| Michael LeRoi is the zombie slave of Nettie, a powerful Voodoo priestess . Thanks to Nettie's spell casting, he is also the Shadow Man, a dark and mysterious--if unwilling--hero who protects the people of the mundane world against incursions from Deadside, the land where everyone goes upon death. Michael is not entirely unhappy with this fate. A lifetime of bad personal decisions has left him with a huge karma debt. Now, with the world in danger, he is going to get his chance to pay it off. Shadow Man is a first-person shooter with a horror twist--instead of an ordinary weapon, you wield the Shadowgun. Your prey is a quintet of demon serial killers who plan to unleash monsters against the living world, called Liveside, ultimately bringing about the destruction of all life on earth. In the course of denying this goal, you fight monsters and collect ammunition and weapon upgrades, prowling Deadside in search of baddies. As befits a horror game, Shadow Man is dark in tone and explicit in its visuals and language, definitely not an appropriate game for younger players. The program itself is rather unremarkable; from graphics to monsters, everything is engaging but in no way exceptional. One might have hoped that it would at least offer some scares along the way, but these are few and far between. Like most entries into the horror-game genre, this one relies on gore instead of trying to find ways to really make your skin crawl. --Alyx Dellamonica |
