This leaves you feeling a little more like a roving instrument of instant death, rather than a master sneak, slipping silently through the shadows. There is ample opportunity here for classic stealth mechanics like vision cones or taking cover, but none of them are used. There are no real hiding spots or stealth mechanics for you to utilise, and enemies for the most part spot you as soon as you turn up. It essentially boils down to waiting until an enemy’s back is turned, and then stabbing him in it. It is unfortunate that not a lot is done in terms of stealth gameplay in Shadow Blade: Reload. This leaves the challenge more in how these enemies and obstacles are combined to take you out. Most of these enemies can be one hit killed however once you've worked out their patterns of attack. They do a good job of mixing these enemies up and gradually introducing more of the tougher goons to up the ante somewhat. There’s a decent variety amongst the enemy types as well, with the classic cannon fodder up to heat-seeking missile launcher grunts and heavily armoured goons. These aside though, for the most part, leaping from head to head across a group of enemies and watching the blood splatter is always fun. But I did find timing to be slightly out on several occasions, along with some ambiguous hit detection, that led to a slight break in the immersion.
You have multiple approaches to combat open to you, whether it be throwing a shuriken from a distance or hopping on to your victim and slicing their throat, the animations are generally great to watch. When it lands properly, the combat and attacking moves can feel satisfying and visceral. All of these come in useful and can be used in combination when trying to avoid the games many spike pits, laser grids and various other obstacles.Īs far as combat is concerned it’s a slightly more mixed bag. You can jump, double jump, dash side to side or down and bounce from jump boosters placed throughout the levels. You are also given just the right combination of movement skills to make traversal simple and quick, whilst leaving you feeling in complete control throughout. Fortunately enough this is where Shadow Blade: Reload comes into its own.Įvery level is a concentrated mixture of just the right amount of challenge from both the obstacles and enemies placed in your way. Level design itself is very important in any platformer, especially one which encourages speed. As for the levels themselves, they are laid out across seven separate locations, which you travel between as the story progresses. The cut-scenes through which the story is told are nicely done though, with the game using a simple comic-book style to show what’s happening between levels. It seems pretty thrown together from plenty of overused clichés and has some pretty well sign-posted twists that are anything but surprising. I’ll be honest here, the story isn't this game’s strong point.
Something is going on with warring factions and a magic medallion of some kind, and the fate of the world is in Kuros hands or something. So as mentioned, Shadow Blade: Reload is a 3D side-scrolling action platformer, in which you take on the role of Kuro, a slightly less than subtle ninja. Though that’s not to say it doesn't have other strengths that make this a thoroughly satisfying, but short, romp through a fantastical ninja adventure. But despite the heavy hint in the game’s title, stealth is not in fact where Shadow Blade: Reload shines.
Mark of the Ninja comes to mind amongst others. It also inevitably draws comparisons with other fantastic stealth side-scrollers. It conjures up images of Ninjas creeping through the inky black shadows and silently taking out their enemies before slinking off into the night. The name Shadow Blade: Reload evokes certain expectations when it comes to asking how this game actually plays.
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