For those who’ve been looking for an over-the-top, bloody, side-scrolling, puzzle-platformer, this game is definitely for you. Being created by a seven-person team, Shadow of the Beast looks and feels like a classic indie title rather than a strong triple-A, first party game. Again, that doesn’t really hurt it much in the way of fun as it accomplishes everything the team set out to do with it: simple platforming mechanics, linear level layouts, cool fighting styles, and traditionally simple puzzles to solve along the way. As many indie titles go, however, you won’t find an extensive story to follow; and what story is there has to be unlocked — I’ll discus this later on. You’ll play as the beast Aarbron in the fantastical world of Karamoon where magical realms come to life and enemies are intense and fun to rip to bloody shreds.

"Combat in Shadow of the Beast is actually rather diverse with an extensive range of different melee attacks both ranged and hand-to-hand."

Combat in Shadow of the Beast is actually rather diverse with an extensive range of different melee attacks both ranged and hand-to-hand. You won’t find any guns in this game but the tight attack controls just make it fun enough to where you won’t even be thinking about guns by the end of the first level. From basic attacks, counters, stuns, throws to special attacks, evades, dodge rolls, and a few more, learning these attacks, and using them when you have the appropriate amount of blood — gained when an attack lands on the enemy — will take time. There are seriously a lot of attacks to remember. Luckily the attack controls are in the Options screen. By landing an attack during a “perfect window” you will gain extra score that adds up to points for spending on other items after each level.

Along the adventure you will come across several different enemy types ranging anywhere from human, bug-men, and other worldly beasts. These enemies are often a breeze to take down though every so often you’ll run across one that has a little gimmick — such as “block” enemy projectile once before being able to attack it, etc. After completing each location Aarbron will encounter a boss fight. Boss battles are fun, though slightly scripted. There are only certain moments when Aarbron is allowed to attack. Even if the boss looks defenseless, attacking does nothing until the game allows you to attack; and even then before you land a hit, the boss’s health meter will drain HP. Yes, that sounds a bit strange, that your attacks do the same damage on a boss no matter which one you choose as it is already predetermined. However, the boss battles were fun and exciting, and most of them looked pretty cool.

"Overall, Shadow of the Beast still holds that classic platformer feel and style with linear paths, standard musical tones and tunes, and a lot of blood spilled all around."

The platforming and puzzle elements of Shadow of the Beast are fine for an indie title, but don’t go in expecting Super Mario level complexity. Starting out practically running from left to right you’ll soon learn how to jump, climb and descend various walls and platforms throughout each level. Switch flipping, and portal travel are key puzzle elements that show the simplicity behind this game. I found them a bit too easy, but they were fun for what they were.

Upon finishing each level the players will be given the option to visit the Wisdom of Shadows. Simply put, that is the character leveling up screen. Points you’ve earned while playing through the campaign become spendable and allow you to choose from many different items — many of which aren’t even character related. From gaining health, to collecting extra blood for attacks, to even unlocking the original (albeit emulated) Shadow of the Beast. As I mentioned earlier the story has to be unlocked and the Wisdom of Shadows holds its meaning. While playing through the game you’ll get undecipherable dialog subtitled in what looks like alien font. The only way to follow the story is by deciphering the cut scenes visually. By unlocking story content through Wisdom of Shadow story translations, the subtitles will then become deciphered, but to unlock everything that’s spoken could take upwards of hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of points. I don’t know why they developers thought hiding the story behind an unlock wall was a good idea — maybe to add replay value?

Overall, Shadow of the Beast still holds that classic platformer feel and style with linear paths, standard musical tones and tunes, and a lot of blood spilled all around. If you enjoy platforming as much as I do, you should get a kick out of this game, especially if you enjoyed the original.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Shadow of the Beast, a PS4 sidescroller that came onto the scene two years ago before completely disappearing, has recently came back into the public eye. Most recently however, we’ve been shown some pre-alpha gameplay of the game.

Despite being in the early alpha stages of development, the game is visually very impressive, the gameplay however looks somewhat bland, despite packing a lot of visual flare. Here’s hoping this is improved closer to release.

Given that the the game is a side scroller, it will most likely run at 1080p and 60fps. In the wake of some leaked images from a Sony hosted event, Heavy Spectrum’s Matt Birch gave an update on the game. He recently assured players that they are “trying to find right blend to make a compelling experience for players.” This at least points towards some dedication going into making the game.

Remember Shadow of the Beast? The classic Sega game was announced to be coming to the PlayStation 4 via a reboot, but was swiftly forgotten and never mentioned again after that. if you had, however, begun to suspect that the game had joined the ever swelling ranks of PlayStation exclusives that are announced and then relegated to vaporware status, you would be wrong. Today, out of nowhere, we got an update on the game on the PlayStation Blog, assuring us that the title is alive and well, and sharing some screenshots with us as proof.

“The screenshots you see here are taken from the harsh, arid wasteland that is Karamoon’s desert,” Heavy Spectrum’s Matt Birch said, talking about the screens. “The balance between beauty and brutality has been a running theme for us while we’ve been building the game. Our main character, Aarbron, was forged by the evil Maletoth as a living weapon — and his journey through this beautiful, vibrant world is a savage one. We’ve tried to find ways to bring both sides of this juxtaposition to life to create a unique and intriguing setting for the gameplay to live within.

“Alongside creating a range of sweeping vistas and strange creatures, we have also been busy refining the game’s core combat and platforming to try and find just the right blend to make a compelling experience for players.”

He also suggests that we will be hearing more from the game soon, and far more regularly now.

“It’s been a long road to get here (Especially if you are counting back to our original inspiration!) and we thank you for both bearing with us and taking the time to read about our progress. We hope to have more news to share with you before too long!”

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.

During the PlayStation Experience’s GENERATION 8 – A New Golden Age! Panel, Heavy Spectrum’s revealed new concept arts and information regarding the development of PlayStation 4 exclusive Shadow of the Beast.

“It was all [the idea behind the game] was all spawned by a set of these games I played [referring to the old Shadow of Beast games] and they made such a huge impression on me that the world came to life,” said Heavy Spectrum’s Matt Birch. “As a child, my imagination extended to this huge vast experience. So then something amazing happened 25 years later…the PlayStation 4!”

“And finally, the thing that was in my head, had an opportunity to become a game that people can play. Sony were incredible supportive when we started to talk about this idea.”

“I then started to think about the 25 years of golden era gaming between what that little kid saw and where I am now, and where it could go into the future. That is when we spoke to Sony when we first produced our concept art.”

“So they [his team] started to put visions as well and that vision got grander and grander,” he said.

Then he talks about the Gamescom 2013 trailer came about. “Once we started to put this all concept work together, we then talked about how we wanted to push forward of the game and take advantage of the PlayStation 4, and give gamers a new kind of experience, Sony asked us whether we can pull all of this concept into a video, which we managed to did [at Gamescom 2013].”

During the panel, Matt also showed off some brand new concept art from the game which you can check out below. Shadow of the Beast has no release date at the moment but let us hope that it releases sometime next year. You can watch the entire panel below the screens.