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Shadow the Hedgehog (GameCube)
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| Description:
Shadow the Hedgehog is not necessarily the game you'd expect Sega to make after the stunning success of games such as Sonic Heroes and Sonic Mega Collection. Although it looks and plays fairly similarly to the former, albeit with only the one character at a time, it features anti-hero Shadow who instead of offing bad guys with a simple jump on their head is packing what looks suspiciously like a high calibre Desert Eagle pistol. The image of a Sonic the Hedgehog lookalike using such a realistic piece of hardware is an oddly disturbing one and rather sours initial moments with the game. Luckily though the rest of the game reveals itself to be a more traditionally wholesome title as Shadow runs, jumps and err... shoots his way through levels. In a nod to games such as Prince of Persia, Shadow can also manipulate time to his advantage and unleash the explosive "Chaos Blast" move. He can also make use of a variety of different vehicles including motorcycles, jeeps and alien spacecraft and pick up and use handy objects like streetlamps as weapons. The choice of whether to turn to evil during the course of the game seems a bit out of a place for a Sonic game, although its not clear exactly how evil the game actually allows you to get. It's not exactly GTA: Emerald City but it's still rather odd to see such an iconic series take such an unwarranted trip to the Dark Side. -- Harrison Dent This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.
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4/5 |
A fun game but flaws stop it from being great
(November 25, 2006) |
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As a lifelong Sonic fan, who never played on the 3d games until fairly recently, my mind was blown apart by the fact that a popular character was getting his own game with added firepower, something I always wondered about for years, whether that would work in a Sonic game.
Needless to say it's not perfect but it works pretty well when you get the hang of it, much like the entire series in general. You can run and shoot, even though it's not accurate, but its great fun to be speeding towards obstacles and rather than trying to avoid them you blast through them! The more accurate way of shooting when confronted with enemies you have to destroy is to jump and start firing, Shadow will hover in mid-air whilst you fire your shots which aim at a target automatically.
If you'd prefer to use guns as little as possible, you can still use the classic Homing Attack to deal with enemies, and sometimes it's required.
Now onto the story, which is tied largely to the events of Sonic Adventure 2, but it is already explained in the game for newbies to the series. Shadow has no memory of his past, and is immediatly confronted by a powerful alien called Black Doom who demands him to get all the Chaos Emeralds before he dissapears. Shadow decides that he has no choice but to listen to Black Doom, and so heads off to Westopolis, where Black Doom's army is attacking...
In the game and most levels, you have a number of ways of how to end it, Good, Neutral, or Dark. Each ending will take you on a different path. Sounds interesting and helps with replay value, but the story takes a bit of a hit when it comes to it. Certain story routes you take make sense, but others are very confusing and make little sense and add little background to Shadow.
When you begin to choose your sides and take a path of darkness (for example), you'd think that the armies of Black Doom will at least not shoot at you, but sadly they do on some levels, but on others it is fine. However this shouldn't spoil the enjoyment of the game.
Onto the actual levels, slightly different from the Action Stages of Sonic Adventure 2 as the stages are larger and you have multiple objectives, from obtaining an emerald to killing a number of enemies. It works pretty well and you can teleport back to old checkpoints, handy for locating missed objects. Speaking of which, in every level there is a secret valut, which requires 5 tricky-to-get-to-keys. Great for replay value!
Some levels in this game are truly great, I will say that now, they stand amongst the top quality levels that Sonic Team has made over the years. On the flip side you have some dull levels but thankfully they are not infuriating like Sonic Advenutre 2's treasure hunting levels.
Are there any other features? Obviously there are mutliple endings, once you complete them all you get to the Final Story, which is pretty decent. There are also cinema playthroughs of the cutscenes you obtain in case you really like the story. Getting the A rank on the levels is also there, complete with a nice shiny star in the level select screen. There is also 2 player deathmatch in the Gamecube version, its great to rush around and collect rings whilst trying to blow away your opponent with a rocket launcher, but after a while to does wear you out, and not in a good way either, best to play in short intervals.
On the whole, buy this now it is cheap in plenty of places, you can get some good fun out of this! |
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2/5 |
Not sonic team's best
(February 17, 2006) |
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I love sonic games, so anyone who thinks im just a jerk who hates sonic and radomly says "I HATE SONIC THIS IS ABSOLUTLEY RUBBISH blah blah..." I'm not. I love almost every other thing to do with sonic. This isn't one of the best games they made, it's just boring, and too unlike any other sonic games.
If you also like sonic games too, believe me, there is still no reason to buy it, thats what I did, and I wish I hadn't.
Buy sonic Heroes (really cool), or if you have a gamecube, sonic adventure 2 battle. |
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4/5 |
Is Shadow the new Sonic?
(February 13, 2006) |
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Ok, I admit, when i first saw this game i thought it would be the death of the sonic franchise. I've played Sonic games all my life, from his humble beginings on the Sega Megadrive to Sonic Adventure II on Gamecube. So when i first saw this i thought Sega had shot themselves in the foot (literaly). But i was proved wrong. My little brother, a huge sonic fan, brought his copy around yesterday and i was quite impressed. Shadows' game has got an edgyer, more adult feel to it, with light swearing and more violence than you'd expect. It still feels like a sonic though, Shadow speeds through levels at blistering pace, and jumping on enemys is still an options along with ofcourse, collecting chaos emeralds and gold rings. But thats about it, this game revolves around shadow and his murky ,and as yet, unkown past before he made his first appearence in SAII. Falling from the sky from the Space colony arc you land on earth with amnesia in the middle of a battle between humans and alien invaders, it is then up to you to guide shadow through a string of levels to reveal his beginings. Sega have incorperated a good/evil mechanic with each level, allowing you to take shadow down a dark path by helping alien invaders or a good path by helping sonic and friends protect earth. If you chose take take one of these paths through the level, which involves killing a number of enemies or activating switchs excetera, you brach out onto a different storyline. With a total of 5 slightly different endings. Its not all good however, Shadows control is far too sensative, with the slightest push sending Shadow flying off down the track. The gun control feels impractical with no desernable lockon feature which leaves you shooting air half of the time. Some of the character models are appaling and environments are still undeniably linear. However, for the younger gamer this is blistering ride full or bangs and explosions, while for the Sonic enthusiast, this is a deep and interesting exploration of Shadow and his mysterious past. |
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4/5 |
a brilliant game
(February 05, 2006) |
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Shadow is a brilliant game for younger and older children, the graphics are excellent and the storyline is rather exciting. There are a wide range of weapons and environments and the two player mode is very good.In a way its quite different to the other sonic the hedgehog games as this game is darker and eviler.The game can be quite challenging in places and confusing. i found it rather annoying that you have a very small amount of ammo/hits with your weapon. overall this is a very good game and i would recommend it. |
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4/5 |
shadow the hedgehog.
(January 18, 2006) |
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I got this game after seeing all the adds for it online and aside from the occasional misfire or ackward targeting of the weapons in the game and the side character Charmy Bee ( God, I hate that bee!!!), I absolutly loved this game!!! Theres just so many different ways to complete it with all the different weapons to use and levels to get through not to mention that the graphics are sweet!! I had a blast playing this and still do on 2-player with other people. What I hate hearing is all these people who keep saying...."Oh I hate this game! Sonic shouldn't have guns and sonic shouldn't hurt people and sonic shouldn't be so dark and angsty and sonic this, sonic that....Well fine!! Don't give SONIC guns or a dark attitude and make him violent and swear but this isn't a SONIC game! It's SHADOWS game and shadow isn't sonic, he's a different character altogether. He IS dark and rather angsty. He does brood alot and he fights his way through his life ( game) differently than sonic with alot more force cos thats the way he was meant to be . Let sonic have the fast, multi-coloured, wholesome games that peolpe love but who says Shadow can't have his guns and motorcycles! I say let him have em'!! True shadow fans will see this game the way it was meant to be and love it. |
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