So this was originally suppose to come out in the beginning of March, at least according to the PSN Store, but was delayed 'till May for whatever reason just a few days before the supposed release day. But hey, I'm pretty sure it's coming out for reals now! Too bad the release will probably get shadowed (haahaa!) by Uncharted 4 and the new Doom.

I might still buy it on the release day due to the relatively cheap price and the fact that I don't mind playing a flashy hack 'n slash game every now and then. I enjoyed the new Strider a few years back, so maybe this'll scratch that same itch. Though I have to say, and maybe it's just me, but...that UI seems to get waaaaay too cluttered during some of the combat sections. I kinda hope you can turn off most of that stuff or something.

But I do like the visual style and the fact that your dude is a freaky looking monster who turns everyone to a bloody mess. They also seem to have David Whittaker as the composer, who was involved with the original Shadow of The Beast, which this is a remake reimagining of.

@jeff should give the original a looksie with these streams he has been doing recently! That or take a look at it in UPF.

I dunno about that game. Every time I've seen footage of it, it looks like a pretty simple brawler without much of anything going on. What I mean is that it looks like a thing they might just bury under Uncharted so people just forget about it faster.

But hopefully it's good for the people that want it!

I'll admit that most of the footage does make it seem pretty simple. Could be that I'm just hoping for the style and (hopefully) slick gameplay to triumph over that...I guess one could say style over substance, if we want to be "mean" about it. Also helps that the pricetag is reasonable for a digital game. But we'll see!

@grulet: I will say that I watched that video you posted, and there was more exploration/puzzle solving in it than I realized the game would have, so that's encouraging. But for me, it still looks like a game I'd play in a year when it's free on PS+.

This is literally the first I've heard of it which, uh, isn't a great sign it'll do well. I know this name mostly for being referenced in Lemmings.

As mean as it sounds I'm always surprised that this game exists. It really seems like a thing that fell out of a time machine from the mid 90's. Who knows, maybe it's awesome?

I remember the original being a very popular game and after playing it, I could never figure out why. It was hard as fuck (apparently because it was developed for 50Hz PAL, so actually ran faster on NTSC Genesis) and really simplistic. Mostly famous for having lots of levels of parallax scrolling? There must have been something there. It got two sequels.

1:42 - The dude's arm disappears just in anticipation of being punched! Now that's fine punching.

As a nod to the past, they're including two unlockables for the game, those being the original Shadow of the Beast for Amiga and the soundtrack to it. Nice little touch, I was just a toddler back in 1989 so I'd be interested in giving it a try.

After a few hours, I can at least say that the game has styyyyle. I love the dark and savage world it has, plus the fact that you're just controlling a monster (or a beast, if you may) who rips everyone to shreds. There is a narrative to the game, but it's kept relatively simple during the gameplay and no one speaks a language that you can understand. If you want to (and manage to do so), there's also a very clear timeline for you to follow, which has a narrator and everything. Finishing levels also grants you points, that you can spend on unlocking skills/abilities, but also to buy subtitles for different races to make sense of what's happening. Those same points are also used to unlock the amiga version of the game, along with some other goodies.

The gameplay is so-so. I had to tune down the difficulty, because the fighting system takes some time getting adjusted to and there are no checkpoints, for whatever reason. Suppose it's to add challenge, but if you don't have an elixir on you to revive yourself (or an innocent soul to consume, which might affect something in the story...) you apparently have to restart the whole level each time, which probably becomes mighty frustrating at some point. I do hope the boss fights at least let you retry them upon dying. The fighting itself is kinda similiar to God of War, with different actions (block, normal attack, stun, grab) and a few special moves to gain health or to go berserk. I've actually managed better by using d-pad during fights, instead of the left stick.

There's been some platforming and light puzzles as well, which have been okay so far, after a bit of adjustement. It's going for somewhat cheap over here, bit less than 15€, which seems appropiate to me. Of course I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a PS+ title later this year and would maybe even suggest waiting for either that or a discount, if you're hesitant. For me, the style alone is kinda enough to justify my purchase.

Whoa, hadn't heard a word about this since the announcement years ago until I just saw "Shadow of the Beast is now available" in a PlayStation ad.

I hope it'll be available on other platforms at some point, at least the Vita or PC, as I don't own a PS4 and I have lots of fondness for Amiga games and computer games in general of that era..

I also suggest waiting for a Steam sale, because maaaaaan...the further I get in this game, the more I sort of regret paying for it. It continues to look and sound nice, but holy shit if it's not janky as fuck. Just when I think that I'm getting adjusted to the combat system, I get wrecked in a regular fight and only get through it because of updating my health points and playing on "Beginner" level of difficulty. I'd love to think that I'm just really bad at it, but I've read plenty of other comments and how people wish it'd be way more responsive. Maybe that's something they can improve with an update, but I'm not holding my breath.

Unfortunately the jank now also got it's hands on the platforming/movement as well. I know the original game was supposedly hard as balls and I don't mind a challenge in my platforming games in the style of Super Meat Boy, but the sluggish movement just makes it feel mainly terrible and overly punishing...actually, rather than writing about it, I can just use the magic of PS4 video clip saving and show it.

Or maybe I'm just really bad at this? I don't know, but it has certainly soured my experience with the game. But hey, at least I still really like the soundtrack.

...aaaand now I also finished it, so the game's not very long either. As rough as the 3/10 Polygon review seemed at first, I really should've trusted them on this one. Too bad I can't get a refund and just buy the OST instead.

@grulet:

Can you not jump in this game? I remember the original had a jump kick that you use for dispersing of these types of enemies.

You can jump, but there's no jump kick. There's a gun (that I equip briefly in the video) that I was able to shoot those eyeballs with early on, but the ammo is very limited.

It totally looks like you shouldve just run instead of slowly walking/dodging in that eyeball hallway. Was that an option?

Ive only played 3 or 4 levels in and so far and this game really feels like those oldschool 'cinematic platformers' like out of this world and abes odyssey to me. Tried playing on beast mode as the devs said that was the way its meant to be played but holy jesus is beastmode hard.

Sony published Shadow of the Beast, so a PC version will more than likely never happen.

Sony have published a few titles on PC in the past year under their PlayStation Mobile division though, Helldivers and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. So, I'd agree it's unlikely, but I wouldn't entirely rule it out, especially not for a small title like this that's not in any way a system seller, but which they probably wouldn't mind making a bit more money on.

That's stink. No jump kick and a gun!? Like I remember you had spells that would enable you to shoot fireballs and shit but a gun is lame. From what I've seen of this game it has a lot of emphasis on the whole combat part but what made it great was the way you had to use your one off items at certain times to get through the game. So far I've yet to see anything like that and its really disappointing.This game doesn't seem to honor the original at all.

I seem to be one of the few people who actually loved this game. I havent played it thru on Beast mode yet, but Normal/Beginner was really fun. I can see why a lot of people might be turned off by the length - but playing for score is what got me hooked.

Liking it to some of those old school cinematic platformers like Out of this World and Flashback is spot on, except the combat system gets surprisingly deep.

Was hoping for a GB quicklook - but it'll likely get ripped apart lol.

So, no quick look?