Memory card
Reflecting on Garcia Hotspur’s Johnson ten years on
Both Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami are names that could sell a game by themselves, let alone together. Yet, met with some development difficulties, Shadows Of The Damned didn’t perform as anticipated. Still, this oddball mix of gothic horror with zany juvenile humour (your sentient gun is named Johnson, and yes, that’s a manhood joke) made it unique, and strangely enjoyable, even if it wasn’t an instant classic.
“[It] has a special place in my heart as it’s the game I keep forgetting, and then describing to people as ‘a game I once played where you’re running over a giant topless woman’ and they look at me like I’ve made it up, and am some kind of sicko,” says reader @SpectralHands. What better way is there to sum up the tone of the game than that? And yes, that does happen.
LAST SURPRISE
Despite average expectations, Raul Figueiredo “ended up surprised by how great the gameplay and world were,” going so far as to say “it was the surprise of the last generation and I have hoped for a sequel ever since.” Others would be satisfied with at least a remaster, as it’s only available on PS3, not even PS Now.
“I didn’t complete it back then, but I remember enjoying what it provided,” Phillip Wennell shares. But it wasn’t for everyone. “I hate it,” says Shah Azam. “I bought it because of Goichi Suda but the game is not for me.
Never finished it and sold it.” Hopefully Suda has been able to get Azam back on board since. It worked for Robert Groen though: “One of many Suda51 games I played to the end credits in a short period.”
Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka also worked on the game. The three developers were “the holy trinity” for Simon Dueck.
Shadows might not be perfect, but such games can be the most fun to revisit.