Below are user reviews of Shadowman 2: Second Coming and on the right are links to professionally written reviews.
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User Reviews (1 - 11 of 20)
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Dark and Cajun; Anne Rice meets Evil Dead
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User
This game is worth playing. Especially now that the price used is less than a value meal. The first few levels can be a bit complicated but once you understand the direction of the game it's very entertaining. The levels are eerie, the graphics are well done, the interaction is intelligent. All in all it's a four star affair. Nothing MIND BLOWING, ... it's a video game.
Better than Soul Reaver 2
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 10 / 15
Date: August 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User
I generally do long reviews, but I'm taking the short road here. I picked this game up at a (local store) because they were selling it reasonable and never expected to actually enjoy it. Coming straight from recent hits, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and the new GC version of Resident Evil, I was sure that this wasn't for me. Besides, Soul Reaver 2 left me bewildered even after the first left me amazed. So, here comes this Shadow Man: 2econd Coming game, never heard of the first one (I was never a N64 fan,) and I popped it in. As I said, coming off the previous hits, I found the controls to be difficult and strange at first, then, I found them quite appealing and different. As a game, it stands up great, lots of puzzles, creepy atmosphere, and a Gothic soundtrack. The graphics fall short, simply, because of the "recent hits" again, but gameplay isn't lacking. Finding the bird skulls is tedious, though swimming through the swamp with lifelike alligators chasing you is unnerving. Better to use the Asassin Rifle first and clear them out. People may complain that it's too tedious and boring, all I can say is this: If you want to play and not think, pull out the old "Blood" & "Doom" series, or at worst, stun yourself `with the graphics of "Soul Reaver 2" without a semblence of game. Shadow Man doesn't step up to "Half-Life," but it's well worth the time and effort. One last point, I enjoyed "Devil May Cry," an outstanding, but short game. Shadow Man is a little more intricate.
Shadow Man 2 kills the competition!!!
5
Rating: 5,
Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User
If you're a fan of the action horror genre, or video games in general, you need to check out Shadow Man: 2econd Coming on the PS2! This is the next big hit that everyone's going to be talking about. The game play is creepy and intense, and the graphics are absolutely unbelievable. This game really puts Devil May Cry to shame. Everyone needs to try this one for sure!!!
A waaaayyy better than what I expected!
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User
SM2 is without a doubt a very cool game with a good story and lots of gameplay. Basically it is fantasy game where you play a detective/gangster/superhero/undead character who must find various items in order to beat the end boss. Okay we have all been there before but SM2 does it aces and there is huge amount of game play involved with dozens of different unique weapons and lots of action with over three dozen different locations. I was playing SM2 for well over a week and enjoyed every minute of it. The voodoo weapons are really what makes this game so cool and they are extremely original. The maps are vast and there is a challange playing each one. This game is better than most other action games on the PS2 and is a must for any collection.
I highly recommend that you give SM2 a whirl. You will not be dissapointed!
This Game Rocks!!!
5
Rating: 5,
Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User
I rented Shadow MAn 2 when it first came out. I have never played the first Shadow Man so I have nothing to compare it to, but the game Kicks Ass!! It's been 2 years and I finally got myself a copy. I am replaying the game with my boyfriend. The storyline is great, and the graphics are awsome.
A+
I want to be like Mike
5
Rating: 5,
Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User
Here we go again. I'm glad to see Mike back in action, although I'm only a veteran of the Dreamcast version of the first game. In general, Shadow Man: 2econd Coming's a winner, and as far as sequels go, its a tour de force.
Since this game is made especially for the PS2, it stands to reason that the control scheme would be tailor made, and it is for the most part. The shoulder buttons quickly arm and disarm Mike's weapons, and you can whip out both weapons from their holsters at the touch of one button, and re-holster them for emergency climbing just as quick. Mike's movement, while not as fluid as the Dreamcast controller allowed, is more innovative on the PS2. One joystick moves him back and forth and around, and the other can make him walk sideways as well as look around, up, or down. Mike can do a quick roll with the duck button, the usual jump and hand-over-hand rope routine with another.
The graphics are familiar to Shadow Man followers, with some improvements, and a few flaws. Overall, this game takes a more comic book approach. Mike is way beefier looking, brawnier, not nearly as malnourished as in the previous game. And Mike's sunglasses are cooler. Shadow Man's looks are more, well, see-through than before. More skeletonized, more comic. Nettie still has her youth, only more so;) Deadside has a very similar look and feel as before, with the occasional dangling, dripping corpse, different enemies, and a different central area than the Asylum. And yes, the bad guys still splatter all over the place when Mike gaks 'em.
Soundwise, the game is certainly more varied than the first, with a more orchestrated soundtrack, matching the unique locations.
This game is not as mentally disturbing as the first. It has more of a comic book feel, although that is not a bad thing. The story is just as involved and deep, and in general this game feels like more a part of a series than sequels of other games. The characters are the same, for instance. And some of the locations are identical to those of the first game, like the caves leading up to the church, giving one the impression that Mike and the crew still live and brawl in the same world as the previous adventure. That's nice; it actually feels like the next in the series, not a throwaway game that someone slapped a title on and made a sequel.
Overall, if you're in for more of the shotgun toting, monster mashing thrills of the first Shadow Man, without the huge backtracking element, then this is unquestionably a winner for your collection.
If you're not a cult follower of Mike and the gang, I'd suggest renting it first; it's frequent and long loading time and choppy play control may turn you off otherwise. But for those waiting for Mike's next great adventure, don't miss it.
A good game,but the original was better!
3
Rating: 3,
Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User
I should start off this review by stating that I am huge Shadowman fan! I went so far as playing and beating all formats of the original Shadowman because I loved the extremely horrific
and macabre storyline.So I have to admit that I was a little dissapointed that the content of Shadowman 2econd coming seemed a little "watered down".Walking through the adventure of 2econd Coming reminded me more of a slightly darker version of Zelda
rather than walking through the demonic(sometimes Satanic),
blood coated,on the verge of apocolypse hell of the first installment.Of course if the first one freaked you out too much, or you're an obsessive censorship buff,then this might be a good thing.....I myself was dissapointed.
The game is far from a failure though as it was great to have Mike,Nettie and Jaunty back on my tv screen!This game takes place
a few years after Michal Leroi/Shadowman destroyed the infamous demon Legion and saved the world from apocolypse.As the game progresses we learn that several diffrent cults of demon worshippers and demons themselves are preparing to ressurect their "leader"(I guess Legion was just a general or something?)
from "The Pit" aka Hell(again another example of how I think this game was censored)to destroy the world,which was found out by information of former NYPD wheelchair-bound cop named Thomas Deacon(remeber Deacon's File that Nettie gives you in the first Shadowman game?Yeah,that's where he comes from!)Again I have to stress that while playing 2econd Coming,I just didn't ever get the feel of it being on the verge of Omega as I did in part one,
and there was never a sense of terror simply by moving around in certain parts of the game(How many hairs on the back of your neck stood up when you were stumbiling through the darkness of the Birdman's tenant in Shadowman 1??)There was nothing like that
in 2econd Coming.
While the voice acting was still good in 2econd Coming,with the return of the same actors from the original who played Michal/Shadowman and Jaunty(I love that accent!) it wasn't AS good.First of all because the actress who played the sexy,Miss Cleo-ish,Jamican accent of the voodoo mambo Nettie in part 1 was now replaced with someone else who wasn't nearly as convincing..NO ACCENT MAHN!!(Wait a minute...did I just use "sexy" and "Miss Cleo" in the same sentence??)I can only assume the reason why is because perhaps she died in real life?The game opens up with "In Memeory of Angela Atikinson 1972-2000"It's the only reason that I could figure out being the fact that the same Mike and Jaunty actors returned. Also,Michal Deacon's voice sounded,well,kinda stupid.Not that a New Yorker accent is bad(he's an NYPD officer!)but the actor sounded more like a guy who was TRYING to have a New Yorker accent and failing very badly.Another let down;Jaunty only has four scenes!
ONLY FOUR SCENES??He's hiliarious!Why only four scenes?Fans of the original Shadowman will recogonize the voice of the greater demon in the opening cinema as the voice of Legion.
While the voice acting wasn't as good,the gameplay rocked!!A key
part in it all?Weapons automatically locked on enemies,and with Mike being able to hold a gun in each hand???Well,you can already imagine!Inventory was also alot more manangable,but what
I hated about the controls was the fact that R1 and L1 buttons were used as your punch/fire buttons which took awhile to get used to.The only real annoyance I had with the control was that every time you fell into water/blood the weapon you had equipped would become transparent even after you switch hands.In short you
would have to take off the wepon completely and then re-equip it
to get it to "register" in the game;making it an extreme pain when you fought the demon boss in Russia over a nice big lake of ice water!The game was great in showing the needed relationship between Micheal Leroi and Shadowman as you can switch back and forth between the two personas with a pocketwatch.Micheal of course being the braun(he's been pumping up sense the ps1 days)
and Shadowman being the magic;but neither of the two being independant of the other.In fact you NEED to switch over from the other in order to complete the game.
I think the soundtrack of 2econd coming improved over the original one;while perhaps failing in the scare-the-hell-outta-ya
twisted "music" of Asylum,but victorious in other generes.From the celtic,chanting female voice of the Ireland stage to the drum-thumping voodoo beats ot the Duppie Village in Deadside...
Maybe I'm being too harsh on this title,but it's just that I loved the first title so much that I expected the sequel to be "perfect" instead of just "good".If you're a huge Shadowman fan like me,then go ahead and buy this one;but expect to be a little dissapointed.
Mike lookes like hes been at the gym
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User
I got Shadow Man on N64 only 2 months before Shadowman 2econd coming came out. Picked up the N64 version, and to my amazement,that was the best 8 dollars I ever spent on a game. Unbelieveable. Glad I walked into that pawn shop that day....then I walked into Deadside......I will always love the endless hours I sayed up all night with Shadowman on N64, Just cant get enough...never finished the first one, got at least 3/4ths finished, then jumped into the 2econd coming. MAJOR differences! I agree that that the graphics are tight in the 2econd coming, but ... N64 ShadowMan bypasses any great graphics with the haunting upbeat music,rattles, childrens cries, moaning, screams,etc...2econd coming just dosent have it with the orchestra music. So glad that some things are recognizable like the path to the church..the sound of the shadowgun...things like that..etc. Spoiled on ShadowMan 64???? Yeah!! If Acclaim could remake N64 Shadowman with the graphics of the Playstation 2 with the remarkable soundtrack...no one would would be playing anything else.. That is a sure bet!
Waste of time.
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 3 / 6
Date: May 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User
I was a huge fan of the original Shadowman; great story and gameplay.. So, inevitably, I purchsed SM2 immeadiately upon release. Bad idea. This game is awful. The music, sound, graphics, engine, dialogue, story and control are all far worse than the first time around. On top of that, you have to wait a good 30 seconds to load all the {stuff}. My best advice is to simply don't fire another neuron in relation to this game.
so far so good
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User
I'll be honest, I haven't messed around too much with the whole "action-horror" genre that seems to be turning into a major hit for developers as of late, but Shadowman 2 is pretty darn cool.
The game has a spooky feel that pervades the entire playing experience. How fitting that the backdrop in the "living world" are the swamps and plantations of Louisiana. Oh, and the sound is on point as well--good job.
One of my biggest pet peeves as far as games are concerned are the controls. Shadowman 2 has this area in check as well. After a few minutes I was moving the character around with ease.
All in all, this game seems worth the standard PS2 pricetag of 50 bucks...lots of depth, good puzzles, story, controls and graphics. I'd pick this one up if I had the loot.
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