Beastly hard! (Shadow of the Beast 2)

Member Name: DannoStanno

Product:	Shadow of the Beast 2
Date:	21/05/09 (4 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: aesthetics, gameplay with cheat and walkthrough

Disadvantages: NEED the cheat and walk through, otherwise it's impossible

This game was state of the art back in 1990, where it's sheer audacity with graphics and controller response pushed it way above anything else that came out at the time. The soundtrack too was deep and haunting and the premise of rescuing your little sis from the 'Beastmaster' was sinister and enthralling. However, it has to be the hardest game I have ever played.

You'd watch the "film-like" (kind of) into sequence which scared the heck out of my 8 year old self, wait for the game to load up and would find your beastly character in the middle of a series of hills with a magnificent atmospheric backdrop. Problem was if you moved a screen or two left there were things waiting to do you in (and little more than one touch was needed) and if you moved to the right there was more of the same.

As the game stood it was impossible really to get anywhere without dying and many could be forgiven for quitting and throwing it away. However, use the coded cheat (I believ typing a line about 10 pints of beer to one of the guards) and suddenly you were invincible! Well, I say invincible but really you just had the luxury of not getting killed by the minions of beasts touching you, or being destroyed by features as moving lava or acid. There were still many ways of in essence getting stuck (i.e. down deep wells too high to jump out of) and then you'd be forced to top yourself using the f10 button.

This game still sounds awful, yet it gets better with the cheat. However, get the walk through and you are laughing! Unlike most walk throughs where you feel you are cheating, with this game you feel it is a necessity, like having a treasure map when looking for treasure. It had the vital instructions of what to do and, most importantly, in what order but you had to have the skill to carry the instructions out. With this bible of info (I got mine from a computer geek back in the day) the game becomes compulsive, clever and fun and though technically invincible it still offers a huge amount of skill and gameplay.

Without the cheat and walk through this would get a definite 1 star, with them this gets four as the aesthetics help really immerse you into the game...

... now if any of you know where I can get a copy, please tell me!

Summary: Impossibly hard game which becomes great if you turn the tables slightly