Shadow of the Beast is one of those digital releases that is worth its price. A videogame that is incredibly well designed, with a considerable duration, addictive, can be played multiple times and has an amazing graphic design.
Really cool game. Super demanding, you have to learn to play well, but this game is something really special! If you like challenging combat and a rich world you're happy to revisit repeatedly (the game isn't too big) you'll love it, so just ignore the negative reviews if that sounds like you.
This game is a love letter to gamers. it doesn't hold your hand, it requires you to get better before it blossoms. a hidden gem, this feels like a game people will appreciate in a few years time kind of like Godhand.
it's also 2 games for the price of one so it's brilliant value for money!
Just a quick note about the controls, aarbron always does what you tell him to. the negative reviews seem to have just spammed their way through the game, and it does feel clunky if you do that, but if consider what you're doing, time each move perfectly, watch the enemies closely then this game is astonishing. it truly is a game that rewards skill and investment.
It won't be for everyone, but this game is sublime.
Shadow of the Beast was a beautiful game and it still is. This remake returns with the whole aesthetic of the original game, but we've seen better recoveries. So it is not very fresh or surprising.
Shadow of the Beast is an average arcade brawler that offers a smooth combat system that has a surprising amount of depth to it. With a playtime of around 4hrs to complete, the game relies heavily on whether or not the player wants to trek through the dull levels for a second or third time to discover all the game has to offer.
Shadow of the Beast has the atmosphere and raw beauty of an alien, hostile world going for it, but other than that the game is simply boring. [07/2016, p.61]
Awesome game!!! So much depth, looks great, plays superbly. You've got to take it seriously though, the fighting is technical! Think Virtua Fighter rather than God of War. Combat requires precise timing and using the virtually instant block to keep yourself safe, it's super rewarding when you get into it!!! PLUS you get 2 games for 1, the original Amiga game is there! Ignore the negative reviews, they clearly didn't get it. If you love TECHNICAL fighting games get it! This is a GEM!
Interesante juego de acción/plataformas el que nos propone Sony en este exclusivo de PS4. En realidad se trata de un remake de un clásico de Amiga, que fue convertido a consolas en los 90. En el encarnamos a Aarbron, un hombre que es convertido en una bestia por parte de un malvado mago y que parte en busca de su redención una vez se libra del yugo al que está sometido.
En cuanto a mecánicas tenemos un plataformas lateral en 2,5D con un diseño artístico bastante currado, algunos puzzles no demasiado complejos y un sistema de combate interesante. Este es cercano al hack’n slash, pero pule un poco la mecánica, teniendo que calcular bien en el momento en el que se dan los golpes o se ejecutan las acciones para que estas tengan el efecto deseado, o que no nos golpeen y nos cueste vida.
Si algo hay que decir en contra es que la duración es escasa. Lo cierto es que el juego es rejugable, pero es muy corto. En un par de **** te lo ventilas. Aún así tiene bastante material extra para desbloquear, lo que va a provocar que tengas que jugar bastante y tratar de conseguir el 100% en las diferentes fases para poder comprartelo.
Si sois aficionados a los plataformas de acción con aire retro y aspecto moderno, este es un juego decente e interesante. Entretenido.
The reboot is an brutal arcade with good look, old GoW style, controls are not very responsive sometimes also for its arcade intent, sometimes it's painful for it. The storyline is present and is ok, but you must to find more of it with some unlockables and segrets, so the short game will be little longer. The Bestiary is well detailed too as part of storyline. The loading screen level is about 1 minute, if you play it in harder mode you could use 1-2 hours of the loading screen of your life, not a good thing.. Shadow of the Beast is an Arcade Reboot. Deal with it. Realised good? Yeah.. It offer what it should.
Story - This game has the same style of storytelling with games like Dark Souls/bloodborne series, Team Ico games and Playdead games. Which tells little to no storyline but shows it through scenes or showing things leaving it for the player to give their own opinions. However, this game did it badly, in the fact that you need first to collect some collectibles to unlock the story telling in between missions as well the dictionary of the enemies language you encounter for you to understand them to actually get a grip of whats happening or the plot. Regardless, the story is about a monster named Aarbron who was freed from slavery and use by Maletoth (the main antagonist) and in his path of vengeance, redemption and to cure his curse to be human again. A pretty short and mediocre and predictable storyline in my opinion. Thus, a score of 3/10.
Gameplay - The genre of this game is regarded as a 2D action-platformer. The good part is it did exceptionally well on one side, but somewhat lacking on the other. On the good side is in its action elements, by the use of timing buttons to get high criticals and damage to your enemies, the reaction time of the controls are great, its flawless, exciting and great. However. on the lacking side is its platformer parts, Its pretty mediocre and really lacks in game. There is only one stage in the game which has an OK puzzle while others are pretty linear and also has 1 to none platforming stages. Another con for me is its scoring system, it takes away the fun of its battle cause you tend to get focused more on not getting hit and getting a higher score than focusing to unleashing your wrath. In addtion, boss fights are rather easy and despite the diversity on how you battle them, its kinda unenjoyable. Regardless, an ok score of 6/10 for me.
Graphics - This game is gorgeous in my opinion and its graphics are top notched. The environment is pretty, smooth as well as the character motion and animations are silky smooth. FPS rarely drops during battle or cutscenes, the finishing animations of enemies are good. Character design are decent, my main issue though is in its enemy design, which lacks diversity since they only tend to recycle the image with few modifictions like colors etc. to show you it's a "different" monster. Regardless, a good score of 8/10.
Sound/Music - Ignore the voice action, its almost non-existent in this game. Only voice in my opinion you could actually understand without subtitles or isnt a mumble of monster noise is the story narration you could collect in game. Thats about it. Music is also kinda meh, With nothing really made me notice it whatsoever. A score of 1/10.
Fun Factor - Despite that this game has a lot lacking to be considered good, I enjoyed it personally, especially the battle mechanics of the game and how smooth its gameplay and animation as well as its gorgeous and diverse stages from living to dead to a tomb to a volcano. Only thing I could have wished is that they should have made it longer and just included a normal style of narration to actually understand its plot. Overall, a score of 6/10.
Total average - 4.8
How wish I could say I was wrong when I first looked at their first revealed gameplay video, but unfortunately everything I feared about the game it proves out to be true. This video here did show the worst he game had to offer, seriously this is one of the most dull levels in the game so no idea why they picked THIS one for show, but anyways let's get to the rest.
Now we all know the original one was more of a pretty game rather than a fun/well design game, it was all about pixel perfect timing sometimes, you had to jump to avoid a trap while kicking an enemy in the air, sometimes you had to crouch to avoid stuff hitting you, well this "game" remove both crouch and the ability to attack in mid air why? because they have this "improved" combat system which is meant to be very cinematic, except it feels like a clunky mess. Oh and you cannot even attack if an enemy is in not front of you, not even for the fun of just throwing off punches.... In 30+ years I have never saw a game that limited attacks only to enemy proximity,
Yes I am glad they did not go with button mashing combat (because that was not the original game) but the distances between characters are very vague, there is a lot of weird "sliding on the floor" stuff happening during combat, the camera makes me feel nauseus sometimes because it keeps moving really fast centered to the character most times. It is all too much to even begin to explain how wrong it feels, and I am trying to judge it as a game on its own, not as a Shadow of the Beast remake (as I said I know the old one was far from being a good game so I wanted to judge this as its own game)
The character feels sluggish, I cannot believe a 2016 game manages to feel less easy to control than a 1989 game. Most of the time I take a small step and the character just runs a mile or jumps off a cliff, others it takes FOREVER to start running, seriously it makes controlling the original amiga Prince of Persia feel like a perfectly timed Mario game in comparison.
There are some VERY pretty moments, and for £15 game I can forgive the low quality modelling/texturing, BUT the animation, Jesus... these guys need to desperately hire a decent animator because those they have are utterly incompetent to make anything feel like it has its own weight or give them any sense of being alive. There is a scene when a titan punches the floor, it feels like he is just gently connecting his knuckles to the ground.
There is an online thing where you murder another Beast by quickly mashing the same button over and over, and it is purely a matter of "how fast can you mash it"? I mean wtf is that? Is that meant to be what a well paid designer in 2016 can come up with? That is your idea of multiplayer, as a colleague to another, change your job dude.
It's a real shame, the game started off so well! I loved the starting area and the first major part in the game's story it felt exactly as I imagined it as a kid, plus you have these really cool bestiary and extra things to learn more about the world, but then it all quickly falls apart once the combat makes you do all this pointless ridiculous moves which are just an excuse for a gore fest like **** the blood out of the victims, seriously guys F** YOU for turning Aarbron into some blood **** vampire.
These guys said they wanted to recreate that wonderful sense the first Shadow of the Beast made us feel? Really? How the hell am I supposed to show this game to a child when all I see is blood and mutilation? Oh is not for a child? Then why even saying you are trying to bring Shadow of the Beast to a new generation? This game is obviously targeted to the veterans of the game which are now grown ups and can actually play the game, except you have failed to do even to do that.
I could have forgiven the new mediocre design of the main character, I could have forgiven the clunky combat system and even that I have to spend another £7 to buy the F*ING music that comes with my game, but what I cannot forgive is the developer's arrogance in really believing this utter garbage is a "Good Game". You should be ashamed and apologize to the fans.
SummaryThe legend of Aarbron is told once more as you embark upon a ferocious action adventure, seeking to dethrone the evil lord Maletoth, in the visually stunning world of Shadow of the Beast.