|
 |
|
|
|
|
News |
|
Review |
|
Preview |
|
Videos |
|
Screenshots |
|
Cheats |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | Title:
Shadow The Hedgehog
..............................................
System:
Xbox
..............................................
Genre:
Adventure
..............................................
Publisher:
Sega Corporation
..............................................
Developer:
Sega
..............................................
Release:
November 15, 2005
..............................................
Online:
No
..............................................
ESRB:
E+10
..............................................
 |
Sonic games have come a long way, since the era of the Sega Genesis. From the original creations by Naoto Ohshima and Yuji Naka, Sonic has lived and evolved past the days of the second-dimension, only to find his way into the third-dimension with mixed success. Tricky camera controls, and odd speed displacements, made controlling certain characters (in recent Sonic titles), a serious chore.
Sega’s now trying a different approach to the Sonic universe...with techniques from different genres to make the gameplay more varied and exciting. Hoping to excel past the flaws that tainted their other 3D Sonic titles Sega is pursuing a darker, and more complicated gameplay design that centers around the mysterious Hedgehog, Shadow.
Making sense of it all
Shadow’s quest spans across 20 stages, and well over 50 different missions. Shadow’s main goal in the game is to uncover his amnesiac past, collect seven Chaos emeralds for a haunting figure called “Black Doom”, and try to make sense of his troubling moral dilemma. Shadow will encounter the likes of old and new characters from the Sonic series, including the blue Hedgehog himself. Shadow will also have to tangle with the likes of "aliens", the G.U.N army, and the villainous Dr. Eggman.
Players take control of Shadow, venturing to different locations within the colorful, Sonic-related universe. Throughout the course of the game the choice to help, destroy, or stand idle while certain events take place will ultimately have an effect on Shadow’s moral stance. Stages, missions, and the ending of the game will also be heavily determined by the “good” or “bad” decisions players will make throughout the course of the game.
The developers took the games design in the direction of “moral” outcomes to ensure a stable level of replay value. Instead of focusing the games goals and achievements on one direction or outcome the developers wanted players to complete each level with the option of doing something different.
Armed and speedy
The striking difference in this chapter of the Sonic series, might obviously be the use of handheld weaponry. While it seems like guns would deviate from the whole “bopping” bad guys on the head, it actually adds new elements of challenge and skill to the Sonic universe. Many gamers might be under the assumption that the game relies on the heavy use of guns, but in actuality Shadow’s sidearms aren’t quite as prevalent in the game as one might think. Deep down, Shadow The Hedgehog is still a platform game under the guise of an action-shooter.
Even though they might appear to be a little large for Shadow, the handguns, sub-machine guns, bazookas and sniper-rifles are just a few of the obtainable weapons in the game. You will have a total of 30 different weapons at Shadow’s disposal. Shadow The Hedgehog also features the likes of futuristic and outer-worldly weapons as well: Chaos powers, Worm lasers, blaster cannons, and projectiles are just a few of the space-age weaponry available in the game. Firepower and projectiles are not the only means of causing destruction. Shadow has the ability to pick up and use all sorts of environmental objects including poles, sticks, pipes, bricks, and much more.
Sega’s development team even added features that might resemble an homage to Grand Theft Auto--on a family-friendly basis--with the ability to drive around in vehicles such as Low riding motorcycles, convertible sport cars, mechs, and alien spacecraft are just a few of the many vehicles that Shadow can use in the game. The final version of Shadow The Hedgehog should have at least 10 different vehicles in all.
Two is better than one
The developers really went out of their way to include just about every feature they could think of to make this game fun. Alongside the single-player mode in Shadow The Hedgehog is a two-player competition mode. Sega is keeping the info thin on how the competition mode will be integrated into the standard play-functions of the game itself, yet past titles by Sega have proven that they know how to keep competitive modes fast, fun and furious. So if you’re interested in this title be sure to look for it to hit shelves come November 15, 2005.
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
 |
