Shadow the Hedgehog user review

Did Sega make a turn for the worse?

Review written by
Jason Pilcher

It's a dark time in the world of Sega. Sonic's not selling like they hope it would, and with no other great game franchises to choose from, they make one frantic decision. What was it? Well it should be obvious, make a completely new game off Sonic's rival, Shadow the Hedgehog. Duh.

GamePlay

When Sega made Shadow the Hedgehog, they tried to base it off the other 3D Sonic games. Run on a non-changeable route, destroying any kind of enemy to get to the end. But one of Sega's workers was probably drunk, as he said to include guns. So they did.

The most unique thing about Shadow the Hedgehog would probably be its mission based story. There are 10 different endings you can get in story mode, the route of the story depends on what missions you do in the level. Good, Bad, or Neutral. If you do bad, let's say, Shadow acts more badass, and the story gets darker.

As you continue to play, you notice guns lying on the floor. You think "OH A GUN! GET GUN! GET GUN!". I did when I first got it. I wanted to shoot people. You know, it actually doesn't turn out the way you want it to. By being so preoccupied with the guns, you lose your sense of speed. If you wanna go fast, you can't shoot right. If you wanna shoot, you gotta slow down.

The main problem with this game, as in the last couple games, is the camera. It can screw up everything you try. You jump, the camera moves, but you don't want it to. Too bad, it will.

Lifespan

With over 10 different endings, and a story route that can be changed on how you play, you'll think that this game will never get old, right?

Almost. The story doesn't get old, but with the horrible gameplay, you don't WANT to finish it all. Therefore, no one gets to see the secret 11th ending.

Graphics

So now you're thinking "So whats GOOD about this game?". I'm sorry to say, there's only two, one being the graphics. As you start the game, the opening movie is something that looks like it came for the 360. It's crisp and has a great frame rate. Unfortunately you only find graphics looking this good very seldomly in the story. Only main story pieces have these great graphics, the rest look just like in-game graphics.

But what do they look like? Well, think Sonic Heroes. That's what it looks like. Well, that's giving it almost too much credit. The stages in Sonic Heroes actually look better than these ones.

Sound

This is my favorite part of the game. The opening song "Who I Am", again played by Crush40, is actually very good compared to the previous songs. As you go through the story mode, you unlock more songs just like these. Each having their own feel and rhythm, adding a much needed feel to the game.

Final verdict

Rent it. You might like it, you might not. It depends on how you feel about the gameplay, and if you can put up with it. Me, I still got my copy and still play it. But you? Rent it, if you like it, buy it. If you don't, get something better, like Sonic Rush, or Sonic and the Secret Rings.