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So, you thought you were rid of the Beast Lord once and for all? Well, bollocks, you thought wrong. Zelek's returned, and he's fuming; so angry in fact, that this time around he's not going to change you into a Beast and force you on a perilous journey to gain back your human form. Oh no, he's going to kidnap your sister and your little baby boy and force you...on a perilous journey to rescue them. Bring the mace and pack a fresh set of underwear...it's sequel time.
Being an advid Amiga game fan, I, like many, was drawn in by the prequel, mostly because of the state-of-the-art graphics and non-linear gameplay. Who really cared if the Health system was a Bitch, or if the gameworld only appeared non-linear when in fact you had to follow a set path or risk revisiting the Game Over screen for the umpteenth time? It was addictive, it was original, it was breathtaking, it sold millions and made a household name out of the Amiga. Needless to say, Psygnosis followed up their success with something any self-respecting up-and-coming publisher would: a sequel.
The plot is as simple as they come, and thank God; the plot of the first game was so convoluted and ridiculous that they didn't even bother with an expository animation, you actually had to read the manual for the behemoth of a backstory. All that for what is essentially a platform game with a few RPG elements thrown in...
So here's the lowdown...first game, you were a simple townsman in Everyville, U.S.Anywhere. There was this Beast Lord bloke...nasty fellow, and everyone in Everyville was forced to serve him, as it is when a town of humans is ruled with an iron club by a 7-story tall giant who doesn't look after his toenails (anyone fortunate enough to have beaten the game knows what I'm talking about). You, however, decide one day that you don't want to serve him anymore. Well, this really upset Mr. Beast Lord, and he goes and turns you into a beast...pity, cause now you had to go on a quest to retrieve keys to unlock doors to places where you could pick up such helpful items such as wrenches and laser beam jetpacks. Needless to say, you succeeded in your mission, and ridded Everyville of the Beast Lord. Now you're a man again, with an irresponsible younger sister, and a baby boy who you leave in her care. What a bad idea that was, cause Zelek, the Beast Lord, is back, and he's pissed. So pissed that he kidnaps your sister and your child...and the bastard does it in disguise, too, just to be that cowardly. Well, you don't take kindly to cowardice...and so it goes.
This simple plot is explained through a brilliantly cinematic opening animation that really sets the mood, and is a grandiose departure from much of Psygnosis' earlier work, so much so that even with repeat viewings it never grows tiresome. And once the actual game begins, the visual spectacle doesn't end there...with only 2-levels of parallax scrolling compared to the first game's almost unheard-of 10, Psygnosis is able to concentrate more on detailed foreground and character animations. And let me tell you, it's a treat to watch, especially in the first few seconds of gameplay when you begin moving your character about...it's virtually seamless.
However, everything comes crashing to a halt moments later. Like the first game, you are immediately offered a choice of direction...left or right. One way is the right way, and is more boring and puzzle-oriented but enables you to actually beat the game. The other way is almost intimidatingly entertaining, but in reality it's the wrong way, and you dig a grave for yourself almost immediately when you realize that you're going to be going that way eventually anyway, especially when you try desperately to beat that section only to come across a dead-end you can only get by with help from an item you can only get...going the other way. The game gives you no hint as to where to go first; strike one, as far as I'm concerned. But wait, don't even bother backspacing just yet...Psygnosis is just getting you warmed up.
Whichever way you decide to go, the soundtrack will catch your ear almost immediately. Psygnosis pulled out all the stops and assigned several well-known experts in the field to make sure that your stay in Everyville was just as pleasant to the ear as it was to your Nintendo Muscle. Each piece for each section of the game is immensely orchestrational, and very, very catchy. It's been nearly 20-years already since the game's release and I still find myself humming along to the soundtrack. The sound effects, although simple, are very full and detailed as well, and also contribute to the overall experience.
But I think that's enough praise. The great Amiga magazine Amiga Power always argued, even till the day of its demise, that no matter how far technology progresses, no matter the grandeur of the graphics or other technical specs, if the gameplay isn't there, then what's the bloody point? Psygnosis have taken this philosophy to the Nth degree. Allow me to explain...
The graphics are gorgeous, that's been said, as well as the quality of the sound production. So naturally, the game is a treat to the senses. How is that blasted playability, then? It's non-existent, and yet the game is brilliant in its manipulation. The Health system for starters follows the original's idea that, with one-life and roughly only a dozen health bars to start, if you're a newcomer to the game a sudden and abrupt death minutes into gameplay will have you coming back to try and fix your mistake. And if you're a veteran to the game, you will have realized that the rewards later in the game (such as the inventive bosses), as well as the time you've already invested, is reason enough to try and complete the damned thing once and for all. The sequel is similar, except there are no scattered rewards...only the satisfaction of beating the game. It's simply puzzle after puzzle, and when you're done solving puzzles, a door somewhere will open, and once you find that door, you enter another location where you solve a whole other set of puzzles. Wash, rinse, repeat.
The puzzles are in their own little realm of ridiculousness, too. Remember back in Science class, when you didn't understand a question from the textbook and so you cheated by turning to the back pages to get the answers? Shadow of the Beast 2 is all questions, no back pages. The perfect example comes just moments into the game. You come across a fellow sitting on a tree stump. Suddenly, a demon attacks him. You have to kill the demon with 3 perfectly-times hits, otherwise within seconds the fellow's dead, and the crucial information he could have potentially given you about a puzzle found later on is lost in the annals of code. Even when you do rescue him, if you don't ask him about a key detail in the ensuing conversation, you're screwed for another puzzle found after the puzzle you solve thanks to what the fellow tells you first. It's so BLOODY CONVOLUTED! And the game makes no amends...it just wants you to keep trucking. And trust me, screwing up a puzzle early in the game might piss you off, but just wait till you screw one up when you're 75% into the game. Pressing that ESC key to restart the game from scratch is one of the hardest things any gamer will ever have to do.
A couple of other points...sudden deaths, and load times. These are the final nails in the coffin. On more than one occasion I found myself stuck in the middle of a mace-fight with a consortium of flying demons, finding it almost impossible to get off a single hit without losing almost all of my health points. Finally, the fight is over, and with no health, no useful items, and stuck in the middle of a cavern, I make the long trek back, only to have a boulder roll on-screen out of nowhere, hit me, and I die. 60% into the game, and I'm dead because some stupid programmer out there decided to make swell use out of a boulder sprite. So, now I wait for the obligatory Game Over screen, famous in all three Shadow of the Beast games for one very good reason: the bugger takes a century to load. I could fry an egg and put the kettle on in less time it takes for one of these screens to load, and Shadow of the Beast 2 takes this idea, and rolls it out with a rolling pin till the bugger's as thin as pastry. Every section takes as long to load as the Game Over screen does, and there's no way to bypass the loads either. Not only if you try to skip the Game Over screen does the music fade and take even LONGER to go away, but you could be walking along in-game, when suddenly, it freezes, and 5-minutes later you're thrust back into gameplay. It's not only unkind, it's frustrating.
So, doesn't sound very appealing, now does it? But I'm going to pull a sharp left-turn and contradict everything I just told you. Regardless of all lapses of reason on Psygnosis' part and a lack of contempt for the player, the game is not without its charms. The pleasure one gets from finally beating that puzzle that had taken you a week to solve is like standing under a cool shower, covered in baby oil...it's greasy, but sickly-satisfying. And the work that must have gone into programming the technical side of things is nothing to spit on. So, I leave you with an average rating, and a choice...left or right. Either way will piss you off, but if it did, and it had you coming back for more, then Psygnosis have done their job. That, and pinched yet another few pounds from your pocket.
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Reviewed by
daViincii on July 3, 2006
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Brilliant opening animation that doesn't disappoint when it's time to play the actual game.
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Addictive soundtrack with very detailed effects.
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A bugger of a Health system, puzzles that require textbook solutions, and load times that take more time than the amount of time to make a cuppa. Top that all off with the supposedly non-linear first 30-seconds of the game, and you have a beast that will either frustrate the Hell out of you, or give you several months of gaming satisfaction before you stash the mother in the back of your closet and never want to look at it again.
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| You get what you paid for: Psygnosis, a Shadow of the Beast sequel, one-life...no satisfaction till the bugger is finished. You WILL want to keep playing it, but for all the wrong reasons. |
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