Shadows of the Damned doesn’t take itself too seriously.
This is a good thing.
Much like Bulletstorm, the humor and violence in Shadows of the Damned is absolutely for adults. The script and setting or SotD are straight-up homages to the Grindhouse genre of horror films.
The main story echoes that of Dante’s Inferno from earlier this year: The main character’s dearly beloved is kidnapped by a prime denizen of the underworld, and our man Garcia chases the demon through the portal and finds himself lost in the City of the Damned.
Garcia, though, has an ace up his sleeve: a tamed demon named Johnson. Johnson can transform himself in to a number of very useful items, namely all the weapons that Garcia will need to hunt down the beast that took his girlfriend. The number of upgrades you can select from, as well as the options for those upgrades, help to increase the carnage and mayhem to ridiculous levels.
The gameplay is a solid mix of survival horror and action shooter. The twist of having various puzzles being solvable by whether you are in the shadows or the light is a nice one, and helps to give some variety and some tension (Garcia loses health the longer he stays in the shadows) to the gameplay.
If you are a fan of the survival-horror genre, or solid action shooters, and don’t mind the adult language and violence, Shadows of the Damned is a lot of fun.
Join the Conversation
The Detroit News aims to provide a forum that fosters smart, civil discussions on the news and events that we cover. The News will not condone personal attacks, off topic posts or brutish language on our site. If you find a comment that you believe violates these standards, please click the "X" in the upper right corner of the post to report it.