Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered Review – Bullet Hell

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is a time machine, here to take us back to a time that the modern gaming audience might find wholly unrecognizable from what we’ve grown familiar with now. When this romp through Hell first launched back in 2011, as a linear shooter all about the action and gleefully crass humour, it fit right at home in a market where there was no shortage of similar experiences. In 2024, it feels very much like a game from a bygone era, which can work in its favour as frequently as it can work against it.

In Shadows of the Damned, you play as Garcia Hotspur, a demon hunter who must jaunt through hell in company with former demon and talking skill Johnson, in order to rescue Paula, the love of his life, who has been kidnapped by the demon lord Fleming. The story here is clearly not the focus, with the premise instead meant to serve as the platform for the game’s vibes and style- two areas where it definitely isn’t lacking. Irreverent, in-your-face, and as subtle as a sledgehammer in the way only a game that released at the peak of the Xbox 360 generation could have been, Shadows of the Damned ensures that its setting feels suitably atmospheric, achieving an impressive sense of place in spite of the game’s general lack of narrative focus.

"Shadows of the Damned feels very much like a game from a bygone era, which can work in its favour as frequently as it can work against it."

That’s not to say there’s no issues to speak of in the storytelling department. In fact, some of Shadows of the Damned’s most prominent issues lie in this area. The game’s crude, edgy, and juvenile humour and writing very much part of its charm back when it first launched, but though they may have seemed par for the course nearly a decade and a half back, they haven’t necessarily aged well. Gaming has matured as a medium, and audiences have matured as a whole as well, so while there are certainly times when some of Shadows of the Damned’s jokes and humour do land, more often than not, that’s not the case- which is a bit of a shame, because the actual game itself is a lot of fun.

And it’s fun in a way that we rarely see in games in today’s day and age. No, I’m not being a boomer here and telling you that games are not fun anymore (that’s simply not true). What is undeniable, however, that game developers in general seem to be averse to simplicity these days- games have to be multiple dozen hours long, they have to be either open world or semi open world, they have to have layered progression mechanics, and all of that jazz. This, however, is a game that came out at a time where that constant feature-creep and scope-creep hadn’t swallowed games whole, and it shows.

Shadows of the Damned is mostly linear, with levels taking you through straightforward arenas where your primary goal is to mow down hordes of demons, with some light exploration also thrown in from time to time. Progression, meanwhile, is equally no-nonsense, with a limited range of upgrade options prioritizing effectiveness over the illusion of complexity. And, of course, the runtime is blessedly short. At 10-12 hours long, Shadows of the Damned feels perfectly paced and never overstays its welcome in the slightest. Above all else, the focus is always on combat, and little else, which means there’s little to no bloat to worry about. That’s a refreshing change of pace for anyone immersed in gaming these days.

"At 10-12 hours long, Shadows of the Damned feels perfectly paced and never overstays its welcome in the slightest."

Which is a good thing, because the combat here rules. Slow and deliberate movement combine with weighty and impactful action in an endless enjoyable combat system. Shadows of the Damned benefits massively from its core moment-to-moment mechanics being as fun as they are as much as it does from strengths in other areas, such as enemy variety and the tight and claustrophobic design of its combat arenas. The game constantly encourages you to keep moving about the environment and make smart use of your arsenal of hellish weapons while keeping an eye on your ammo reserves, and that never quite loses its charm, especially as combat encounters start ramping up in difficulty and tension the deeper you progress into the game.

The game does sometimes suffer from a few mechanical issues, chief among them being the occasionally rough movement. In general, Shadows of the Damned’s slow and tankier movement works great with the deliberate pacing of its combat, but at times, its camera can feel a bit too sluggish, which is exacerbated by how much it zooms into the player’s back. That can be particularly frustrating during the more hectic combat encounters, like the bosses, and happens often enough for it to be a legitimate issue with the combat.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered also leaves plenty to be desired as far as its remastering efforts are concerned. The game now runs at 4K and 60 FPS, which means it looks sharper and runs smoother than ever before, which is certainly a huge boost. However, outside of that and the addition of some bonus cosmetics and a New Game Plus mode, Hella Remastered is a fairly conservative upgrade. Whether its technical enhancements you’re looking for, quality-of-life upgrades, or gameplay tweaks, Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered doesn’t tinker with its source material too much. Usually with remasters, you at least see additions such as new difficulty modes, galleries to view concept art in, or what have you, but Hella Remastered does next to nothing on that front outside of its aforementioned New Game Plus mode, making it feel more like a slightly enhanced port than anything else. Thankfully, the core experience is still a hell of a lot of fun, so there’s that.

"Shadows of the Damned is very much a blast from the past, thanks to its bombastic action and its lean and mean design, even if its aged writing and humour, unambitious technical upgrades, and occasionally rough movement can throw a wrench into the works from time to time."

Ultimately, Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is worth a look for both, those who enjoyed the original and are looking for an excuse to dive into its offerings again, and those who never got the chance to play it when it first launched and now want to see what the fuss is about. Close to a decade and a half on from its release, Shadows of the Damned is very much a blast from the past, thanks to its bombastic action and its lean and mean design, even if its aged writing and humour, unambitious technical upgrades, and occasionally rough movement can throw a wrench into the works from time to time. Whether it will find the audience with its remaster that it never could with its original release remains to be seen, but for our part, we’re glad to have another chance to ride through hell with Garcia and Johnson again.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X.