Shadow the Hedgehog (video game)

Shadow the Hedgehog
Developer(s)	Sega Studio USA
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Takashi Iizuka Kazuyuki Hoshino Eitaro Toyoda
Composer(s)	Jun Senoue, Tomoya Ohtani, Yutaka Minobe, Mariko Nanba
Platform(s)	GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release	NA: November 15, 2005 EU: November 18, 2005 JP: December 15, 2005
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, platformer, Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player/two player

Shadow the Hedgehog is a video game starring Shadow the Hedgehog of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was revealed at Sonic's inauguration into the Walk of Game. It is the third game developed by Sega Studio USA, and was the last sonic game developed in America after Sega Studio USA members were absorbed back into the Japan division in early 2008. The game was released in the United States on November 15, 2005, in Europe on November 18, 2005, and in Japan on December 15, 2005.

The game's most well-known tagline is; "Hero or villain? You decide." Others include "Who do you fight when you don't know what you're fighting for?"; "Will he be good? Or evil? No one knows but you - Shadow the Hedgehog..."; and "This time... Evil will face Evil!"

Shadow the Hedgehog was the first Sonic game to have an E10+ rating (For fantasy violence and mild language.) by the ESRB. It is also the first post-Sonic Adventure Sonic series game to not feature Sonic's name in the title.

Story

50 years ago, deep in a Military Research Space Station, Prof. Gerald Robotnik forged an experiment known as "Project Shadow" while trying to unlock the secrets of eternal life at the request of the Government. The experiment culminated in "The Ultimate Life-Form"; Shadow the Hedgehog, a hedgehog with the ability to harness the mysterious power of the Chaos Emeralds in ways not thought possible. After being thought dead in Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow returned in Sonic Heroes with amnesia, a condition which still exists in this game. In the beginning, which is three months after Sonic Heroes, Shadow is still without any clue about his past, his only two memories are of his attempt to escape the ARK with Maria, with the memory of Maria's death, and his name. He does not understand who he is or where he's from, but he's determined to find out, be it from Black Doom, the leader of an alien race who claims he and Shadow made a pact involving the Chaos Emeralds; G.U.N., the militaries that murdered Maria; or Dr. Eggman, the evil scientist who seems to know something about Shadow's past.

Shadow has gathered all seven Chaos Emeralds and Black Doom appears demanding them. Then, Sonic, his friends, and Dr. Eggman appear and tell Shadow not to give the emeralds to him, and they say that the Black Arms wish the destruction of Earth. Black Doom reveals a startling plan, in that they wish not to destroy Earth and humans, but keep them as a source of energy, claiming its the only way to save the human race from its own path of self-destruction. He then steals the Chaos Emeralds from Shadow to perform Chaos Control, warping the Black Comet to Earth. Black Doom then uses a paralyzing gas to freeze them in place, then sends larvae to devour them. Shadow, apparently unaffected by the gas, (possibly due to the Black Arms DNA in his body), then decides to discard his past, and pursues Black Doom.

Upon catching up to Black Doom, Shadow confronts him for the emeralds, but he forces Shadow down with his mind-control, revealing to Shadow that "the same blood runs through our veins". While this is happening, the Chaotix manage to hack into the ARK's database after Charmy rams the keyboard with his bee behind, (it should be noted that the Screen being used, along with the room, are directly from Sonic Adventure 2's diary scene), and the Professor appears on a screen behind Black Doom. He then tells Shadow of his past through a recording. The heroes hear the echo of it, and it appears on the monitors in the GUN headquarters. They learn that the Professor knew that the Black Arms would return, and the only way he could defeat them was to use their power against them, along with the Chaos Emeralds to power the Eclipse Cannon to destroy their comet. Therefore, he created Shadow to get the Chaos Emeralds, as he is the only one who could fight Black Doom. Then Maria appears on screen saying that she and Shadow would protect the planet, which is the promise he made to her.

Shadow finds the strength to struggle to his feet, and as he attempts to attack, Black Doom disappears and, using the chaos emeralds, achieves his super form, Devil Doom. Using the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow transforms into his super form and battles with Devil Doom. During this battle, Dr. Eggman informs Shadow that he is in fact the original Shadow, rescued after the battle at the ARK by one of Eggman's robots. Eventually, Shadow wins and Devil Doom falls to Earth. To finally rid the world of the Black Arms and do away with his past, Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport the Black Comet in front of the Eclipse Cannon, then went in the ARK, fired the Eclipse Cannon at full power and destroyed the Black Comet.

Shadow was last seen aboard the ARK, looking out the window and holding an old grayscale photo of the Professor and Maria, whispering "Goodbye forever, Shadow the Hedgehog...". He then drops the old photo as he makes his way out of the room. It should be noted though that in the Japanese version, Shadow mutters "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog". These were Maria's last words to Shadow before he was ejected from the ARK, and Sonic's last words in Sonic Adventure 2 as he leaves the ARK after Shadow's supposed death. However, in Sonic Adventure 2, the Japanese language selection originally said "Adios, Shadow the Hedgehog". As many players believe that later in the game Shadow becomes a GUN agent as he is seen in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). That was not in the game's storyline.

Gameplay

Shadow the Hedgehog is a platform game that plays similarly to previous Sonic 3-D titles (Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes) requiring you to get from the start of the level to the end, as has traditionally been the case for the regular Sonic titles. The 'end' of a level, however, is not necessarily the 'Goal Ring'. Levels can also be finished by completing a given task known as Missions, either 'Hero' or 'Dark'. The way in which levels are completed affects how the game progresses, what levels you play, and, ultimately, which of the 10 possible endings you will see. As each level features cutscenes and boss battles, there are a total of 326 different paths in which to complete the game, and each one has a name. Upon the completion of each path, all the cutscenes from that path are played in order.

The game uses a Gunplay/weapon element, which has become synonymous with the title. Shadow can wield a number of weapons (not all guns), as well as parts of the scenery. Shadow can still use all his moves from the previous games, like the Homing Attack. A new feature in Shadow the Hedgehog is the ability to use weapons left behind by defeated foes. They can be swapped for other weapons, but only one weapon can be carried at a time. Shadow can use 5 powerful special weapons. If a player finishes the whole story, a special weapon will be unlocked, depending on what ending was taken. The weapons can be found inside a black crate with Shadow's spines on the sides. Shadow can also use debris, or broken parts as weapons, like fallen street signs. Weapons vary from 6 different type of weapons. They are close combat, gun, lock-on, cannon, laser and vacuum. Close combat weapons are melee weapons. Gun weapons are ranged weapons that give more damage than (most) close combat weapons. Gun weapons can come in semi- or fully-automatic variants. Lock-on weapons usually take the form of missile launchers in which several targets would be locked onto before firing. The missiles would automatically home in on these targets. Laser weapons are similar to gun weapons except that they cause greater damage. Vacuum weapons are weapons that involve a gun "inhaling" enemies and firing them back at other enemies, and can also pull out some walls in Final Haunt, and the special weapon gives the player either 1 or 3 extra lives, depending on if you got both endings on Lava Shelter or not...

Shadow has three missions in almost every level since some levels have just 2 missions (these being Hero, Dark, and Neutral), and he can choose one to accomplish at any point in the level. These missions allow players to 'choose Shadow's future.' However, none of the endings except the final ending are canon. The level Shadow goes to changes depending on which mission was played on the previous level. Also, Shadow now has at least two abilities, Chaos Control (blue) and Chaos Blast (red), and gains these by killing certain targets: killing aliens increases the Blue Gauge, and killing humans and destroying nature or architecture (trees, plants, etc.) increases the Red Gauge.

Besides wielding weapons, Shadow can use vehicles; 4x4's, motorbikes, G.U.N. mechs, alien crafts, etc. As with the weapons, which have spawned complaints from fans, who point out that Shadow is similar to Sonic, and thus would be able to run faster than most vehicles; additionally, most of the vehicles are optional.

Although Shadow can run faster than the game's vehicles, the vehicles have some capabilities that Shadow does not have (e.g. the trailer from a pre-rendered movie from the game which shows Shadow use a motorcycle as a rolling missile. Shadow can also use vehicles to run over enemies or hit them) or go through an inpassable area surrounded with acid. As in most Sonic games, the Chaos Emeralds play a big part in this game, as Shadow needs them to regain his memory and to use his ultimate Powers.

The three Chaos Powers in the game are the heroic "Chaos Control" (lets Shadow manipulate time and space. In stages it lets him teleport through the stage, but in boss battles it lets him slow down time), and the evil "Chaos Blast" (creates an explosive 20 yd radius blast of energy damaging enemies), "Chaos Spear", a move previously used in Sonic Adventure 2.

Reception

Reviews

Reviews from professionals were mixed. On Game Rankings, the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions have an average ratio of 53%, 49%, and 52%, respectively, with similar results at Metacritic with 45 (PS2), 49 (Xbox), and 51 (GC) . G4's X-Play, saying that "this Shadow leaves us completely in the dark," gave the game a 1 out of 5. Arguably the harshest criticism came from EGM, who included it on its list of the "Worst Games of 2005", claiming it was the year's biggest sellout. Game Trailers, however, gave the game an 8.3, favoring the game's sense of speed and replay value. Nintendo Power gave it praise as well, calling the weapon usage "just plain fun".

On the other hand, the special effects and replay value were praised. Many reviewers noted that, because the player only goes through six of the 23 levels on any given run, replay value was high.

The concept and usage of Shadow's guns and vehicles was criticized. Grege Mueller from GameSpot complained that the guns were nearly useless because of a lack of an aiming function (despite the presence of auto-aim) . However the reason there was no aiming function was because the guns automatically targeted enemies. Matt Casamassina also noted the guns, writing that process was overly cumbersome and complex and that killing an enemy was a game of chance.

The PlayStation 2 version was further criticized by GameSpot for having a huge amount of slowdown (framerate drops). The Xbox version had similar problems, messier controls, and lack of co-op multi-player. These problems were fixed in the Gamecube version.

Despite these criticisms, the game was popular enough to be released as a Greatest Hit for the PS2 and a Player's Choice for the GameCube, making the game a moderate success (the Xbox version didn't receive the Platinum Hits treatment).

However, it fared much better with the public, receiving a 7.1 on Gamespot and a 7.4 on IGN in terms of user scores. Also, in the 2005 Nintendo Power Awards, it was voted the Best Platformer Game by the readers, beating its DS counterpart Sonic Rush which was better reviewed.

English voice dubbing changes

After the voice actor for Doctor Eggman, Deem Bristow, passed away in January 2005, Sega was faced with the problem of having to re-cast the English voice actor for this character. According to Mike Pollock, the current voice of Dr. Eggman, the problem was solved when Sega decided to hire the 4Kids Entertainment cast from the Sonic X anime, in an attempt to provide more continuity between the video games and the anime's voice cast.

Censorship issues

Due to the more violent nature of the game (compared to previous Sonic titles), the ESRB rating was, for a time, in question. The official ESRB website originally had the game rated as T, but the official site listed E10+. Sega's request for only people 13 years and older to play the game at trade shows seemed to further back the T rating. Eventually, it was decided on the E10+ rating, though some reviews by individual parents have complained about how the violence, language, and dark tone of the game have influenced their younger children.

The dialogue is also edited. One of Shadow's lines is changed from "What the hell was that all about?" to "just what was that all about?" (This is actually quite noticeable, as one can easily note Shadow lipping the word "hell" in the final build of the game) Also, "hell" is changed to "heck". An example is "What the hell is HQ doing?" to "What the heck is HQ doing?" The word "piss" was originally to be used as well in two of Sonic's lines but was changed to "tick". An example: "Hate to piss off GUN," had been changed to "Hate to tick off GUN". Also, every second time Shadow was hit by an enemy, he said the word "damn", especially whenever he falls into a bottomless pit. Despite the changes, some profanity remained, which included an infamous sentence spoken by Shadow, "Where's that damn fourth Chaos Emerald?"

When a Gun soldier is "killed" he simply gets knocked down. Only robots and aliens are really killed, and they simply disappear after they are "dead".

For the final version of the game, Sega changed the color of the alien blood from reddish-pink to green. A scene in which Maria is shot was also shortened.

In the multiplayer mode, one of the phrases spoken when a player dies in the original version was them kneeling over, complete with intense choking noises. Since this was deemed inappropriate, Sega took it out of the game wholesale come release. However, under the right circumstances, the sound byte can still be heard if one meets certain conditions in multiplayer.

Music

In February 2006, an album was released entitled Lost and Found: Shadow the Hedgehog Vocal Trax. Several music tracks from the game are featured in this album, while some mixes were made to others. There is also a promotional song in Japan : a remix of m-flo's "TRIPOD BABY" track off of BEAT SPACE NINE, their latest album.

Vocal tracks

• "I Am (All of Me)" by Crush 40 (Trailer, Main Theme, and Final Boss theme).
• "Almost Dead" by Powerman 5000 (Dark and Pure Dark ending theme)
• "Waking Up" by Julien-K (Neutral ending theme)
• "E.G.G.M.A.N. Doc Robeatnix Mix" by REMIX Factory ft. Paul Shortino (Dr. Eggman's Theme)
• "Chosen One" by A2 (Hero ending theme)
• "All Hail Shadow" by Magna-Fi (Pure Hero ending theme)
• "Never Turn Back" by Crush 40 (Final Ending Theme)

Lost tracks

In this game, two tracks were removed due to copyright and licensing reasons. The first song was "Who I Am" by Magna-Fi, who also performed "All Hail Shadow". Another called "Broken" by Sins of a Divine Mother was removed due to licensing reasons. Instead A2 (which features members from the latter band) tracked the song "Chosen One" in its place.

External links

• Shadow The Hedgehog Official Site (in Japanese)
• GameSpot about Shadow
• IGN about Shadow
• The ODP category for Shadow the Hedgehog