KiteGr
Member
I always saw this game on the shelves back in the day, but I never thought of it of anything more than an edgy shooter. Apparently I was wrong, though my young self wouldn't had enjoyed regardless.
I stumbled upon Ragnarox's video about the game, and apparently it's an early 3D Metroidvania similar to Soul Reaver based on a popular comic at the time. It's got a nice remaster recently, so the gameplay and graphics won't look as archaic.
I'm currently a bit deep in the game, just finished my first visit on the fire temple in hunt of Dark Souls and I'm going back to the Asylum to see the opportunities that opened up.
First, I'll give a general sum up of the game.
You control the Shadow Man (a Voodoo powered antihero) and you'll spend most of your time in the land of the dead called Dead Side. The land it self is separated between the areas of the Asylum where the main baddies reside, and the outside areas of Dead Side where you'll go mostly to find powers and artifacts. Leveling up happens by collecting Dark Souls, which are hidden in locations that more often than not require you to return back once you have more abilities. It's a standard metroidvania, where you backtrack to old areas to reach new paths each time you get a new skill or tool.
Now for the good.
The game is gigantic. Unlike Soul Reaver there are loadings between areas, but they are barely noticeable, and frankly I can see little reason for them, should they had better technology, as each area feels massive enough to fit a whole game. It controls as well as Keyboard & mouse games controlled at the time (think of Amerikan McGee's Alice), and that means that it would have been spot on... if the character had analogue 360 movement that would translate better to a modern gamepad. The atmosphere is as good as it can get with the few polygons they had available, and so are the animations. Thankfully the game isn't a pure shooter, as the majority of shooting is done with a generous auto aim, which make oldies like these easier to play with a controller.
And for the bad....
What's wrong with this Labyrinth?!... The game is designed for you to get lost! Areas do not repeat, but they don't stand out ether. The very first and second area in Dark Side are the worst offenders, which is designed like a termite colony! In Soul Reaver you'll at least always have a good idea in your mind of the geography! An outside map is nearly mandatory, and unsurprisingly the original game was packaged with a vague one. Also it requires better feedback to figure out how many items are used. The inventory doesn't say much, and you have to figure out to equip them in one of your hands and occaisonaly use them in usable hotspots. I've spent many hours not knowing that, and even more fighting the Lizard King boss just to realize I can't beat him without somehow bringing my shadow gun to the living world.
An extra bit of pain...
If you are playing on Steam Deck as I do, the game is bugged and the external controllers don't work properly. For some reason the analogue sticks don't work during gameplay (though they do in the menus), and I've had to remap the entire keyboard & mouse on it to work. I've saved my loadout for those who come after.
End result.
Very good game!
Very ambitius!
Very ahead of it's time!
Could have used some more guidance. And FOR GODS SAKE a map!
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