Shadow the Hedgehog

"Shadow The Hedgehog - Hero Or Villain...Let's Decide!"

Ah, Shadow the Hedgehog, A game that many gamers and Sonic Fan-boys alike (Myself included among the Sonic Fan-boy Armada) have been waiting for. When it was announced that you'd be able to understand the truth behind Shadow's Past, that was enough to get me hooked. They then announced that guns and vehicles would be added to the game. This just added fuel to the fire, forcing me to save up my and looking away from tempting items to purchase...I still wish I had enough to buy that new Barbie Dream Home too...Wait..

Oh! Right, almost forgot. The game deals into the past of the ultimate life-form, that is, Shadow the Hedgehog. With guns, vehicles, and blood thirsty aliens (Oh My!) afoot, this will keep any gamer on their toes.

STORY: 9/10

An alien race comes from a large red hole in the sky, and want to take over the world. Wow, big surprise. Actually, it is. Most, if not all, Sonic games have been about dealing with Dr. Robotnik(Dr. Eggman). THIS, on the other hand, is much different. The game starts out with said Aliens dropping from said hole, with Shadow peering on in the background. Walking away from the scene, with no intent of lending a hand, Shadow hears his name called and instantly stops and turns around. A large black eye approaches him and casts and image of the leader of the Black Arms, Black Doom, who tells Shadow that he has a promise to fulfill - Collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds and bring them to him. Choosing your path of how you're going to collect these Chaos Emeralds adds depth to the game and unlocks more of Shadow's Past.

CONTROLS: 7/10

Meh, The Controls are Alright. They could have been a little tighter, but are pretty good none-the-less. If this is your first game in the Sonic Franchise, then spend some alone time with Shadow in the first level. Don't worry about completing any missions and don't worry about the time. Practice for a couple of minutes, and you should be good to go. Even Experienced Sonic gamers will find themselves Careening off the edge of a stage due to a bad Homing Attack, or a misplaced Light Speed Dash. The Guns and Homing Attacks aren't judgemental, meaning they'll attack anything within their auto-lock on range, so be aware of which direction you're shooting / attacking in.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

A Very worthy addition to the Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise (It may even spin-off into a Shadow The Hedgehog Franchise, Who knows?) The game consists of 22 Stages, 71 Missions, and 10 Endings. There are Hero Missions (Accompanied by Sonic and friends), Normal Missions (Usually consist of getting to the end of the stage), or Dark Missions (Accompanied by Doom's Eye). Each Mission determines on what stages you'll go to, and what part of the story you will see. Playing through a "Story" Consists of 6 Stages, and a Final Boss. These Stages' Missions can include Killing off a certain amount of Black Arms Aliens, Activating Items, Killing off G.U.N. Soldiers, or just getting to the end of the stage.

Now, in this one, There is no "Get Hit and lose all rings, and try to pick up the 20 that fell out". Instead, when you get hit, you'll only lose 10 rings and are able to pick them up before they fade away (I'll call this your Ring Points, or RP). Secondly, as in Sonic Adventure 2, the amount of rings you have on you will determine the amount of rings you'll get when you hit a checkpoint. Also, there are no extra lives the moment you get 100 rings. To get an extra life, you must have atleast 100 rings in your possession and then touch a checkpoint to receive said extra life.

Shadow also has special "Chaos Abilities", which are affected by what he does. These are represented by a Blue Meter (Hero), and a Red Meter (Dark). As you do things for Black Doom (Kill G.U.N. Troops, Destroy Objects), The Dark Meter will fill up. Doing things for Sonic and his friends (Kill Black Arms Aliens, Put Out Fires, etc.) Will Fill up the Hero Meter. Both will give you Infinite Ammo for your weapons and make you invincible for however much you still have left in the gauge. Continuously doing Dark/Hero Objectives will replenish these meters little by little while active. Now, The Fun Part. While Both give infinite Ammo and Invincibility, Hero and Dark have different Chaos Moves. The Hero Gauge gives you the ability to perform the Chaos Control, which will launch you through the level and Ultra Sonic Speeds, clearing chasms and loops with ease. The Dark Gauge gives you the ability of a Chaos Blast, which will destroy anything and everything within a 20 yard radius of you. What a rush!

SOUND: 8/10

The Sound effects and music used in this game are top-notch. Collecting Rings still has that nostalgic "Ba-ding" to it, and the music for most of the stages set the tone really well. The Voice Acting is, in my opinion, much better than Sonic Adventure / 2, but I'm still kinda favoring the voices from Sonic Heroes a little more than the Sonic-X replacements. After playing for a while though, you'll get used to them (Except Charmy, like hell I'll ever get used to that).

GRAPHICS: 8/10

The Graphics in this game are derived from the Sonic Heroes Engine. All of the Characters appear crisp and clean, and very well detailed. The CG Cut scenes are Absolutely Astonishing. The Best in the Sonic Series To date. Too bad there aren't a whole lot of them.

OVERALL: 8/10

Look at it for what it is, and what it is not. This is NOT A Sonic game. This is Shadow, and has less emphasis on speed, although not by much. This is NOT Halo, so don't go on about how the gun system "sucks". I had no trouble with it.

Recommended? A Big Hell Yes

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/05