Posted on: September 17, 2018
RestlessPilgrim
Bestätigter BesitzerSpiele: 119 Rezensionen: 10
Dull Diablo
A blatant attempt at copying the Diablo formula, Shadows is a nice enough looking game. Sadly, for those of us wanting a true Diablo fix Shadows is far too slow and ultimately dull. Instead of a single character to really get your teeth into, Shadows USP is the use of "puppets", individual characters, which break down into the usual 3 archetypes, mage, fighter and ranger, which the player can select 3 of at a time (making a "party" of 4 including a demon who is persistant) and swap out at pre-defined points scattered through the levels (usually one per level) The advertised 19 puppets is misleading because you actually unlock characters who are simply variations on those 3 basic archetypes ie 4 or 5 mages, fighters and ranged users. Some players may find enough here to experiment and discover their favourite line-up and enjoy some uniqueness in play, but due to the inability to properly swap at will between all unlocked puppets and uninspiring nature of the game Shadows never really warrants or allows enough time to discover each one's unique characteristics. Basically, it's a blatant attempt at forcing repeated plays which the grinding nature of the gameplay and generally lacklustre design will almost certainly not really be worthy of. After a few of days of playing i was left feeling that the overly slow pace of levelling was a grind and that the puppets, powers and abilities were not particularly interesting to unlock. Every puppet gets identical abilities too. Some boost damage against different enemy types, one boosts each of your primary stats, another your "survivability" so pretty uninteresting stuff and meaning there are barely a couple of specifically unique abilities for each puppet unlocked as you level. This seems frankly lazy (although, to be fair, it's a pretty small dev team), lacking in imagination and ultimately a side effect of the decision not to use less, but better developed characters. Come on devs! It's not exactly asking a lot to get three entirely different and unique skill trees for each archetype surely? Who wants a mage, fighter AND ranged class getting almost exactly the same 'bonuses' as they level up, let alone several almost identical seeming mages, fighters or rangers to supposedly choose from? Due to the lack of time available with all your puppets, it's hard to develop any empathy with them or to really appreciate their few unique abilities, meaning i often felt like sticking with one favourite and never bothering with the others... but, i am a lazy bugger! This also makes equipping a pain in the @rse, becoming a chore to wade through all your puppets in order to give them the best gear at any time. Loot (the primary motivator in a good ARPG) is fairly generic and uninteresting never seeming to seriously boost the characters stats or provide unique or interesting bonuses, so all in all Shadows really does lack any killer "hook" to drive players on and make them want more! It was a nice attempt to try and set Shadows apart, but i can't help thinking having inspiring loot drops and a more varied range of unique abilities over far less characters would have been much better. Enemies too, often feel like repeating variations of themselves, seeming to be the same types of enemy just dressed up differently for that area. Perhaps that's me being overly critical... Puzzles are another source of frustration. Some will enjoy the challenge presented, others find them simply annoying. As for the story, threadbare at best. That said, it does feature the legend that is Tom Baker, who does his usual stellar job with the generic pulp he was given. Give that man a knighthood!! Happily, Blizzard are promising big Diablo news later this year (2018) so we fans might soon find better ways to while away months of gaming. (Full controller support for PC please Blizzard, it is 2018 after all!) Shadows is by no means a bad game, but for me it just feels somehow too "clunky", grindy and unoriginal in design to really scratch my Diablo itch. For those of you who couldn't care less about Diablo, you may feel much warmer towards Shadows, but for those hoping for a real kick @ss ARPG with strong, unique characters you really want to play, tweak and develop to your heart's content, and a title with a good variety of really interesting design and gameplay i strongly advise having a very good look at some gameplay vidz before splurging.
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