It’s been a long, winding road, butShadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredis finally here. As the idealized version ofGrasshopper Manufacture’s only game with Electronic Arts in 2011, it’s surprising to see it again, but the reunion is more sweet than bitter. Revived by new publisher NetEase Games and developer Engine Software under Grasshopper’s supervision,Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredis the same grindhouse third-person shooter it always was, made by the dream team ofNo More Heroes’ Goichi “Suda51” Suda,Resident Evil 1and4’s Shinji Mikami, andSilent Hillcomposer Akira Yamaoka.
One would expect a lot from these names, especially after Suda and Mikami’s previous collaboration onKiller7. However, their post-launch statements made it clear thatShadows of the Damnedwas meant to be so much more than another shooter. It took five iterations and five years to getSotDout of development hell, and EA’s feedback during the process shifted the game away from a light/darkness puzzle game with suspenseful NPC interactions into the puzzle-infused, but otherwise standard shooter it is now. With the original pitch preserved in the mangaKurayami Dance,Shadows of the Damnedhas shed most of its baggage, but its background is too entangled with its final state to be ignored.
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered Is Ready To Rock
Just as before,Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredstars the Mexican demon hunter Garcia Hotspur and his skeletal, talking, shape-shifting gun, Johnson, on their quest to rescue Garcia’s girlfriend Paula from the City of the Damned’s dark lord, Fleming. What follows is a compact campaign bursting with gore, innuendo, and plenty of demons to shoot in their various limbs and weak points.Shadows of the Damnedweaves light and shadow puzzles, a holdover fromKurayami’s premise, around straightforward, but satisfying gun combat with occasional minigame shake-ups. Coupled with an upgrade system fueled by collectibles, it’s a nice burst of irreverent fun that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
What’s New In Shadows of the Damned’s Remaster
The “Hella Remastered” part of this release doesn’t changeShadows of the Damned’s core, but all of its improvements are welcome. 4K resolution and 60 FPS make even the goriest gameplay look clean, and push the already-fantastic environments and character models even further. Loading is much improved over the original release, and a few longer cutscenes can be skipped, though “in-game” ones still have no option. Garcia’s four extra outfits also look pretty good, with one unlocked in subsequent playthroughs and another acting as a“Super Garcia” cheat costume, a laDevil May Cry. Said subsequent playthroughs will also be easier thanks to a New Game + carrying forward Garcia’s upgrades and collectibles, fulfilling a common request for the original game.
Shadows of the Damnedis a delightful B-movie romp that can be knocked off in a weekend
For better and for worse, that’s the extent ofShadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered’s improvements. The game’s all-star English voice cast put their all into their roles alongside Akira Yamaoka’s stellar soundtrack, but there are still some stiff animations and overly drab environments harming the usually-strong presentation. Gameplay is varied enough thanks to the light puzzles worked into combat encounters, but the limited number of guns and enemy types wears thin by the end. The originalSotDsuffered from several minor bugs that persist in this remaster. And as for whyNG+ was such a desired feature, backtracking is still nearly impossible, and side paths with stat-boosting collectibles are hard to distinguish from the main path.
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered Represents A Bygone Era Of Gaming
Nothing inShadows of the Damnedis outright bad, but it also doesn’t leverage the strengths of its creators to be any more than a decent third-person shooter.Shadows of the Damned’s strong art direction always held a niche appeal, but simultaneously fell in line as another inferiorclone of Mikami’s ownResident Evil 4. Even Suda51’s usual deeper narrative readings are blunted in favor of parodying the shallow, macho Western shootersSotDwas meant to emulate, achieving little more than dating it. Because of that, and the subjective appeal of its abundant juvenile humor and shock value, it’s hard to say howShadows of the Damnedwill land today.
One playthrough ofShadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredwill take players between 6 and 10 hours.
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredlacks the impact of Suda51 and Mikami’sKiller7, the mechanical depth of Mikami’sRE4andVanquish, and the uncompromised vision ofKurayami Dance. However, getting lost in whatSotDisn’t also means losing sight of what it is.Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredis a delightful B-movie rompthat can be knocked off in a weekend, and there’s still value in that. Diving into hordes of enemies with Garcia’s upgraded abilities and assorted takedowns can be very fun, even if extra details like headshots feel like they could be tightened up. If it sparks some good word-of-mouth, perhaps today’s leaner shooter landscape will doShadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredsome good.
WHERE TO PLAY
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remasteredreleases for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on October 31. Game Rant was provided with a Steam code for this review.
