When Shadows of the Damned was first released back in 2011, the expectations were huge given the collaboration between industry giants Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami. These two titans of Japanese gaming combined to produce a cult classic that still feels unique in its sleazy grindhouse aesthetic and over the top humour. I view the original as part of a previously lost trilogy of 360/PS3 era horror infused titles alongside Lollipop Chainsaw and Splatterhouse, all three of which embraced the absurd and relished their combination of silliness and ultra-violence. With that in mind I’m crossing my fingers for a Splatterhouse remaster, even if music licensing issues might make this a futile wish.
Getting back to the matter in hand, Shadows of the Damned is a B-movie style fever dream that takes huge inspiration from low budget horror whilst depicting a twisted take on a classic damsel in distress narrative. You play as Garcia ‘fucking’ Hotspur, a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking demon hunter whose exploits attract the attention of the Lord of Hell, Fleming. As vengeance for the demons lost to Hotspur, Fleming abducts his girlfriend, the mysterious Paula and drags her to the underworld. In order to rescue her, Garcia grabs his Johnson (the ridiculously named demon that serves as Garcia’s gun and motorbike) and jumps through the closing portal to Hell. What follows is a high octane third-person shooter with linear progression and light-based puzzles.
Graphically, the Hella Remaster mostly just changes the resolution, but in going up to 4K, so much detail can be revealed and appreciated, really helping the distinctive visual design to pop. The aesthetics have a comic book feel to them with bold lines and moody environments whilst light and dark plays a huge role in the overall gameplay mechanics. The original voice acting is retained, fortunately so, as everyone is clearly having a lot of fun delivering some of the ripest lines you’ll hear this year. Musically there is a spooky mariachi feel which further adds to the Mexican Day of the Dead stylings.
Shadows of the Damned is an over the shoulder third-person shooter at heart and this style of gameplay has not been touched or refined in the remaster. On the one hand this is a good thing in terms of gaming history but it is starting to show its age and certainly doesn’t live up to the likes of the Resident Evil 4 Remake and its shift into modern controls. Garcia takes up a substantial part of the screen and controls relatively clunkily. The game doesn’t often require swift reactions and evasion so this isn’t generally a problem, but a couple of chase sequences remain just as annoying here as they were in 2011.
Gunplay is the main focus and it is here that you must rely on gripping your trusty Johnson. This demon initially takes the form of a solid pistol that does a decent amount of damage but as you progress you unlock different gun forms and upgrades for each. By the end you’ll be spraying hot leaded death from your Johnson. Um, the innuendos here are inevitable and a key part of the game’s particular brand of humour.
At the beginning of the game you see Johnson transform into a motorbike that Hotspur rides on the highways of Hell but this is never returned to as a gameplay mechanic unfortunately. There is some gameplay variety added later on with several 2D shmup levels that do help to break things up somewhat.
Perhaps the most iconic level, and certainly the one I most vividly remembered from my original time with the game, is the introduction of the Big Boner, a huge cannon form of Johnson with puerile dialogue to match. The sheer ridiculousness of this level is perhaps a litmus test for your engagement with Shadows of the Damned. For me it is so obviously camp and self aware that I can’t help but love it, so wonderfully skewering the excessively macho idea of the gun as a penis extension. However, I am aware that this over the top presentation is a somewhat acquired taste.
The representation of Hostpur’s ‘angel’ Paula remains just as awkward as it always was, as she runs around Hell in a series of more revealing nightwear. This perfectly suits the grindhouse setting though, and Shadows of the Damned isn’t really a game that you should look to for progressive ideas. The aim here is clearly to revel in the politically incorrect and the pulp trash inspirations. This pulp approach can be seen in the increasingly grotesque and disgusting boss fights that will test your pattern recognition and shooting accuracy. These are all stand out moments that also require you to use your Johnson’s secondary function.
Alongside the lethal ammunition fired by Johnson, you can also fire light shots that illuminate dark areas, remove lethal clouds of demonic darkness, and stun enemies. This is a recurring mechanic that adds a welcome dose of puzzle solving to the gunplay and there are some really well designed moments here. One particular highlight is a Rubik’s Cube like level where you have to rearrange platforms to find the exit – a level that uncannily predicts a similar one in the Bloober Team Silent Hill 2 Remake.