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| Shadow the Hedgehog |
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| Overview |
If the Sonic games had an embarrassing uncle they kept locked in the closet, he would be Shadow the Hedgehog. This game is an action adventure / third person shooter hybrid. It was first announced on March 8, 2005 at Sonic the Hedgehog's induction to the "Walk of Game," a video-game hall of fame sponsored by the Game Developers Conference. Ironically, it was shown at the end of a tribute to Sonic's success over the years (see our video section for the full trailer). Fans were immediately skeptical: Sonic with guns?!
The skepticism was right on target. Although it was released on the same day as one of the best Sonic games ever (Sonic Rush), Shadow's review scores are lower than any other game in the series since it started in 1990. Plagued by a camera worse than those in the Adventure games and sloppy controls, the critics weren't at all pleased with the spinoff: the average review score was 4 / 10. That didn't stop Sega from pushing it in the advertising department, and it still ended up selling just as well as Sonic Heroes. Some of those who complained about Heroes could consider it "Game of the Year" after playing Shadow, but other fans, the newbies in particular, loved the gun-toting antihero with all their angsty hearts. Angst was present in the game's audience just as much as it was in the game: Shadow was the first Sonic game to receive anything higher than an "E" rating with an "E10+," for "Everyone 10 and Up."
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W E A P O N S
Basic Weapon Set |
Pistol
Damage: Low, Rounds: 10, Range: Short |  |
Sub Machine Gun
Damage: Low, Rounds: 20, Range: Short |  |
Semi-Auto Rifle (SMG)
Damage: Medium, Rounds: 30, Range: Medium |  |
Heavy Machine Gun (HMG)
Damage: High, Rounds: 30, Range: Long |  |
Gatling Gun
Damage: High, Rounds: 40, Range: Long |  |
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Explosive Weapon Set |
Grenade Launcher
Damage: Medium, Rounds: 6, Range: Short |  |
Bazooka
Damage: High, Rounds: 6, Range: Short |  |
Black Barrel
Damage: Medium, Rounds: 8, Range: Short |  |
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Homing Weapon Set |
Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher (RPG)
Comes in 4, 8, and 16 round versions.
Damage: High, Range: Long |  |
Worm Shooter
Comes in 4 and 12 round versions. Also comes in "big" version with double damage (4 rounds).
Damage:High, Range: Long |  |
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| Story |
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After dying in Sonic Adventure 2 and finding out he's a robot in Sonic Heroes, Shadow has a lot to think about. He does just that while sitting on a hill outside of Westopolis, which by my guess, would be a large city located somewhere in the western hemisphere. After a short flashback to Maria's death, Shadow begins to wonder who Maria was, and who he is, and where he is, and how he got there. Just before he is about to cut himself and listen to the latest Linkin Park album, the sky over Westopolis turns red and aliens start falling from above. |
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| The non-racist slur intending leader of the Black Arms aliens (Black Doom) approaches Shadow via hologram and tells him that he must follow his orders if he wants to know the secret to his past. Apparently, he can only do this by collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds that he has collected and somehow lost in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic Battle. Without hesitation, Shadow listens to the voices in his head and starts his quest to find the first emerald in Westopolis... |
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Westopolis
Westopolis is under attack by the Black Arms. This level is loosely based off the game's boxart. Beware of the many bottomless pits. You know, if the engineers who designed this city's transit system placed the roadways right next to all these holes of doom, they had a disaster coming to them. This level is quite possibly the best example of bad design in any game ever.
Neutral: Find the Chaos Emerald!
There are two Chaos Emeralds in Westopolis: one near the beginning in a cage, and one near the end in a Goal Ring. Simply collect the first one and go through the ring. Completing this mission will take you to Glyphic Canyon.
Hero: Drive off the black creatures!
You have to kill every single alien, all 45 of them. Completing this mission will take you to Lethal Highway.
Dark: Annihilate the GUN forces!
Kill all the GUN soldiers and robots, with 35 in all. Completing this mission will take you to Digital Circuit. |
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No matter what mission you complete in Westopolis, you'll see a short cutscene where the commanding general of GUN is briefed on the status of the "terrorist attacks." As soon as Shadow is mentioned, he goes crazy and orders the deployment of troops to put an end to the black hedgehog once and for all. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his eyes don't match. Unfortunately for you, the gamer, his plan isn't successful, so you still have to play the game. |
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Glyphic Canyon
Neutral: Find the Chaos Emerald!
Play through the level and ignore all the objectives. Jump into the Goal Ring to get the emerald. Completing this mission will take you to Prison Island.
Hero: Drive off the black creatures!
Dark: Activate all the jewels!
Upon entering the canyon via teleportation from the city, Shadow will decide that there's an emerald around somewhere, even though he solidly claims that he doesn't remember this place. But who cares, he's the ultimate lifeform, right? Right?!
Glyphic Canyon is like a Mystic Ruins meets Red Mountain (Sonic Adventure) crossover. |
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Digital Circuit
The results of Sega's acquisition of The Matrix Online has seeped into Sonic's world too. Shadow is instantly transported from Westopolis to the Information Superhighway. But this computer network is big. Really. big. Big enough for robots and aliens alike to run around inside and shoot things. You'll encounter Rouge too. But it seems Sega made an error here: although Rouge is a woman lurking on the Internet in search of money and jewels, her breasts are not exposed.
Hero: Find the Chaos Emerald!
Jump into the Goal Ring near the end of the level. Completing this mission will take you to Prison Island.
Dark: Destroy the core program!
At the very end of the level, climb the tower using the light poles and attack the core with a weapon. Completing this mission will take you to Cryptic Castle. |
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| After your second mission, the game will show a little more of GUN's internal actions. The camera switches to the oval office to show the president (who has returned from the Nintendo 64) being briefed by his secretary via PA on the his phone. The president ignores the briefing and stares at a picture of Sonic and Shadow on his desk. Who knew the most powerful man in the world was really a Sonadow fangirl? His better judgement tells him not to get out the lube in front of the camera, so he insetad stares out the window and attempts to make a dramatic statement about not faltering to terrorism. Wait, is this a game or a tribute to the Bush administration? |
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Prison Island
Hey, wasn't this place destroyed in Sonic Adventure 2? ...Oh, hello Mr. Naka. Wait, what are you doing with that chainsaw? MR. NAKA?? NOOO---
The island may be back, but it looks nothing like it did last time you were here. It's now overrun with toxic sewage streams and jail cells, which according to Charmy, make it look like a zoo. If you can get through this level without committing suicide to escape the little bee's nauseating voice, you can get through anything this game will throw at you.
Neutral: Find the Chaos Emerald!
Hero: Find the top secret disks!
Dark: Eliminate the GUN robots!
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Cryptic Castle
Although it looks like a futuristic base in the introduction, it's really just another Eggman's medieval castles. You can't help but wonder why an evil genius would base his operations in a flimsy castle with huge crevices, pits, balloons, rails, and flying creatures. Anyways, this level looks like the textures and graphics were taken right out of Hang Castle from Sonic Heroes. The balloons are on rails, and the flying creatures give you very little control. Don't jump off the flying things at all: as dumb as it is, the game will automatically drop you where you should be. If you try to get off anywhere else, you'll fall and die, even fall through the ground in some places.
Neutral: Escape the mysterious castle!
Get to the end of the level and jump through the ring.
Hero: Find Cream!
Help Amy find Cream and Cheese in the castle. And no, they're not in the kitchen. (*PUNN'D LOL*)
Dark: Light all giant lanterns!
As you progress through the level, light all five giant, circular pit lanterns with a torch. |
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| After this level, you'll see a little cutscene where Eggman and Shadow have a catfight over the Chaos Emerald. Before they resort to bitch-slapping each other, Eggman pulls out the heavy artillery. |
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| No matter what mission you complete, even the Dark mission where you help Eggman, he'll try to kill you with the "Egg Breaker." According to the doctor, it's his latest and greatest invention. Why can't he just go to Bed Bath & Beyond like everyone else? Anyways, his more complicated version of the kitchen appliance shares its weakpoint with all of the other bosses in Sonic history: the glass dome where Eggman sits. Perform a homing attack when he lands from a jump or shoot the dome from afar. |
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Two Player Battle Mode
If you were disappointed with the single player game, don't even try the two player mode. The framerate is essentially cut in half because the game makes poor use of each console's resources, and it's not even that fun to begin with. Shadow and the yellow Shadow play just as he does in the single player game, meaning you can pick up different weapons. The robots are equipped with one weapon at default with unlimited ammo. However, they aren't necessarily at an advantage because they cannot pick up new weapons. Most of the weapons from the regular game are available in the battle mode. All characters can use vehicles or grind rails. There are three areas to play in: a warehouse-themed level, a cyber-themed level, and a lava-themed level. |
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A round is finished whenever one Shadow kills the other. After all rounds are over, the winner will be declared and you'll be given the option to continue (repeat the game with the current settings) or return to the 2P Battle setup screen. The option to make the mode delete itself from the disc was removed in the earlier stages of development.
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| Screenshots |
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05.16.05 - Sega's Shadow the Hedgehog Site
4.3.05 - Leaked Trailer
03.15.05 - Official Announcement, from Sega Press FTP
03.10.05 - GDC Trailer
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| Videos / Other Media |
Notice: These links are changed often to prevent hotlinking. DO NOT HOTLINK OUR FILES. You are allowed to mirror these to your own site and redistribute them. Although a link back to Sonic World is not necessary, it would be appreciated.
Official Trailer 1 (Leaked by Sega) - 9.8 MB
Coming after the game's announcement, we see a few firsts in this trailer, such as the addition of a targeting icon, new weapons, swords, and "vehicles" (that is, if you call a dragon and a disc-board 'vehicles'). In Quicktime format.
Mirror #1 - Provided by SWMedia (Sonic World Local)
Click Here to Begin your Download
Here's the music from the video, in MPEG-4 audio format (1.1 MB; plays in Winamp and most audio players):
Click Here to Begin your Download
GDC Walk of Promo (Unveiling Video) - 50.7 MB
The original video from the game's unveiling. This version features the tribute to Sonic shown before the game trailer.
Mirror #1 - Provided by ENet (the[d+pad]network)
Click Here to Begin your Download
Mirror #2 - Provided by +Net (the[d+pad]network)
Click Here to Begin your Download
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| Promotional Art |
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Official Art #1 (Click to Enlarge): |
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| Official Logo (Final) (Click to Enlarge...it's big, be warned): |
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| Scans |
Manual (Gamecube Version) - Internal Development Copy
The game's not out yet, and we have the manual?! Someone from Sega leaked this near-final copy that has everything but the front and back covers, which will probably be the game's box art and a Sonic Rush / Riders ad. Get it quick before someone orders us to take it down.
Click Here to Read the Manual
(Adobe PDF Format; Acrobat or Acrobat Reader Required)
Nintendo Power - June 2005
Nintendo's official US magazine had a two page special that essentially restated everything we heard last month. Iizuka hints at a new 2D game; Nintendo Power confirms a few gameplay questions.
Click Here to Read the Article
(Adobe PDF Format; Acrobat or Acrobat Reader Required)
Electronic Gaming Monthly - May 2005
EGM had a two page special on this game that revealed a few pressing questions...keyword: "few." Most noteable is that the director of the game, Takashi Iizuka, hints at a multiplayer deathmatch mode. Now if only Sega takes it online...
Click Here to Read the Article
(Adobe PDF Format; Acrobat or Acrobat Reader Required)
Game Masters - May 2005
GM conducted an interview with the game's producer revealing some new tidbits of information to hold us over until E3. Some of the highlights include the appearences of Eggman, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as enemies OR allies, and that there will be 30 weapons available in the game. Still no details on multiplayer, though...
Click Here to Read the Article
(Adobe PDF Format; Acrobat or Acrobat Reader Required)
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| Review | |
No Review Currently Available. |
| Notes |
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Nubytech Controller
Sega leased out the Shadow license to Nubytech for a PS2 controller that launched alongside the game. The controller features trigger-style shoulder buttons and cool packaging. The MSRP at launch was $24.99. Nubytech is known for making other themed controllers, including the Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw Controller for PS2 and Gamecube. |
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Shadow Beanie
If you preordered Shadow the Hedgehog at select retailers (such as EBGames and Gamestop), you received a Shadow Beanie when you picked up the game. Almost everyone in the community thought "beanie" meant "plush toy," but that would be too logical: Sega meant "beanie" as in winter cap, complete with cheesy red and black spikes coming out the back. Don't be seen in public with this on. |
Fastest Thing Alive
For shameless advertising, we'd like to note that Sonic World was there for the news as it happened. As with Sonic Heroes, we were the first Sonic site to bring video, screenshots, and news about the game to the community by posting within minutes of its announcement. For that matter, we were also the first site to predict how incredibly bad it would be. You can view the original forum topic here.
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| Cheats / Secrets |
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No Cheats or Secrets Currently Available. |
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06.23.91
Unknown
06.23.91
