'Shadow of the Beast' PS4 Review, News and Rumors
One of the most famous Amiga games of the late 80s is transformed into a stunning new adventure that plays as good as it looks. Shadow Of The Beast is the game everyone is been dreaming of for 27 years. Before saving up enough money to buy an Amiga 500 computer I would spend so much time staring wistfully at screenshots and previews that I ended up literally dreaming about it, or at least the game I imagined it to be.
The real thing was hugely disappointing: beautiful but shallow, and so petulantly difficult it seemed purposefully designed to crush my dreams. But this reimagining is the game I always hoped Shadow Of The Beast could be, and it is glorious.
It is a strange sort of nostalgia going on here, given the love for the original is based purely on its potential and not its reality. But when speaking to developer Matt Birch last year it was fascinating to see just how much the first game had stimulated his imagination, as he made up his own backstory for the game's seemingly random mix of high fantasy and science fiction.
The original Shadow Of The Beast (included as an unlockable) was essentially a side-scrolling beat 'em-up, with some light platforming and puzzle-solving. That also describes this new game, as you play the role of a demonic-looking creature under the control of an evil mage. That control is broken in the opening level, as you then turn your attention to riding the land of its evil overlord. Not a very original premise but there's a complex explanation for events that you can unlock as you go, and which includes a welcome nod to the Shadow Of The Beast II intro.
