Shadow Man Remastered

I didn't expect to like Shadow Man Remastered this much, I remember the original game being good, but I expected it to be very dated by now. That didn't happen. First, the remaster: this is a brilliant remaster, with many QoL features, better controls and camera, nice graphics enhancements, and HD textures that are faithful to the original but in much better quality. Nightdive deserves all the accolades once again. Now, the game itself: Shadow Man is the type of game that I love, and few games today try to do something similar, only FromSoftware's Souls games scratch the same itch in terms of level design. This is a big and complex 3D Metroidvania that will test your navigation and memorization skills, you explore a huge interconnected world with various sub-areas, get power-ups that will expand older areas and give you access to new ones. The level design is excellent with a nice variety in each area, and maze-like enough to always keep you thinking and solving the "navigational puzzle" of the world (But fear not, there is a world map and in-game hints that helps a little in case you get stuck). The atmosphere and worldbuilding are great and keeps you immersed and wanting to explore more. I personally like the voice acting, especially Shadow Man's. Music is also good and fits the tone, sometimes even disturbingly so. There are some weak spots: Combat is not that good, the focus of the game is clearly on exploration, the enemies are mainly there to keep you on your toes and add some tension, but sometimes it gets repetitive with the constant respawns (The Sisters Awake??). There are also some bad platforming sections that instakill you if you make even a tiny mistake, not a fan of these (You can save anytime if you want, at least). All in all, this game is still very good and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys an old-school 3D exploration experience.

Shadow Man Remastered is, as the name says, a remastered version of the classic `99 game Shadow Man. I never played it as a child, but having experienced it now, I can say it's one of the best (and maybe one of the most overlooked) action adventures of the late 90s. It's marvelous in almost every aspect, from gameplay feel to sound to environmental design to ambience. As Shadow Man Michael LeRoi, you explore the world of the dead, Deadside, to stop Legion sending an army of souls to overtake Liveside, the "real" world. To do that, you have to do classic 90s platformer and action adventure things such as defeat enemies, find items like Dark Souls (Acclaim did it first!) to open up new areas or Cadeaux to increase your health, as well as wield an arsenal of weapons. The way weapons work is interesting because only defeating enemies with the Shadow Gun lets them drop health (unless you immediately start on the new horror difficulty which disables that I believe, which is not recommended as the game can be pretty hard at times) and other weapons either drain ammo or energy, so you have to juggle between dealing more damage and finishing off enemies with the Shadow Gun to get health back. Exploration is the huge strength, and also a point of annoyance. There is no way around it - the areas in Shadow Man are mazes. Almost every area is very easy to get lost in, particularly the Playrooms which, to me, is now one of the worst areas in gaming I have ever known (with very irritating music and background sounds to boot). While you don't have to find all Dark Souls to finish the game, you have to find enough to get to Power Level 9 out of 10, so 95 out of a total 120. Luckily, the game tells you which areas you can find new Dark Souls or open gates in to progress, but then finding those gates and souls is a challenge in of itself, not to mention a lone Cadeux you may have missed in a corner somewhere. Still, I think it kind of works in the game's favor. Deadside is a confusing place, and over time you actually make a mental map of the place almost automatically and it becomes more enjoyable the longer you play. By the end of the game, I was zipping and zooming through areas I used to become easily lost in, and even finding the last few remaining optional collectibles wasn't much of a challenge anymore. It sucks that enemies respawn every time you teleport or enter a new place, but the tight platforming and many different weapons help. There are also many different areas, so you always have something to do somewhere even if you may hit a wall in one place. It's also an oddly addicting game and I could've seen myself having a lot of fun with this when it came out, and I still had a lot of fun with it even now. It feels outdated in some respects, but it still is a very fun game with a charming cast of characters, corny and awful dialogue (in a so-bad-it's-fun kind of way), and good voice acting as well as a nice soundtrack with a few annoying exceptions. Aesthetically it's also very unique. Overall, I had a lot of fun with it and I think Shadow Man Remastered is a must-play for anyone who is a fan of atmospheric and sometimes edgy 90s era action adventures like Legacy of Kain and even Turok 2 (and, to an extent, Tomb Raider). A definite recommendation if you have some patience and can stomach some exploration!

This plays as it should. If I had to guess, if you happen to be looking at this, you already know the game exists and you enjoyed it way back in the day. Maybe you like the comics, which is really sick of you. Point is that if that is the case, this is the real deal and it doesn't suck. Now for the real peeps who might have found this by random chance or through boomer game searches, or you're lost in Nightdive's roster of games: This is an action adventure game. It's got a narrative focus that doesn't suck, but to be clear it isn't built to be the best written story ever. Shadow Man is a cult classic and the game is based on an old comic book, and it's meant to be tied to a storyline that was pretty hardcore from what I remember. The comic also got the Iced Earth treatment. Where Iced Earth did Spawn, A Sound of Thunder did Shadowman (Not Shadow Man, though they're the same thing). It's not important to the game, but it's important context to why this port exists in the first place. So, back on target to avoid losing further people on the review train. Being an action-adventure game from the late 90's and being most well known for it's N64 version (there were others, but it doesn't matter) it has that unique style of the time. The strange walls and bodies, the way the terrain not only looks but is shaped, and how bodies kind of... looked weird. Did the wobbly thing. It has a solid soundtrack that honestly does well even today, and the visual style is kind of peak for the time. All in all, aesthetically it might be one of the best. I'll avoid spoiling too much of it for those who buy the game, but it is steeped in cultural significance to the culture Shadowman is tied, and they did a pretty great job chasing that vibe. Now the downsides, since I don't like making my reviews impossibly long. To avoid breaking each part down, I'll blanket a few things and point a few things out. The gameplay is antiquated, and seriously so. It's optimized best for controller, but keep in mind this is a game that is old as hell. If this game was a person, it could drink or smoke in any country that allows it, and probably has been for more than half a decade. That's to say that it won't be the prettiest game, it won't be the most responsive game, and the controls aren't remastered to be ultra intuitive with a slick new feel. That's usually the dealbreaker for a lot of people. If you can get past that, then you're golden. The rest is some difficulties with aiming, movement, the reliance on platforming, but these are probably being looked over if the main thing is handled already. So if you want to dip into a game that was cool as hell, that was riding the wave of darker Superhero/Antihero videogames, this is your jam.

incredible atmosphere/ world. Only other game I've played like it is ocarina of time - was also originally on the n64 - and its a brilliant remaster from what I can tell. Had to search for a few guides sometimes during my ~24hrs playthrough when I was lost (there's no actual maps but a vague drawing in the back of a book you get/ some npc cutscenes will remind you) but I was still super enthralled. luckily i have a decent sense of direction. really recommend this

Great game made even better with this remaster.All it needed was an ingame map as a quality of life upgrade because you will get lost, alot. Other than that, this is a certified hood classic. 8.9/10 will play again

Tl;dr: Game is worth it, remaster is awesome with new content cut from the original game. DON'T PLAY THE HORROR. I don't remember exactly why I bought this game. But I'm glad I did. A 3D Third Person Metroidvania is a cool concept and I really enjoy it here as well as the story setting. Idk if I should read the comics. I think the gameplay is good and fun though there are a few complaints. First of all no map for levels. Which like, isn't a huge problem but it makes getting around tedious and I struggled to remember the layout of some levels since they tend to look the same. 2nd, getting around is tedious, especially if you go in blind. Enemies respawn after a warp and it can feel like a chore killing them to get around especially since Shadow Man feels slow at points. This is especially bad on The Horror where you'll die and have to trudge your ass back to where you were. SPEAKING OF the horror. What a tedious and unfun difficulty mode. Genuinely think it brings the game down with how unfair it can be. Enemies make mince meat out of you and there's tons more of them. Health is super limited since you start at 5 hp out of 10 and Enemies don't drop more. Which is compounded by the fact health drops despawn unlike MP drops. So you open up the barrels looking for collectibles to raise your health and run out of health use in encounters. Sometimes Enemies can be literally seen poking through the doors. Sometimes they can open it, sometimes not. It's inconsistent. And you end up walking in and dying in a second because they're gonna gang you. If you have the calabash (mine grenade) put it by the closed door. It helps a lot. Despite the horror being a massive chore and frustrating experience. I think this game is great and the remaster itself is awesome. The game looks good and the team went out of their way to add new content as well as scrapped content from the original. That's awesome and I wish more remasters and remakes did that. I would say the game is great. Just... don't play the horror. Do not embrace it.

Believe me or not this is my all-time favorite game. For the first time I've played it more than 25 years ago 😂. I was stunned by the intro the graphics and overall atmosphere. This isn't a fast paced adventure. This is a very long and lonely journey.

If, like me, you missed the original game but long for the kind of horror games they just don't make anymore, this game is a must-play. The atmosphere is outstanding, and that’s basically what carries the whole thing from beginning to end. At first, the locations may seem small, but the more you level up, the more you realize how vast and intricately designed the world really is. In terms of gameplay, it reminded me a bit of my all-time favourite, Soul Reaver. Shadowman looks and moves just as janky as the protagonist in VtM: Bloodlines, which somehow only adds to the atmosphere. And Asylum feels like something pulled straight from the Cenobite hell of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. The sound design in the Playground (children crying and the eerie whir of a dentist’s drill) is almost physically unbearable after a while. This game is a suffocating, agonising and deeply lonely experience (sorry, Jaunty). And it is not something to be completed in a couple of evenings. Enjoy and endure. 120 dark souls out of 10.