It´s never an easy task to make a remake of a beloved game series such as “Shadow of the Beast” (it´s a side-scrolling platform game by Reflections and Psygnosis ). Because the fan base will watch every single move you make, and IF you mess up. The fan base will eat you up alive.
I can understand that however. As “Shadow of the Beast” has had (and still have) a strong following since the very first game (which was released back in 1989). But even so, “Shadow of the Beast” has just had two sequels over the years (“Shadow of the Beast II”, released in 1990. And “Shadow of the Beast III”, which was released in 1992).
So it´s been over 23 years since the latest “Shadow of the Beast” title was released. But if you watched the Gamescom 2013 event, then you know more than well that Heavy Spectrum Entertainment Labs (the makers of “Bullion Blitz ” and “Puzziball“) has been working on a remake of the game (which they showcased at Gamescom 2013) for years now.
And today i watched the very first pre-alpha gameplay video of the “Shadow of the Beast” remake for the PS4. And i have to say that i like the game so far, it´s pretty darn brutal though (like a platform/action version of “Brutal Doom“, kind of). There´s still a lot of work left to be done on the remake though.
And it´s seems like not everyone has been all that impressed by the remake of “Shadow of the Beast”. Just checkout some of these comments:
“Doesn’t look anything like Kameo, Halo or PGR. Looks like an early PS4 Indie game. All graphics and no substance. Lots of repetitive animation and gameplay. Same thing that made me bored when playing Ratchet and Clank on the PS3.” – XanderZane
“NOOO! Why?! I’m a huge fan of the original series and this is not Shadow of the beast.This is a blood fest of a game! The setting and over all feel of the original is not there. Aarbron is the only thing they got even close to right, and even hes quite a ways off from the original. and where’s the puzzle element? Maybe that will come later so I’m not going to judge.
But seriously, if your going to remake a game at least keep it close to the original. Especially when the original is as amazing as it was. The character needs to be adjusted and the overall setting needs to be changed as well considering Shadow of the Beast was set in a forest, valley.
I’m not hating on this game, I want it to be good. But they need to change some stuff in order to do so.” – Reid Cernava
But watch the gameplay video and judge for yourself if the remake of “Shadow of the Beast” rocks or sucks. And btw, there´s a rumor going around that David Whittaker will compose all the music for the game as well (Whittaker composed all the music for the original game. Tim Wright made the music for “Shadow of the Beast” 1 and 2 though).
That remains to be seen however.
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Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround
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Tags: Heavy Spectrum Entertainment Labs, Playstation 4, PS4, Shadow of the beast, Shadow of the Beast remake