Two PS4 exclusives that were due to hit the market in the next few months have apparently had their release dates pushed back. Both Shadow of the Beast and Alienation have had their ship dates changed in the PlayStation store, though Sony has not made an official announcement for either game. Shadow of the Beast now shows a release date of March 2, 2016 while Alienation now has a ship date of March 23, 2016.

It seems that Shadow of the Beast has been pushed back five weeks, since it was originally supposed to be launching at the end of this month. Alienation has now had its release date pushed back about three weeks from when we expected it to go live. Since Sony has not yet talked about the delays, we’re not sure exactly why the changes were made. Considering the releases weren’t pushed back all that far, it’s likely the developers just feel as though they need to have a few more weeks to iron out some details.

If you want to learn all there is to know about these games while you know wait a bit longer to play them, you can check out the wiki for Shadow of the Beast here and the wiki for Alienation here. With the new dates, Shadow of the Beast is now due out March 2 while Alienation will not be hitting your PS4 until March 23, 2016.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Shadow of the Beast was initially announced during Gamescom 2013 as a PS4 exclusive. The first trailer was revealed, along with the announcement of Heavy Spectrum Entertainment Labs as the new developer for this game. Because the original was produced way back in 1986, the original developer had to be replaced, though Heavy Spectrum has said it wants to change the look of the game but wants to be as loyal to the original game as it can. Specifically On April 2014, when asked “Are there any of the team behind the 1989 game still around?”

David Whittaker, composer of the original soundtrack and Roger Dean, the talent behind Shadow of the Beast’s cover art, and Matt Birch, the studio’s CEO, responded “The music, the art, they were really important to us, and we wanted to make sure we don’t disappoint people.” It has since been revealed that David Whittaker will indeed be brought back to the game and is working on the sounds and music of the new PS4 version.

In April of 2015, the game’s developer released a new batch of screenshots for the game. There is quite a bit of difference between the original game’s look, but the developers have kept the two-dimensional, side scrolling style. At E32015, Sony unveiled a new gameplay trailer and allowed CEO of Heavy Spectrum Entertainment to give a bit of an update on the game. The developer said it expected the game to be released in 2016 but the company has not announced an official release date for next year.

Heavy Spectrum CEO Matt Birch says he wanted his studio to make this remake because he had a genuine love for the original title. During the official unveiling of the game, he spoke at Gamescom saying, “It was one of my first experiences of 16-bit games, I played it and was completely amazed by the graphics, the music. I remember walking away and carrying on thinking about it. It really hit me at the time – it was probably the first game I thought about after I’d walked away, like you would with a book or a movie. It was a real moment of thinking games could do something incredible, and are going somewhere incredible. It’s something that’s stuck with me ever since, and that’s one of the things that makes Shadow of the Beast so special to me.”

At the 2015 E3 the studio introduced a brief gameplay demo along with the new trailer.

Story

The story of this version of Shadow of the Beast has been described as a direct remake with the main character and the main villain being the same as in the original game. In that original game, the story shows a man named Aarbron is kidnapped as a child and corrupted through magic into a monstrous warrior-servant for the evil beast lord Maletoth. This mutated creature’s memory of his human life returns when he watches a man being executed and the thing that used to be Aarbron realizes that he’s been a victim for most of his life when he later recognizes the man who is being executed as his father. Eventually Aarbron decides to seek revenge on Maletoth. A long ardous journey ensues, with Aarbron forced to battle his way through both hostile terrain and Maletoths forces. Not only is the main character fighting Maletoth and his forces for revenge, but he comes to believe he will actually be able to regain his human form if he can win the battle against his monstrous master.

Gameplay

Shadow of the Beast is a two-dimensional side scroller that focuses on rhythm action-esque timing as well as smaller and quicker attacks as well as more savage attacks that are done by using the main character’s claws. Timing isn’t the only way in which players will be fighting as some enemies require counter attacks. There are also shield-wielding foes that the player must duck behind in order to kill and defeat them. Birch also talked about the combat system, saying the company has put in some extra layers when being compared to the original game. The developer says that if the player wants to really get good scores, the player will actually have to use enemies against one another. The player will have to stun them and then throw them into each other. The game also has a “blood system.” Each time Aarbron kills an enemy, he absorbs blood, each absorption works at filling up a meter that lets the player unleash super moves, which in turn allows the player to kill more enemies and kill stronger enemies faster.

When it comes to the world that Aarbron has to travel, there are a number of different side quests that are all there to help you unravel the mystery of how to kill Maletoth. There is also apparently going to be a multiplayer mode that will allow you to bring friends or just random players into your game. There aren’t a lot of details about this mode except the developer’s description: “Discover the souls of other players and summon them to fight at your side, or to lead the way to new locations.”

In addition to the main story mode, there is also a survival mode if players just want to see how many enemies they can kill in one sitting. The enemies will get harder to kill as the waves keep coming.

Characters

Aarbron is the main character in the story and is the hero. After realizing that the monster that had been his master killed his father, he goes on a mission to kill his former master. That master is a giant monster known as Maletoth who is the main villain in the game. There are a number of other monsters and creatures that will appear in the game, though the developer hasn’t specifically named those creatures.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game

A Sony hosted event recently took place in London and guess what? Two new screenshots from the Shadow of The Beast were revealed all while being played in all its side scrolling glory. Although it must be noted that these are off screen images but given the lack of information about the game, this is at least confirmation that the game is in playable state.

Shadow of the Beast was first announced alongside a short CGI trailer at Gamescom 2013 and then seemingly fell of the face of the earth. Developed by the UK based studio Heavy Spectrum Entertainment Labs, the game looks to have an aesthetic that’s part Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and part Pitch Black based on the skyline and atmosphere.

It’s not yet clear whether or not we’re going to be hearing anything new about the game any time soon, but it certainly looks ready to present to the media and the public. Just have a look at those two pictures and decide for yourself.

Sources: 1, 2.