Shadow the Hedgehog (Game Cube, 2005)

First of all, I am a very patient person so that may explain why I have no trouble handling this game. I have played all the Sonic games for Gamecube without any problems or complaints except for the camera. I played through this game from beginning to end and this my honest gamer's opinion.

Shadow The Hedgehog has always had a mysterious past even to those who played Sonic Adventure 2. All that was known about him was that he was created as the ultimate lifeform by Dr. Gerald Robotnik and he had a special connection to a little girl named Maria. The rest of his past was filled with empty holes and unanswered questions. This game will finally fill in those holes and answer those questions if you play through it to the end. First off, an evil figure called Black Doom appears in front of Shadow and claims to know his past. Black Doom says he will tell Shadow his past if he brings him the seven chaos emeralds. The player can choose if Shadow is good,evil, or neutral. The whole good,evil, or neutral thing is to determine which path Shadow takes as the story progresses. To unlock the true ending you must play to all ten normal endings first though. This alone makes the game worth playing to the end. Each ending reveals a little bit about Shadow's past so seeing them all is definetly worth it. The only problem I had with the endings was that some of them seemed similar.

I have always loved Sonic music and this game is no different. There are a lot of good tracks in here. Graphics are alright. The only reason why the graphics won't look as good as Sonic Heroes is because most of the game is in a dark environment. Even then, they still look good especially the explosions. The cinema scenes are excellent. The greatest details are given even to the small blades of grass. Contols are easy to understand but some people still have trouble with them. B attacks or shoots, A does a jump and homing attack, Y is for the chaos attacks that you can use once the meters are full, X picks up and throws items and switchs weapons, and the C-stick controls the camera. When you shoot a gun, Shadow has a small auto-aim system. He shoots at the nearest enemy and with good accuracy so you won't miss much.

Now for the part everyone has been waiting for, the new stuff. First off, everyone is voiced by the actors from the Sonic X TV show. All of them are great actors and I had no complaints about voice acting. Tails has improved the most in my opinion. Now as far as the guns are concerned, it is not as bad as people make it. Yes, Shadow can pick up weapons and shoot things and people but the only thing he really kills are the aliens. When he shoots a person all they do is fall down. They don't die, in fact they lie there and keep talking. There is no blood either so isin't as bad as it could be. Finally, there is no swearing. The farthest they go with language is "damn" and "hell". If you read books, watch TV, go to school, or even go to church you will hear or read "damn" and "hell". These two words are becoming just as common as any other word. Trust me, it could be worse.

Personally, I have no problems with this game because I have played worse games. I also believe Sega had a good idea but introduced it wrongly and at the wrong time. I suggest you rent it first before you buy it depending on what type of person you are. Most fans shouldn't mind it but parents might not like it due to the new stuff involved and that is ok as well.

I felt the game should have had a clear warning of language and violence, my 10 year old son spent his owen money on the game and played it once but was upset because of the content, there should be a clear warning made by sellers.