Product Description

HERO or VILLAIN? Uncover the truth about Sonic's arch-rival, Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow the Hedgehog carries a dark past that is shrouded in mystery. Embark on a journey to unveil his true identity. The way you play the game will determine the outcome of Shadow's future...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5246 in Video Games
• Brand: Sega Of America, Inc.
• Model: 010086630879
• Released on: 2005-10-10
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: PlayStation2
• Dimensions: .50 pounds

Features

• 1-2 Player
• Nothing gets in the way of Shadow!
• Exhilarating action, speed & shooting!
• Tons of missions, branching storylines, and multiple endings!
• The decisions and choices that the player makes will determine the progression of the story; The path a player chooses will produce either positive or negative consequences. Choose wisely!

From the Manufacturer
Shadow awakens with amnesia and is tormented by a dark past as he struggles to unveil his true identity. Was he created to save humankind or to do the evil bidding of the dark side? Only by collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds will Shadow unlock the truth. Caught in a complex battle between aliens, the G.U.N. army, and Dr. Eggman, Shadow becomes the very element that may tip the scales between good and evil forever. The epic is set...and the path that Shadow will ultimately take is completely up to you!

Features:

• Open-ended, story-altering choices. Produce positive or dire consequences in Shadow's future by the paths you choose. Have a different experience every time you play!
• Intense high-speed action! Shadow has amplified speed and firepower, and can manipulate time and space with Chaos Control or create unbelievable destruction with Chaos Blast.
• Weapons, vehicles, and items! Draw from a huge arsenal of weapons including projectiles, firearms, bazookas, blasters, and worm lasers. Speed away on a motorcycle, an alien craft, or an SUV. And, for the first time ever in a Sonic property--pick up and use environmental objects like poles, sticks, and debris to plow your way through the mission.
• An all-star cast of characters! All of your favorite characters from the Sonic series, as well as an interesting lineup of new allies and adversaries!
• Huge variety of unique and intriguing stages and missions. Over 20 stages and more than 50+ missions.
• Two-player competitive mode. Get your friends in on the intense action.

Customer Reviews

Sonic the Hedgehog Advances to the Next Level
Even with recent advancements in video game technology, very few games offer a mix of everything gaming has to offer. First person shooters, and racing games come by the dozen, as do games about soldiers, crooks, or mystical anime-like worlds. Shadow the Hedgehog, the newest addition to the classic Sonic series, combines the best aspects of these popular gaming concepts, enhancing the over-all Sonic experience.

Simply, Shadow is an inverted version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Those unfamiliar with Sonic Adventure 2, might assume this to be cheap characterization on the Sonic Team's part, but it is actually just the opposite. Visually, yes, Sonic and Shadow are extremely alike. Shadow's colors are just flipped from Sonic's and his look is more menacing. The actual background of Shadow's character however, is more complex then any other character's in the series. In fact, Shadow's past and personality are the bases of the game. This is a huge step up for the Sonic Team. Sonic Adventure 2, which also centers Shadow's motives, is the only other Sonic game that has ever truly regarded any kind of thought out story line. Sonic Heroes, Sonic Adventure, and pretty much all of the Sega Genesis Sonic games, gave you a very clear mission; Defeat the Evil Doctor Robotnik using some Chaos Emeralds, and thus, save the world.

The Story line in Shadow the Hedgehog is: who is Shadow? Is he good, evil, misunderstood, indifferent? Does he want to help human beings, or does he want to kill them all? It is the player's job to decide. And the great thing is, you can change your mind right in the middle of game play.

Here's how the system works, the order of stages depends on the mission you choose with in each level. For example, level one, Westopolis, throws Shadow into a situation where aliens are attacking the city. You have three options: You can either, help Sonic and the G.U.N. army defeat these aliens; You can assist the aliens in killing off all the soldiers; Or... you can blow everyone off and snatch one of seven chaos emeralds, hidden near the end of the level. There are over twenty levels, all of which are huge 3-D environments, with lots of directions and little crevices to choose from. It is actually a combination of the path-set levels in Sonic Adventure 2, and the exploration based levels in Sonic Adventure.

Its easy to choose which path to take, as the game's other characters are always meeting up with you as you play, and trying to sway you to follow their directions. You can also reference each mission by pausing the game. This takes you to a menu of your options. Often I would be very close to finishing a mission, and at the very last minute, decide to just blow everything up. This is possible because for good deeds, a meter on the top of the screen fills up in blue, eventually giving you a special move called, Chaos Control, allowing you to wiz through the level in double the speed.. If you choose to be wicked though, another meter fills up in red, giving you the power of Chaos Blast, which is the equivalent to a mini-nuclear bomb. Each move is very nicely animated and easy to control.

The weapons are also a nice addition to the game. There are special weapons, which can be found in Shadow-colored boxes. Each box has four weapons to choose from. I recommend the vacuum chicken, which sucks up all your enemies, but the chao doll shooter is nice too...

Regular weapons, which you steal from your enemies, include missiles, bazookas, machine guns, plasma lasers, hand guns... basically all the good stuff. This might seem violent for a Sonic game, but aliens just turn into green blobs when you shoot them. Soldiers and army fighting machines? ...Okay, I know, shooting soldiers is a bit dark, but again, its not like blood flies every where. Soldiers just yelp and beg for mercy after you shoot them. There are no violent graphics or real solider deaths, so its hard to feel too guilty once you get into blasting them all. That, and its fun to watch their machinery explode.

Getting back to the "darkness" of the game... Some very minimal, almost silly swearing has been added to the dialogue. Trust me, it is not offensive. Its actually kind of goofy. Also, the voice actors have all been re-casted, so, aside from the harmless cussing, lines are delivered a lot better then those of previous Sonic games. Though, be warned of the cheesy "mwhahaha" crap every now and then.

Other problems that have been addressed: The angle issue that the Sonic Team is notorious for, is actually a lot better. There are a few levels where I had some problems with it, but very rarely did they cost me one of my Shadow lives. The animation, especially in the major cut scenes, is really nice, great actually. It is very clear, textured, well lit, and nicely directed, though some of the human characters move a bit awkwardly. Still, in Sonic Adventure 2, the animation of a human character, Maria, was practically deformed. She looks a lot better in this game, I promise.

Lastly, the soundtrack to Shadow the Hedgehog features digitally mixed, guitar-heavy, electronica-like themes. The tracks with vocals, which are played during the introduction of the game, and as the credits are rolling, range from Marilyn Manson rip-offs, to even a semi-eighties/The Cure techno track. The best theme is one called The Chosen one. Its very pop-rock, but actually has a really somber chord progression. It almost stands alone from the game, just as Suteki Da Ne does in Final Fantasy X.

Over-all, Shadow the Hedgehog is a major advancement in Sonic games, that features very polished animation, and a detailed story-line, which the player has control over. It is "dark" but not offensive or truly violent, and includes well-produced music and voice acting.

It's not bad. It's GOOD.
I have played this game and I have to say that this game is not bad. Yes, the game is challenging. If you are looking for an easy game then this one isn't for you. It seems too many of today's gamers want easy spoon-fed games that don't require much finger dexterity. They want games that are not true games but instead are interactive videos. Shadow the Hedgehog harkens back to the good old days of video games when twitch control was the rule of the day. Remember Galaga? How about Pac-man? Sure they didn't have a storyline like many of today's games but they sure were fun as heck. Today's games are about storyline like Grand Theft Auto. Yesterday's was about pure action. Take Strider for example. I'll take that one any day over GTA. If you like a challenge, then this one is a game for you. It seems that Sega gets a lot of bashing because people have a lot of expectations for them. Granted this game isn't the best in the series it still is a fun game. I have played and replayed this game and cannot understand what all these bad reviews are about. It makes one wonder if they really gave it a chance. If you liked Sonic Heroes or Sonic Adventure like I did, you will like this one. Sonic Heroes, too. I don't understand why people give negative reviews of Sonic Heroes. It is a great game. But that is another story.

I really loved this and can't understand why everyone else hates it.
I'm a huge Sonic fan. I grew up with my Genesis playing Sonic 1, 2, 3, Sonic and Knuckles alongside with random games with SNES. This doesn't serve any purpose by stating it, but what I mean is, is that I've been playing Sonic games for a long time. And I have to say, this is one of the good ones.

I really can't understand why so many people love to take a huge dump on this. What games do we have on our timeline post-Sonic Adventure 2? Let's check. Sonic Heroes. That was a bad game, but it had some highlights, particularly Team Dark and Team Chaotix (Chaotix was pretty much the main reason to play that game at all, Team Dark only served any good by giving a little more story for Shadow, which I very much enjoyed). Then, we have Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, which was, in short, arguably the worst Sonic game ever made (which is sad, because it had some good ideas and ruined everything with bad design). So, why is Shadow the Hedgehog fairing so horribly when all you have to compare it to are those two atrocities?!

Honestly, this is one of my favorite Sonic games, in second place right under Sonic Adventure 2. The game attempts to be much more mature than some other Sonic titles. Shadow says curses, he uses guns, he's aggressive and he's not very nice. The game was even supposed to have more cursing in it, but it was edited out so the game could have an E rating, originally having a T before release. I admired the game for trying to grow up a little and to stop being so childish like most of the others.

Two of the main reasons people enjoy complaining about this game. Guns and Shadow. People don't think guns belong in Sonic games, and many fans think Shadow is an angsty emo copy of Sonic. That's really just opinion, but it just so happens to be the majority's opinion, it seems. The game released right after this was Sonic 2006, which featured Shadow without the use of guns (other than mounted guns on vehicles) and then after that, Sonic and the Secret Rings, originally planned to have Shadow in the game, but actually cut him out entirely! I was disappointed to hear that. Though, he was still in the side game, "Sonic Party", and I *think* you could unlock his deleted cutscenes from the main game by unlocking some bonus points and items in the main story.

About the guns, one complaint wasn't only they don't belong, but they are difficult to use. I beat this game, all ten required endings and plus the final ending. I very rarely had a problem with the aiming of the guns. Hello, the game has an auto-aim feature, the rocket launcher even has heat-seeking. They were also very useful. I much enjoyed shooting enemies who were floating above a bottomless pit hole, instead of triangle-jumping and homing attacking them and then accidentally plummeting to my early burial.

Call me a fanboy for anti-heroes - hey, I admit it, I love Spawn, The Punisher and Batman. I love dark themes, I love the higher-level maturity of this game and I LOVE Shadow the Hedgehog, both the character and this game.