Shadowgrounds

Shadowgrounds is a science fiction action/adventure game from independent developer Frozenbyte. The title was first released in Europe November 2005, and later released in North America April 2006 by publisher Meridian4.

The protagonist is disgruntled mechanic Wesley Tyler, who lives on the desolate moon of Ganymede in orbit around Jupiter. Wesley used to work the security detail on the newly established colony until he asked too many questions about a series of mysterious accidents. Soon after he quickly found himself repairing computer stations on colony's outskirts. On the night the game begins, Wesley is sent in to investigate a large power outage. In addition to finding a broken power station, Wesley also stumbles across the beginning of a large scale attack by hordes of marauding aliens. It is up to him to help save the remaining survivors of the colony, and fend off the the new subterranean foe.

The game follows a linear storyline that is delivered through a combination of logbook entries and in-engine cut scenes. The story itself isn't overly compelling, but serves to move the action along from one location to another. Like other ambitious budget titles (e.g. Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, or Nosferatu: Wrath of Malachi), Shadowgrounds embraces its concept and instead aims to really deliver on the premise of action and aliens. Little details such as poor voice acting, or strange plot devices like log entries written by colonists who apparently had time to type their screams while being eaten is somewhat comical (as seen in films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail). In fairness, the game does not appear as if the story was intended to be a large focus, and as such serves adequately as a backdrop of the action based gameplay.

Shadowgrounds is really about firing a lot of bullets at aliens. The developers aren't setting out to re-invent the wheel with this design, and while many of the gameplay concepts are somewhat derivative of other games, there is enough of a twist here to make the formula fun.

Shadowgrounds uses an isometric perspective to showcase the action, and is best controlled with a keyboard and mouse. The player controls the aiming cursor with the mouse and the main character is always facing the direction of the reticle. Apart from running through dark corridors and firing various weapons, Wesley doesn’t have many other moves aside from a side roll to dodge charging aliens, and a flashlight that can be turned on to brighten up the many dark shadows on each level.

Shadowgrounds features nine different weapons to serve your thirst for alien destruction. The weapons range from standard pistols and machine guns, to flame throwers and exotic electricity weapons. Each gun in the game also comes with three upgrade slots that can be unlocked throughout the game. As the player unleashes waves of alien carnage, the enemies will occasionally drop upgrade parts. An upgrade will require a specific number of these parts to unlock, with the more useful upgrades being the most expensive. Many of the upgrades are standard increases in clip size, damage, and firing rate; though, there are some very useful secondary functions available as upgrades.

Shadowgrounds is a very dark game. Many areas are completely unlit, which is where the flashlight becomes essential. The lighting effects in this game, while not as sophisticated as games like Quake 4 are still effective as a gameplay mechanic and generating atmosphere. The flashlight illuminates just enough of the direction it is pointed to the player on their toes while running through pitch black offices and mess halls with hordes of enemies moving in the darkness. There are some really great moments that happen while running backwards through dark corridors firing at aliens, only to spin around into another large group of enemies hidden in the darkness.

The aliens of Shadowgrounds, while effective enough in this scenario to be decent enemies, are also somewhat derivative of the genre. It would have been nice to see some more variety in enemy types, as some enemies vary by little more than a slight palette change. The AI isn't terribly sophisticated as most enemies utilize a simple charging approach when it comes to attacking. The game really strives more to attempt to overwhelm the player with numbers instead of wits, and the enemies do work well in that regard. Despite lacking sophisticated group tactics, the AI does react in interesting ways to the player's light source. Some enemies scatter and run away from the flashlight, though others will be attracted to it. Another enemy type can only be seen in brief glimpses while focused inside the narrow beam of the flashlight. In the later stages when the player is flooded with a varied set of enemies using your flashlight as a means of helping shape the action and control the AI becomes aa lot of enemies are thrown at you at one time you have to be able to quickly adapt to the different tactics used by the aliens to survive.

The game eschews a save game system in lieu of a more arcade like approach to the game. The player is given four respawns each time a level is loaded. Should the player be defeated at any time in the game, Wesley drops to the ground unconscious and will wake up in a safe area not far from where he fell. The player maintains the current load out of weapons and ammo and is given a full life bar once again. Should the number of respawns be depleted before completing the level, the player will be required to start over again from the beginning. The missions can be fairly long in length if time is taken to fully them and find all of their secrets. It is unfortunate to not have a save game feature, especially with the length of time it takes to complete some of the missions. This system requires the player to set aside enough time to play entirely through a mission at each sitting, and has the potential to punish those with less skill by playing through them multiple times. Generally speaking, however, the game is rarely too difficult with the exception of some of the boss encounters.

The game is an average length, and should take most players around 7-10 hours to play through the dozen missions included in the singleplayer game. The developers have also included a co-op mode that will allow you to play through the entire game with a friend. The trouble with this mode is that it requires players to be sitting at the same machine in order to use it. Even worse is that the second player must use a gamepad set-up in order to play along, and configuring one for use with Shadowgrounds is not user friendly. The classic set-up for a home PC is also commonly not designed for group play like most consoles, but the game is still fun to play with another person.

For a game from a small developer, and at a budget price there is a lot to like in Shadowgrounds. There are various cosmetic issues that players will likely notice that could have been implemented better, and a proper save system would have been preferred; though, the pacing is quick and always keeps the action coming. Players interested in an older style of action with a slightly newer coat of paint will find an enjoyable experience in Shadowgrounds at a reasonable price.