Gameplay of Shadow of the Beast combines platform and action elements, with the introduction of combos. Players have to defeat enemies. This can be achieved by counter-attacking to strike them down; shield-wielding foes must be ducked behind in order to defeat them. It features a traditional health bar, combos through quick time events, traps, and puzzles. The game features the parallax scrolling from the original title, using some 3D elements. The original Shadow of the Beast is included in the remake as an unlockable extra. An "infinite lives" mode was added to make the original game easier to play.
Plot
The game follows the story of its original predecessor. Players control Aarbron, a seventh born to a seventh child, who was born so strong that Maletoth, a reaper of spirits, saw in him the potential to hold a great power. Maletoth kidnaps Arbron. While Aarbron's mother leads the search of her son, perishing in the process, Maletoth brings Aarbron to the Gate of Souls, where he ordered the Council of Mages to corrupt Aarbron through magic. Aarbron becomes the Beast, a monstrous warrior-servant manipulated by Maletoth for his quest to conquer the worldthanks to the power of the Beast. Later, Maletoth learns of another strong child, so he commissions the mage Zelek to kidnap this child by using the Beast. In the meanwhile, Aarbron's father had turned to the Seekers, a group of people dedicated to stopping Maletoth. The Seekers discover Maletoth's plan to create a second Beast and become unstoppable. The Seekers find the child before Zelek in the attempt of keeping her safe from Maletoth. However, Zelek learns of this plan and uses the Beast to slaughter everyone involved in protecting the child, including Aarbron's father. Killing his father awakens Aarbron. He pursues Zelek, who had found refuge in the lands of the Dryads and given the child to the Queen of the land. The Queen send the child to Maletoth while unsuccessfully tries to kill the Beast. The child is delivered to Maletoth, while the Beast lears of Maletoth from a dying Zelek. Maletoth is turning the child into new Beast, ordering the destruction of Aarbron. Aarbron goes to Hydrath's castle to defeat Hidrath and enter the portal the leads to Maletoth. The Sentinel, another of Maletoth's creation that seek revenge, sees in Aarbron the power to finally take on Maletoth and helps him in this endeavor. The Sentinel brings the Beast to the Graveyard of the Fallen so that he could channel the soul trapped there and gain power. Empowered by these souls, Aarbron defeats Maletoth, taking his power for his own.
Development
Shadow of the Beast was announced during for PlayStation 4 during gamescom. The first trailer was revealed, together with the announcement of Heavy Spectrum Entertainment Labs being the developer of the game. The first gameplay footage during E3 2015. The game released on 17 May 2016. The game uses the Unreal Engine 4 as its underlying engine technology, and Audiokinetic Wwise for audio.
Reception
Shadow of the Beast received "mixed or average reviews", according to review aggregatorMetacritic. IGN awarded it a score of 7.6 out of 10, stating: "Bloody, elegant combat and an otherworldly vibe make Shadow of the Beast a successful reboot of the Amiga classic." Writing for Metro, David Jenkins described the game as taking the inspiration from the art and concept of the somewhat flawed original and marrying this with influences from modern action games, such as and Heavenly Sword, to create something greater than its own legacy. GameSpot awarded it a more negative review of 5 out of 10, stating that "For a remake, it's not a good sign that the best part about the modern Shadow of the Beast is revisiting the game that inspired it."
