Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered Review

Shadows of the Damned on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was a game wrought with troubled development due to excessive EA executive meddling. This was supposed to be a Kafka-esque survival horror game set in a demon village with a protagonist using only a torch as Goichi Suda and Shinji Mikami envisioned. It was going to be experimental and unlike anything gamers had ever seen.

Unfortunately, their vision was compromised and Suda has been conflicted over the final product ever since. Despite Shadows of the Damned becoming something else entirely, it still found an audience that connected with the colorful cast of characters and off-color humor. Suda has since reconciled with Shadows of the Damned and even honored it in Travis Strikes Again, where players go through the game in reverse and hinted it would return one day.

As awesome as Shadows of the Damned is, there was room for improvement. It was always a diamond in the rough and now that it’s getting remastered, it can finally be the best it can be. What kind of features can fans hope to see? Is there new content for veterans? Find out in our Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered review!

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Grasshopper Manufacture, NetEase Entertainment Interactive, Electronic Arts
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360 (as Shadows of the Damned), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 3 ( as Shadows of the Damned), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: October 31, 2024
Price: $24.99

This is a story about Paula, a woman with a checkered that comes back to haunt her. Her boyfriend, demon hunter Garcia Hotspur, gets roped into her baggage when a demon lord named Flemming shows up and abducts Paula. Garcia and his shape-shifting weapon Johnson will have to road trip their way through Hell, battling Flemming’s minions and chugging a ton of booze along the way.

Shadows of the Damned has a simple story that is elevated by its characters and surreal imagery. The lore surrounding Hell is interesting and suggests it’s like any other place but has to abide by bizarre rules. Flemming is a dictator, but he’s also a guy who felt betrayed by Paula. At the end of the day, Paula screwed over both Garcia and Flemming and they end up fighting over her for nothing.

There are some questions Shadows of the Damned keeps vague. Flemming constantly resurrects Paula, only to have her brutally killed. How he does this isn’t explained, but he is a magical all-powerful demon so it does not matter. As you make your way through the demon villages and dungeons, you can see countless Paula corpses along the way, and it’s fun guessing how they were executed.

The story is mostly an excuse to put Garcia and Johnson in different situations to foster creative gameplay. At its core, Shadows of the Damned is a very typical third-person shooter that takes some pages from Resident Evil 4‘s playbook. Unlike Leon, Garcia can strafe. Being able to move and shoot has advantages, but the gameplay is still weighty and Garcia can easily be overwhelmed. No matter how powerful you feel, expect to be pushed against a wall by a wave of ravenous demons.

What makes Shadows of the Damned different from Resident Evil 4 is its light and darkness mechanics. Demons can be engulfed in darkness which makes them immune to all attacks. Like a drunken Mexican Alan Wake, Garcia uses light to burn away the darkness and expose their vulnerabilities.

Using light against dark pops up against bosses, pushing Garcia toward using candles to generate a field of light. Other times a wall of darkness will encroach and players will have to improvise as doom pushes forward. Players can always rely on Garcia’s light shot, but its cool-down is long enough to feel the pressure of missing, leading to an early grave.