s in these tense moments, in which you scramble to find a light source, that the clunky camera and movement frustrate just as much as the aiming. Not too far from tank controls in traditional survival horrors, walking feels restricted and slow. There's a sprint that propels Garcia forward, but will more than likely get him hooked onto a bit of scenery.
Visually, this remaster does nothing to remedy the overused aesthetic of Unreal Engine 3. There are splashes of green and gold, along with the striking deep reds of intestines festooning the architecture. Alas, everything else is a bland mix of washed blue and dull grey. There's also an inexplicable border of shadow on the edges of the camera, which serves the oppressive nature of environments, but comes at the cost of fidelity. Elsewhere, frequent frame drops occur when Garcia is exploding the heads of demons during combat.
Where Shadows Of The Damned shines is in its bonkers presentation and entertainingly low-brow humour. As much as Suda's original vision might have been compromised (he writes here, but doesn’t direct), this still feels like a Suda 51 joint. It has the bizarre tone of Killer7 and the grindhouse anarchy of the aforementioned No More Heroes trilogy.
Despite the sheer volume of puerile chatter between Garcia and Johnson, most of it raises a smile. The stylised depiction of hell, with its screaming baby doorways and angler fish that hum a jaunty tune while lighting your way, is truly unique in a way that feels rare these days. Then there's the excellent work of Yamaoka. The musical score is flawless, building on Suda’s Mexican theming with Spanish guitars and banda.
A new game plus mode is appreciated, as this is an experience with significant replay value. Perhaps the most important update is the addition of new costumes, which allow players to complete Garcia Hotspur’s underworld odyssey half-naked like the tequila-swilling rock star he is
Conclusion
A funny, goofy shooter that ultimately feels just as much of a missed opportunity as it did in 2010. Visual inconsistencies and frustrating mechanics aside, Shadows Of The Damned can still offer a good time for those looking for one, but it’s a shame that this remaster doesn't do enough to polish Grasshopper’s cult gem and make it palatable to modern audiences.
Comments 43
Thanks for the review, not personally interested in this but I hope those who are will enjoy it despite its flaws and I have my fingers crossed that patches and/or Switch's successor can reduce/remove the frame drops etc.!
Oh wow another 6. I love games with 6 points. They're generally very good.
The original two No More Heroes games made me a Suda51 fan back in the day, so I was bummed to miss out on Lollipop Chainsaw and Shadows of the Damned when they first came out on non-Nintendo systems. I’ve since replayed the two NMH games on the Switch, neither of which aged well in my opinion (particularly NMH 2). I’ve little desire to check out Suda’s other work now because his style no longer appeals to me. I get why Suda and these games have cult followings, but these days I’m an ex-member.
Thank you for the review and confirming I’m not missing out on this one.
@Solomon_Rambling
I played and finished both Shadows and Lollipop on the 360 after enjoying NMH 1 & 2. Shadows is really enjoyable. Lollipop is fine, but was way too short.
I'll definitely be leaning towards Steam or PS5 on this one, but I remember it being a great time back in the day. Cool protag, funny writing. The gameplay and level design can be hit or miss, but I love Grasshopper games too much to care. Maybe we'll see a remaster of Killer is Dead next (my favorite next to No More Heroes)?
So NLife will review this game, but not Lollipop Chainsaw?
@Solomon_Rambling Yeah, these games are mostly b-sides material in my opinion. And nothing wrong with that, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into.
Erm when the Cons are more than the pros, surely that means it should be under 5?
I missed out on this the first time. I prefer physical so I'll wait until Limited Run Games or something like that has it.
@Solomon_Rambling I’m not saying you owe anyone anything as far as recognizing where you have grown in relation to two video games that mattered to you 15 years ago.
But I think you may find some value in trying NMH 3. It’s a game that’s also interested in growing away from 1&2 which are juvenile and obscene in a lot of ways.
Personally I loved 1&2 In my time, and also bodily rejected the idea of revisiting Incel Murder Simulator. I specifically remember starting 2, getting to the first cutscene and fighting the boss - who whirls his “hoes” at you as a weapon before Travis slices through them and doesn’t even acknowledge their humanity. It’s pretty gross! And doesn’t get to hide behind “a commentary on frivolous violence in the medium.”
I’d also recommend Travis Strikes Again - except it’s boring lol. But I did watch a video by Kbash about the series and I think it helped me understand the trajectory of Suda, and how to engage with a creator that is growing the same way that we are.
Or skip it!! Lol I’m sure you are perfectly happy not playing MORE video games
@kendomustdie What's about dual audio option?
What a week for 6/10s! I think I’m going to be getting this. I’m not expecting a masterpiece but I like the weird Suda stuff and I passed on it first time around so… the time is now.
It's a shame this didn't get a remake. I loved the whackiness and design of the original, but it was very clunky.
@ScalenePowers I personally love the entire series, but NMH3 is a phenomenal game and feels like a swansong for Suda's heyday.
@Vyacheslav333 Japanese and English voice tracks are available, if this is what you mean? I played mostly in Japanese, but then I missed Steve Blum's voice
Jesus christ, another 6/10?!?!?!? By these recent NL reviews it must mean it's a good-great game.
@kendomustdie Yep, the option to play with JP voice-over and English subs at the same time, like in other games.
@JohnnyMind Dual audio option was confirmed, yay.
I feel embarrassed to say this….
But…
Please Limited Run, release this game with the cool replica gun you had on the PS5 collectors edition.
@Farts_Ahoy there’s a surprising amount of early-mid 2000s games that came with plastic weaponry…
You've just reminded me that I've got a Yamaoka-signed copy of the OST on CD somewhere.
So, basically, they screwed up with the remaster. Great...
Honestly, I didn't get why people was so hyped about this game. Wasn't this the title where most of Suda's ideas were scrapped by EA executives?(And I personally didn't like the sex jokes)
This was probably one of the most disapponting titles in gaming history considering it was made by a dream team of Suda51 and Shinji Mikami. And honestly, I fear history is going to repeat itself with HOTEL BARCELONA, a game made by a dream team of Suda51 and SWERY, which certainly doesn't look like most people was expecting...
I’d personally give the original an 8/10 so I’ll still get this.
@Solomon_Rambling
We need KILLER 7. That was the game that pulled me into Suda's work.
@ScalenePowers
I appreciate your perspective on the third game! I’ll probably still not get it (unless it’s on sale for something like 75% off), but I’ll have to look into the Kbash video to see what you’re talking about.
@kendomustdie any gyro controls on this one? Apologies if mentioned and I've missed it. I've seen elsewhere that PS5 seems to have it and would then be surprised if that feature missed the Switch version as it has generally been strong in that area. Makes a the difference between being a definitely not and a strong maybe for me
The part where the gun keeps saying taste my big BLEEP is still annoying lol
Taste my big boner.
Cool but I wish we could get Killer7 on Switch too.
Reads more like a 3/10 but if you enjoy it go for it
This reviewer seems confused on what a remaster and what a remake is based on their criticism this game hasn't "improved" any of the issues from the original.
We all knew going in from multiple interviews with Suda that none of the gameplay was changing and this was going to basically be the same game on modern consoles... aka a port with some buffed up graphics and framerate (ideally).
@GOmar They may be talking about QOL things that should have happened like aiming being better or the puzzles being less monotonous. These were issues I had with the original while playing. Certain puzzles just needed one or two less steps cause they served no purpose story wise.
@GOmar @betterthanvegas I actually think they made the aiming worse. Without dusting off my PS3, I don’t ever remember having such frustrations with general shooting in the original. The visual stability and general fidelity of Unreal Engine 3 feels more glaring too, something which has been improved in other remasters from this era.
@kendomustdie thanks for the update. I have to check now if any integral parts of Unreal 3 are tied to frame rounding. Might be why aiming feels worse if the frames drop like people have been saying.
@JokerCK the comment has six likes as of writing. Let's keep it that way.
@Bunkerneath not really. The pros and cons are somewhat "weighted", as I gather it, so if a single pro is more important than, say, three cons, the scales still tip in favor of a slightly better rating
"The remaster doesn't bring much new to the table"
Jesus christ, does this even need to be put in as a con? We all knew this like months ago unless you buy games without much doing research. Also a 6/10 from here is a 8/10 in my book
I didn't play the original and I'm in no rush to play this, but I'll play it one day.
If performance is poor an a 'remaster' they should just port the original game.
@Vyacheslav333 Not sure why the site didn't notify me of it but still, thanks for telling me!
Weird that there’s no Lollipop Chainsaw review
After playing this back then, a 6 is about right. I’d pick it up on a deep discount, but I don’t see myself going through this one again
@Bunkerneath You don't just subtract the cons from the pros to get a number. It matters how significant each thing is. A game could have numerous pros and only one con, but if the con is that it crashes every 2 minutes and corrupts your save file, it's not getting a good score.
@kendomustdie
Is there a way to remap the buttons?
I can't believe that reloading is set to X...
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