A Shadowman, he who is destined to walk the river of dead soles taking their power and using it for the greater good. A half man half beast knowing only one way to win, fight. A being with so much power yet so little understanding that he barely even understands his own strength, yet strives to control it any way he can. When once more the world stands on the brink of destruction, he is called upon. Called upon to save the lives of billions who know not what will befall them until it is to late, unless he stops the evil once more. However for a Shadowman, it’s all in a days work.

Shadowman or shadow of a game?

Despite the fact I have been playing Shadowman for many hours, I’m actually still at a loss as to just what the hell I’m supposed to be doing. There seem to be little if anything in the way of specific mission goals and the actual fate facing the world above is so poorly described that it simply doesn’t push you into the mood to get going on your quest. Perhaps it’s just me, I had extremely high hopes for Shadowman, from the early shots and information it seemed like not only looking good but playing it. Still all is not lost and we would be fools if we just based our opinions on the lack of specific mission goals and a really enthralling story. Control wise and Shadowman fairs pretty well, however I couldn’t help but feel that there were more movement controls than fingers on my hand, annoying for keyboard users. Shadowman demands a Gamepad with lots of keys as unlike the simplistic yet fun and free movement of Tombraider, Shadowman just has to many keys to use.

The AI in the monsters happens to be about as good as making a game where you are a child trying to avoid detection by grandparents, in that they really aren’t very intelligent and often none to fast. For example, they often don’t seem to follow you, can’t jump tiny holes and if in groups then they just mash together trying to get to you. Still it does provide a mediocre challenge, if not much of an exciting one. This whole game has an image of Expendable but in a First Person style.

Shadowman is not by any means a multiplayer game and nor does it have such a mode; the gameplay in single player is bad enough, a poor mans Tombraider or heretic2. SM tries to keep your eyes firmly on the screen by adding the occasional lashing of in-game cut scenes, sadly still lacking a vehicle for actually getting the story across to you, such scenes are rarely of any use and merely place holders of the lowest variety. With the levels lacking any real goals, a story that is almost as annoyingly stupid as throwing ping pong balls at your gran to measure reaction times, Shadowman just misses what could have been a fun and innovative game. The gameplay therefore quickly becomes repetitive and is rarely if ever rewarding, more often than not it’s simply frustrating. Nothing really happens in the world around you. Against such games as Tombraider3 or Heretic2, SM remains a game with potential that was never used to it’s fullest, spend your money elsewhere.

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