|| REVIEW || Shadowland (PC)
Developed By : David Serrat Published By : David Serrat
Category : Puzzle, Platformer, Indie Release Date : July 3, 2019
A review code for the game was provided by David Serrat via Keymailer
Puzzle platforming is a genre I find myself coming back to at a constant rate. Whether it's a newer game on a current platform or older, AAA title or indie, I absolutely love the challenges that both of these genres present on their own. Even moreso, however, when they are combined and combined well. Shadowland is a title that intrigued me from the moment I initially heard about it, and I knew it was one I had to play.
You play as a shadow trapped in a world that is empty and gray. Where exactly are you? Why are you there? Is escape actually possible? Unfortunately....these are questions that just won't be answered during your playthrough, and the game's description has no problem telling you that outright. However, through your journey you'll be constantly spoken to via strings of text that appear within the levels and these may just provide you answers for...some things.
Travelling throw Shadowland's levels won't just be as simple as crossing the screen. You yourself are a shadow, and it is with shadows that you'll need to navigate through the game. In each level, you will notice an orb-shape floating in the sky that represents a source of light. This will cast out light in all directions, and any solid shapes that it hits, a shadow will be cast out behind it. Any shadows that are cast like this will be solid surfaces that you can use to walk or climb vertically.
In total the game has eight worlds, which are all represented by a budding flower, each level within represented as a petal on that flower. You will be dropped into each level, and you'll need to look for a door to exit through. You'll also have switches and keys to make use of, but these won't be in every single level. To interact with them, you'll need to be standing on a flat surface, so either the ground, a raised edge, or a shadow that lets you stand right next to it since you can't use these in mid-air. However, the exit door can be triggered while falling or jumping. Some doors will be locked, and this is when you'll need to obtain the key first before you can leave.
Don't expect things to stay casual though, as the game will start throwing enemies and hazards at you. Through the course of the first world there will be ground areas that are covered with dark grass-like stuff that will kill you if you touch it. Once you lay foot in the second world, you'll start meeting enemies too. The first kind you'll meet are eyeballs that will track you as you move. If you're out in the open long enough they will fire a laser that you have no chance of escaping. And since you don't have a health bar, everything kills you with a single touch so don't get caught by anything.
Overall, I was very pleased with this game. It was refreshing to get a more unique twist on this genre, and it sucked me in on the first level. My favorite thing about it was that the way you constructed the shadows didn't follow any sort of trend from level to level. It wasn't always about moving the sun to the left to get onto a shadow, and then moving it more to the left to go further. I actually lost a good amount of time on one level because I was only looking for the solution in this way, until I finally moved the light in a different spot and found what I had been looking for.
In short, Shadowland is a lot of fun and a pretty decent challenge. The way that shadows get mixed up throughout the game keeps the difficulty spiking in small chunks, giving you shadows that are hard surfaces, as well as secondary shadows that can either pass through the first type, or ones that can alter gravity. If you give this one a chance you absolutely will not regret.
Game Played On : PC (Steam)
You play as a shadow trapped in a world that is empty and gray. Where exactly are you? Why are you there? Is escape actually possible? Unfortunately....these are questions that just won't be answered during your playthrough, and the game's description has no problem telling you that outright. However, through your journey you'll be constantly spoken to via strings of text that appear within the levels and these may just provide you answers for...some things.
In total the game has eight worlds, which are all represented by a budding flower, each level within represented as a petal on that flower. You will be dropped into each level, and you'll need to look for a door to exit through. You'll also have switches and keys to make use of, but these won't be in every single level. To interact with them, you'll need to be standing on a flat surface, so either the ground, a raised edge, or a shadow that lets you stand right next to it since you can't use these in mid-air. However, the exit door can be triggered while falling or jumping. Some doors will be locked, and this is when you'll need to obtain the key first before you can leave.
Overall, I was very pleased with this game. It was refreshing to get a more unique twist on this genre, and it sucked me in on the first level. My favorite thing about it was that the way you constructed the shadows didn't follow any sort of trend from level to level. It wasn't always about moving the sun to the left to get onto a shadow, and then moving it more to the left to go further. I actually lost a good amount of time on one level because I was only looking for the solution in this way, until I finally moved the light in a different spot and found what I had been looking for.
In short, Shadowland is a lot of fun and a pretty decent challenge. The way that shadows get mixed up throughout the game keeps the difficulty spiking in small chunks, giving you shadows that are hard surfaces, as well as secondary shadows that can either pass through the first type, or ones that can alter gravity. If you give this one a chance you absolutely will not regret.
