Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered
PC/XBOX/PS/SWITCH
10/31/24
GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
Shadows of the Damned was originally released in 2011, and was a collaboration between industry legends including Suda51, Akira Yamaoka, and Shinji Mikami. This wasn't the first rodeo for Mikami and Suda, as they had previously worked together on the cult classic, Killer7, which, sidenote, is one of my favorite games of all time. Killer7 was not a massive sales success, but critics enjoyed it well enough, and audiences fell in love with its bizarre world and fascinating setting. It’s a game that would go on to gain a cult following, and allowed Suda51 and company to create more games, with the hope being that his studio would be able to find some degree of mainstream appeal in the future.
The idea for Shadows of the Damned was kicked around for years, with early concepts beginning in 2006. It started out as a survival horror title, then called Kurayami, that was to be released for PlayStation 3. The game was inspired by author Franz Kafka’s literary work, specifically, The Castle. The novel itself has a fascinating history where Kafka was unable to complete it, but it ultimately saw release without his consent. I won’t go into all of the details surrounding this literature, but if you read into the premise of the book, and know enough about Suda51, it is easy to see why it was something that the talented game creator would be fascinated with.Â
To put things simply, Suda51 wanted to explore darkness, and cast players into a bleak world where they would have to rely on light if they hoped to survive. He felt that gamers should have more control over their character as opposed to Killer7, which felt a bit restrictive. Ultimately, the project sat in limbo for years, but eventually resurfaced, and finally, with the help of publisher EA, Shadows of the Damned was revealed to audiences for the first time in 2010. Now, some 13 years later, Grasshopper Manufacture has the exclusive rights to the game, and it’s back! But is Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered a boner-inducing masterpiece? Or does it feel rather flaccid? Let’s find out in our full review!
So, we talked a bit about the history of Shadows of the Damned, but what did it ultimately become, and where does it stand in 2024? After over 3 years of development and countless changes taking place under the supervision of EA, Shadows of the Damned released as more of a 3rd person action-adventure title than a survival horror game. You can feel the mishmash of different ideas when you play, and it's really unfortunate that corporate meddling messed with so many of its original concepts. Mikami and Suda more or less wanted to create a game with the spirit of an indie release on a larger budget. EA wanted to play it safe and try to appeal to western audiences.
In the end, Shadows of the Damned was simply not the game it was intended to be, which is obviously disappointing for both the creators and fans. With all of that said, I really enjoyed the original game. I say this as one of the few people who purchased it back in 2011. If you didn’t love the original release, Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered won't change your mind. But if like much of the world you have never played it before, this version of the game is a great way to experience it for the first time.
As I touched on earlier, Shadows of the Damned is a 3rd person action-adventure title that places a large emphasis on its dark setting and combat. You’ll play as Garcia Hotspur, a foul mouthed demon hunter from Mexico, who is tasked with saving his girlfriend Paula. Paula has been captured by an evil demon named Fleming, and now you’ll need to follow him through hell and back if you hope to see your girl alive again. Thankfully you won’t be alone, as you are accompanied by your gun, which just so happens to have a demon living inside of it named Johnson. This is one of many dick jokes throughout the 7-hour campaign that you’ll encounter, so fair warning, if you aren’t a fan of juvenile comedy, Shadows of the Damned won’t be for you.Â
As someone who DOES happen to enjoy the occasional dick and fart joke, Shadows of the Damned got me to chuckle at least a few times throughout its duration. At the same time, the game wasn’t quite as funny as I remembered it being, often relying on the same bag of tricks. There’s only so many ways to reference your penis before the joke runs a little soft. Heh heh. Even still, the mix of graphic violence and childlike humor has its charms, and the story manages to be entertaining enough.
In terms of gameplay, Shadows of the Damned was never the sharpest shooter in the um, underworld, but this remastered edition of the game makes it far more playable than it ever was before. The game is broken up into acts, with each act following a fairly linear path. Your goal is to blast your way through demonic enemies by using an assortment of guns alongside a torch. Enemies that are completely shrouded in darkness will need to be exposed to light either by your gun’s specialized shot, or by striking them with your torch via a melee attack. Once a demon is more clearly visible, you’ll be able to kill it once and for all.
Mechanically, exploration and combat are pretty fun, but sometimes frustrating. Players will often need to pay attention to their surrounding environment in order to blast light sources. These light sources are often represented by goat heads which are strung up on walls. Without light, your health will be drained as punishment for lingering in the dark. This adds a bit of strategy to each encounter that is equal parts thrilling and obnoxious. Because some of the corridors you have to battle your way through are rather tight and boxed in, cheap deaths and confusion aren’t uncommon issues. Even still, the aiming and shooting has never felt smoother and more responsive than it has in this version of the game. Garcia can also roll out of the way of attacks, and even perform a quick turn-around if things get a bit too hectic. Healing is a bit of a pain though, and sometimes hard to pull off during battles. Trying to drink down a bottle of booze, which is your healing item in this game, because, why not? Means needing to go through a brief animation that can easily be disrupted while you are under duress and lead to your demise. Thankfully checkpoints are fairly forgiving should you die.
The light and dark mechanic can sometimes add a bit of a puzzle element to the overall experience too. For example, one area had me lighting off fireworks while battling off foes. Another section of the game required me to swing a massive chandelier into light sources. Certain doors may require you to first kill a set number of enemies in order to find the correct item to unlock the path forward. While it is commendable that the game tries to switch up the action a bit from time to time, some of these tasks were at the least, mildly annoying. While the combat and puzzle elements aren’t always perfect, Shadows of the Damned features a well-designed upgrade system. Players can collect or purchase red gems throughout the campaign that can power up both your guns as well as Garcia himself. Other gems can also be discovered for further upgrades. A demonic shopkeeper is also available at certain moments in the game who will sell health items, ammo, and red gems.Â
Shadows of the Damned also features a wide variety of entertaining boss encounters. Players will rely on their dodge rolling skills and need to carefully aim at designated weak points if they hope to survive. Most of these battles are more about the spectacle than anything else, though a few later bosses might have players frustrated due to the sheer amount of damage these foes can take. While a bit of a hodge podge of ideas, Shadows of the Damned is a mostly entertaining gameplay experience even today, warts and all.
The visuals show their age at times with plenty of low-res textures, but the environments and character models hold up surprisingly well. Shadows of the Damned was never a particularly great looking game, but it did have Suda51’s distinct charm. There’s solid lighting throughout, some decent looking set-pieces, and a great deal of creativity in all of the characters and enemies that you’ll encounter. This weird world is given even more flavor through Yamaoka’s sound design. While it’s not the composer's most memorable set of compositions, what’s here is good. Yamaoka has the amazing ability to convey dark emotions through his music, and the sound effects also have a quirkiness to them that works with the game's bizarre setting. Voice performances are great across the board too, with this version of the game keeping all of the original actors.Â
Improved performance over the original release is by far the best new addition to this version of Shadows of the Damned. While the original game could struggle to maintain 30fps at times and suffered from long loading sections, Hella Remastered comes in with a locked 60fps and non-existent loading. This makes the game a bit easier on the normal setting, as the shooting and aiming feel vastly superior compared to what they were. Grasshopper has made a few other light refinements as well. 4K resolution support is available which improves the image quality a bit, and a new game plus feature should also please fans of the original. Garcia can gain a few new outfits too, but that’s about it. This remastering of the game doesn’t go above and beyond, but gets the job done. Sadly, the Switch version appears to still come in at 30fps and obviously can’t support 4K.
It could be argued that Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered could have thrown in a few more bells and whistles. Yes, it would have been nice to have some developer commentary, maybe some higher resolution textures, or other fun improvements and bonuses, but at the same time the fact that an improved version of the original exists at all is worth celebrating. This remaster certainly doesn’t go above and beyond, but when considering that the source material sold poorly to begin with it’s hard to complain too much. We aren’t talking about a classic game that received massive praise, rather a strange AAA-Ish project that not enough people purchased.Â
In the end, Shadows of the Damned: Remastered doesn’t feel old enough to be retro or new enough to be AAA. One could argue, it wasn’t exactly a AAA game to begin with. One thing became really clear to me though the more I played it, and that was that I really miss the era of gaming where larger publishers still took creative risks on new IP. In the end though, those risks were rarely rewarded financially, which is part of the reason why the industry stands where it does today. Shadows of the Damned: Remastered is an interesting piece of gaming history that still remains fun all these years later, even if it was destined to be flawed.
GOOD
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