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Review

Shadow The Hedgehog (Gamecube) Review

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Shadow the Hedgehog is a game that has come under a lot of fire. Ever since it was unveiled, the fan boys went into a moaning frenzy. You see, Shadow now has a gun. Only SEGA knows why they decided to put a gun on Shadow, and I for one would like to know as well. But anyway, the fact that Shadow has a gun does not make this game any less great.

Gameplay
If youve ever played a 3D Sonic game before, then you will know what to expect here. Controls for the game are as follows –
Move Control Stick
Jump A button
Spin Dash X button
Attack B button
Get in vehicle X button
Drop weapon Y button

The story for the game picks up after Sonic Heroes, where Shadow has no memory whatsoever apart from his name. As he is pondering about his past a new face by the name of Black Doom appears and says that Shadow promised him the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow then realises that getting the emeralds will restore his memory.
The levels have you performing set tasks. For each level, there are a maximum of 3 tasks that you can do. You can only choose one of them however, and the choice you make will decide what story route you will go on. The 3 paths are Dark, Neutral and Hero. Neutral usually has you finding a Chaos Emerald, while either Dark or Hero has you destroying enemies, escaping from somewhere, etc.

Graphics
Very nice. The models look brilliant, and their animations look fine. The effects look good, which is a bonus seeing as levels always appear to be filled with explosions and lasers. The many different types of weapons that Shadow can wield look good, as do their attacks.
The many various cut scenes in the game look fine, but the animations in them could do with a lot of work. Overall the graphical presentation of the game is nice, but minor improvements here and there could make it that much better.

Sound
As with all the other 3D Sonic games, the soundtrack is absolutely awesome. Each song, whether it is vocal or just instrumental, will have you rocking out in no time. The game sticks to a rock / heavy metal theme, which works really well. The music that plays through the credits when you get one of the endings is great.
Sound effects for the game are nice as well. You can clearly hear everything thats going on. The peoples screams, the aliens guns going off, helicopters overhead, explosions, and effects when you attack can all be heard clearly, and they make the experience more enjoyable.

Replayability/Lastability
With 10 possible endings (and one unlockable true ending) you will be playing this for a long time in order to get them all. The game also has a nice pick up and play appeal, as each of the levels only takes 5 minutes to complete. There are 3 modes at the start, 1 Player, 2 Player, and Options. 1 Player has the Story mode, where you go along a path depending on what actions you took, and select mode lets you play courses youve already been on. 2 Player is just that, where you can select a course for you and a friend to battle on. And options are fairly self explanatory.

Final Thoughts
While a lot has been said about Shadow, I found that the game was very enjoyable. Sure, that may be the Sonic fanboy in me, but the pick up and play quality of this game means it appeals to all. Whether you want to play for 5 minutes or for an hour Shadow wont disappoint.

Graphics 8.0

Gameplay 8.0

Sound 8.0

Tilt 9.0

Value 9.0

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About The Author
Andrew Proudley

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