A 3D metroid-style game for N64.

Original N64europe review

Any game that has your character's little brother's dead face appear on screen at inopportune intervals to remind you of why you're condemned to eternal suffering is okay in my book. You see, mood and atmosphere go a long way with this Scotsman, and this game drowns in a sea of both. Too often, the story in a video game takes a back seat to special effects or an excessive amount of gore. Not this time. Shadow Man starts out with an excellent cinema sequence (for the Nintendo 64, at least) that spells out the quest ahead of you through fascinating visuals and effective voice acting- something you don't hear much of in any game.

Your mission? Slide between the worlds of Liveside and Deadside, collecting dark souls before they're harnessed by the ultimate evil and bring about the Apocalypse. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle for our man Mike Le Roi, a cabbie turned voodoo demigod after his family was murdered and Nettie (a voodoo priestess) implanted a twisted mask into his ribcage. Mike must make use of his new-found powers to make mincemeat of the Five, a terrifying cabal of serial killers in the same league as Ed Gein and Albert Fish--a couple of cats that make the Manson family look like Hanson family. He must also unravel the secrets of the Asylum, a bizarre and macabre piece of architecture designed by one of the world's most grizzly serial killers/architects, Jack the Ripper.

Acclaim has the tools and the talent to back this story up with a satisfying game, too. One complaint that I must make right up front, though, is the pesky control scheme. Missing critical jumps because I can't see far enough beneath Mike's eye level is terribly frustrating, especially when coupled with the fact that the control stick seems too sensitive to handle tricky movements like tightrope hi-jinx. Mike may move faster than Lara Croft, and he may have more movement options (kicking off a wall like Jackie Chan is a nice touch), but the control is sometimes just too tight when the going gets tough or particularly tricky. Once nice part of the control, though, is being able to put different items in each of Mike's hands. You will often need to have two weapons at your disposal when the undead come 'a knocking.

Second beef: the first couple areas, while huge, are depressingly monotonous. Finding the first couple dark souls is cake. However, when you have to run around the same areas over and over to find the pivotal third soul so you can open the gates to later areas, you'll have a tendency to wonder if there isn't something better you should be doing with your time. My advice? Just stick with it, because the spills and thrills you'll uncover later on make the initial tedium worth it. Besides, rarely do you get a chance to complain about a level being too big and I really don't want to discourage developers from designing large stages. (For the record, Turok 2 has even larger, more confusing stages than Shadow Man, so if you were able to weather those, you'll be just fine here.)

The graphics (with the Expansion Pak) are some of the more impressive you'll see on the N64. Some of my co-workers complained that the graphics were too repetitious and that Shadow Man himself was a little too blocky. Granted, the first few stages are incessantly gloomy with their recycled textures, but if you watch the in-game demo, you'll understand that the sights later on must be seen to be believed. This is an incredibly stylised game, from the spindly design of Mike to the way he deliciously incorporates the dark souls into his own corporeal form. Maybe the lower polygon count is to guarantee the smooth frame rate? Who knows, and in this particular case, who cares? The surreal visuals work in tandem with the creepy story line to create a suitably dreary mood. If you do not have an Expansion Pak, might I suggest picking one up now. Not only will Shadow Man greatly benefit from it, but there are lots of N64 games that utilise the memory boost.

Half of the fun of a horror flick or a deep, psychological thriller like "Silence of the Lambs" is the soundtrack. Acclaim doesn't let you down with this subtle, yet haunting score. There are moments that will make your skin crawl, especially things like the human wailing buried deep beneath the resounding themes. The voice acting isn't quite as solid as I had hoped for, but it is worlds better than the distracting bad emoting on House of the Dead 2 or the first Resident Evil. Mike sounds suitably bummed about his current state of affairs, but you can actually hear the resolution in his voice--he even gets to curse a little. The real star of the game, though, is Jaunty, a snake-like being who looks like a refugee from an Iron Maiden album cover. His Irish accent is wonderful, and his speeches are funny and informative. Listen for the crack about Jeffery Dahmer, it's a doozy. In case you can't make out some of the words of the characters because of the accents or the occasional muffled sound because of the N64's limitations, a set of subtitles will keep you abreast of the conversations.

The quest is long and involved and should keep you busy for a very, very long time. It's nice to have an action/adventure game with a strong enough story to keep you glued to it until the bitter end. Even most RPG's trail off halfway through, but once you get past the first couple levels, the game is tight up to the ending credits. Expect to get at least sixty hours of game play out of this game, not including the time you'll spend running around trying to find any items you may have missed. Finding special items that allow you to walk across fire or scale crimson waterfalls grant access to previously unreachable areas. You'll know the Deadside like the back of your hand before you face off against the…well, I'll let you find out who you go up against. Needless to say, if Mike had hair, it would turn white.

Shadow Man is an adventure worth taking. It's like the depressed older brother of Zelda, the one that sits is his room and reads Sylvia Plath poetry while listening to Nine Inch Nails. If you've been waiting for a 'mature' game that earns its status through an involving story and not bloodlust, you'll enjoy Shadow Man. Control issues can often be accepted with practice. Considering the scope and quality of the quest ahead of Mike, it's an issue that's easily overlooked. This is a moody game, so wait until it's good and dark before starting out for Deadside.

- by Robbie Burke