Gameitall I have a question for you, what would happen if you took the game play of Resident Evil 4, Music of Silent Hill, and the writer/monster designer of such psychological mind-fuck game called Killer7, what would you get?
The Answer: The Most Amazing, Immature, Psychological Thrillers ever made.
This game exists and is called Shadows of the Damned.
One of the first things I noticed, was the small words under the the title on the box, A Suda51 Trip, and those words do not lie, this is not a game but more of an acid trip that you can play.
Though out the game, you play as Garcia “Fucking” Hotspur (and yes that is his middle name.) A demon hunter whose girlfriend was murdered and dragged into hell by Flemming, the lord of darkness. Promising that she will die, be brought back to life and die again repeating the process over and over.
Garcia and his demon accomplish Johnson begin their road trip into hell.
What really makes this game stand out is Hell and the demons that possess it, The vision of hell is much more different then those of say Dante’s Inferno. The circles are still there, but with a much more modern twist, such as Lust having neon lights and strip clubs. Demons have a noticeable punk rock feel to them, covered in chains, wearing gas masks, etc. It really gives an interesting aesthetic for the game.
Combat direction is on terms of Resident Evil 4, in fact Shinji Mikami is the co-producer and combat director of the game.
Shadows plays almost exactly like RE4, one of the only differences is that your able to move and shoot at the same time. Along with the difference between fighting in light and dark, in the light you can kill demons, however if you fight demons in the darkness (or if they’re covered in it) they are next to impossible to kill.
In the sound department, Akira Yamatoka of Silent Hill Fame really shines in the music department, you can tell that there is a Silent Hill/Punk Rock feel to the game from the music and sound effects. One of my personal favorite parts of the game involves George, a Cannibal demon who swallowed a Harmonica, you hear a whistle every time he talk or grunts.
The game is actually quite creepy, adds a pinch of immature humor, in other word, a bunch of Dick jokes, nudity, and toliet humor (check points are passed by a demon called “One-Eyed-William” who leaves a steaming turd as your marker. Yeah it’s that fucked up.)
The Trip to hell is interesting to say the least, and attempting to put words to it, really doesn’t do it justice, It’s like watching a Tarantino or Rodriguez flick, more noticeably the Grindhouse movies, it’s amazingly bad but because it does bad so well that it’s amazing.
I give the game a 9 out of 10. While it’s not perfect, it is a Trip worth taking.
