Shadow Man: 2econd Coming

"Not great, but good sequel"

I don't think Shadow Man 2 is as bad as a lot of guys want to tell you. In fact the first one was a great game, so it's naturally very hard for the sequel to reach the quality of the first one. Sorry, but this attempt to reach Shadow Man 1 failed! The Game ist just not as complex and as scary as the first one. When you first start the game you might be very mad about it, because of the loading times. It takes sometimes up to 20 Seconds to load a saved game, but in relation to some other PS2 Games, thats not to bad! It's not a bad game, and I think it's a pretty cool Action-Adventure.

Graphics (8/10):
The Graphics are good, and there are a lot of effects like glimmering vodoo stuff and theres the change of time with the different lighteffects in daytime or at night. Also there is a lot of ''life'' in the environment like animal or leaves moving throug the air. There are also no performance problems, so that the Game is runs very smooth. One weak point of the grafics is that the resolution is not to high, so that it looks a little bit like an N64 Game.

Sounds (10/10):
Sounds are just great, they create a mystic strange feeling. They do perfectly harmonize with the environment, so that in the swamps, you really feel like standing in the dirt and mud. The speaker are also good.

Controlls (9/10):
The Controlls are very logical and good. Only the menu reacts a little bit too slow.

Story (9/10):
An exciting vodoo story, mysterious and full of dark, evil elements.

Gameplay (9/10):
Similar to almost every Action-Adventure. Of course similar to the first one. Some Jump'n'run sequences, sometimes ''lookin for stuff''...
There are also some fresh new elements you wouldn't expect in a game like that. There's the bird hunt with a sniper riffle that feels a little bit like in a hunting game and it is a lot of fun.
In my mind, it's positive, that the game is very linear, so you can't get lost. You always have a clue, what to do.
You can't talk about Mature content in this game cause there isn't. There are some enemies, getting splattered when you hit them, but it doesn't look to realistic. It's a little bit like in the old Quakes, in which enemies bursted into small pieces of flesh, when you destroyed them. Theres also the element of revisiting places included in the gameplay. Sometimes you return to a place with better weapons and you can find some treasure or extras with them. That's also very motivating!

Shadow Man 2 is not really a horror or a splatter game, but it's great edutainment.
Buy this game, i don't think you will regret it!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/02, Updated 03/10/02