'Budget price' review: Shadowgrounds (PC)

Budget price games are always a great alternative for gamers who don't care so much about graphics or latest tech, and independent game publishers sometimes release very interesting and unique titles at low prices as well. At times I'll be reviewing such games. The games will be scored to match the expectations of games from the said price range. Here's my first review.

Shadowgrounds
I've been neglecting the games made by studios in my own country (Finland) for the past few years. Lots of popular games have come out, Max Payne and Flatout to name two that come to mind. When I noticed Shadowgrounds, a game by Frozenbyte from late 2005, sold as digital download on Totalgaming.net at an affordable price of $9.95, I couldn't resist purchasing it. One reason why I bought the game was because it was promised to have a co-operative mode, and I wanted to enjoy it with a friend. This review is based mainly on the co-operative experience, which luckily seems to be pretty much identical to the single player game.

Shootin' aplenty
Shadowgrounds is an action-packed arcade-like shooter at heart, though it also has a hint of adventure and RPG in it. You play as technician, situated near a space colony New Atlantis, which is about to be under attack by aliens. There's not much story to tell, which is a good aspect for anyone looking for pure action. Only minutes from the start you're already picking up your first pistol and making bullet holes to hordes of spider-like aliens. Interestingly, the only item you start with, the flashlight, is also useful against at least two types of enemies, which becomes evident as you rush through the first corridors by pointing a flashlight at the spiders that apparently hate light. Throughout the game you'll be picking additional weaponry, up to ten different types. The RPG element I mentioned earlier is mainly evident in the guns, which you can upgrade with upgrade chips that enemies often drop. These upgrades are usually pretty significant too, with benefits like larger clip, doubled damage, faster fire rate, etc. The weapons are mostly much fun to use, and you often find yourself switching to a weapon better suited for the situation. Grenades and rockets against large monsters, minigun against a row of incoming aliens, pistol against the weaklings, and so on.

Hey, I'm up here!
The game is viewed from top-down perspective, so you have a good view of the surroundings most of the time. You move the character with keyboard, and aim with the mouse. This works quite well.

What surprised me most were the graphics though, or more exactly the lights and shadows. Pointing flashlight around in a dark room creates some rather eerie shadows, that constantly twist as you move about. Rails and pipes can sometimes have a startling resemblance in shape to certain types of aliens, though in light you wouldn't mistake them for one, obviously. All in all, the structure of the game is very simple, but the textures look great and detailed. My favorites parts were levels where there was both interiors of buildings to explore, as well as outside roads and alleys that connect them. Enemies could be coming from any direction, including from underground and air ducts.

Intel on the opposition
There are several types of aliens, some with varying types and weapons or abilities, but overall I felt that there could've been a few more. Spiders and dogs (as my friend liked to call the armadillo-like creatures) are everywhere for a good part of the initial game. Some more unique aliens start showing up later on though, so you never get to play for a long period without seeing something new. The creatures behave quite nicely, though they all have only one objective, get to the player and shoot, smash or gnaw him to death.

The game offers various difficulty levels, and I'm looking forward to trying the harder ones again later. The normal difficulty was entertainingly intense in co-operative mode for the latter part of the game. I managed to die couple of times during the entire game. In co-op mode this means both players respawning again at the level entrance. Medikits are luckily plentiful in all levels, so if you survive a wave of monsters, you'll be healed up again behind the next corner. It sounds a bit easy, yes, but also makes the game less frustrating to progress.

Leftovers and co-op inspected
There's something I need to mention about the co-op mode. It's only possible on the same computer, with both characters on the same screen. The second player is controlled with a joystick/gamepad, and it is highly recommended to have a gamepad with two analog controllers, one to move with, and one to aim, though the official site claims that any gamepad should be enough to control a character. I played the co-op with a Playstation 2 gamepad, plugged in an adapter for PC. For a pc gamer, this might sound horrible, but I have to admit, I was surprised by how well I was able to perform with the gamepad, considering that I have hardly ever played any games that require usage of both analog sticks. The gamepad hardly made the experience worse.

Shadowgrounds is unfortunately a very short game. In co-op mode, it was over in less than 6 hours. I wouldn't complain about the length much though, as the price was fitting for this title, and it has replay potential with its easy access and straightforward action.

Scoring
(Please note: the scoring is scaled to budget releases.)

Visuals: 10/10
Some people will most likely disagree with this verdict, but I think it's true that for a $9.95, you're getting some impressive lighting work and very nicely textured areas.

Audio: 9/10
Audio is very good too. Weapons make some nice sounds and the music, while being a bit repetitive at times, has a very fitting arcade feel to it. Only voice acting could've been better. Slightly lacking in emotion (The character portraits are also slightly to blame for this), they're a bit... whatever-like.

Gameplay: 9/10
Surprisingly solid controls, even with gamepad. It's common to get stuck in some corners of tight corridors at times, but it's usually only momentary, and you'll be free again in seconds.

Lasting Value: 8/10
A bit short, but has replayability potential. If nothing else, it's got content for both a single player campaign and a co-op experience. Should provide you a nice 10 hours of entertainment at minimum, even more if you really like arcade shooters.

Overall: 9/10
With more multiplayer options and slightly longer campaign, this would be a perfect game in its price range. Even now, I highly recommend the game to anyone who enjoys blasting some aliens to pieces, preferably with a friend even.

Lastly, I want to inform you that the sequel to Shadowgrounds, titles Shadowground Survivor, has been released this week. According to screenshots and info at the official website, it looks even better now, and should also have option for co-op with multiple keyboard and mice, so you don't need a gamepad. I'll possibly purchase and review this game in future as well. For more info, screenshots and system requirements on the original Shadowgrounds, see the official website.