I Rate This Game:7.0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shadow the Hedgehog is a third-person shooter Sonic game for the Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox that centers around the story of Shadow trying to recover his memory, a goal he has been pursuing since he first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2. At the beginning of Sonic Adventure 2, his memory was incomplete, and after almost dying at the end of the game, he lost it completely. He continued to seek knowledge of his past in Sonic Heroes. And now, in Shadow the Hedgehog a three-way war rages between the Black Arms, GUN, and Eggman, in which Shadow sometimes takes part while struggling to gather all 7 Chaos Emeralds, which he believes hold the key to his past. He finally regains his memory during his confrontation with Black Doom in the "Last Story" of the game.This game features a mission based style of play similar to Team Chaotix's story in Sonic Heroes.
Story
The story begins with Shadow standing on a hill next to a tree, outside the city of Westopolis at sunset. A newspaper blows by in the breeze, catching on Shadow's leg and has the headline of celebrations taking place now that something called the Black Comet has come back in its fifty year cycle. As it blows off into the distance, Shadow struggles to remember who he is due to his amnesia and constantly thinks back to the one memory he seems to have left. The scene switches to Shadow's point of view, running down a long metallic hallway with a girl as if trying to escape from something. However, soldiers suddenly appear and shoot the girl before Shadow can react, prompting him to cry out the girl's name, Maria.
As Shadow ponders who this "Maria" is, saying: "Who am I, why can't I remember anything, and who is this Maria?" Then a gaping hole opens up in the sky over the city. Strange black and red creatures descend from the clouds and begin to cause pandemonium in the city. Shadow turns to leave, not caring about the humans until someone calls out his name. A large floating figure, known as Black Doom, appears and tells Shadow to bring him the Chaos Emeralds "as promised" before disappearing in multiple explosions.
Fueled with desire to seek out his past and find the truth behind Black Doom's words, Shadow speeds off into the city.
The story's progression then depends on the player's actions of deciding the path Shadow takes by choosing which missions to complete in each stage. Some scenarios will reveal certain information about Shadow's past including flashbacks to the ARK and Maria and the connection of the events onboard the space colony to others, such as the GUN Commander. All of the story paths have their own unique endings depending on how much Shadow aids the protagonists or Black Doom and the Black Arms:
- If Shadow chooses to aid the Black Arms in their conquest of the planet, then he will either become a servant of the Black Arms, defeat and kill Eggman or even betray the Black Arms and claim the universe for his own. In the Darkest scenario, Shadow vows to destroy the planet with the power of the Chaos Emeralds.
- If Shadow chooses to remain neutral to both parties, then he will become convinced he is simply an android copy of the original Shadow and then kill Eggman.
- If Shadow chooses to aid the protagonists in combating the Black Arms, he will either become the protector of the ARK, become convinced that he is nothing more than an experiment gone horribly wrong and thinks he should never have been created or fight with Sonic to proclaim himself the most powerful hedgehog in the world. In the best Hero scenario, Shadow defeats Black Doom and vows to destroy the Black Arms and keep his promise to Maria.
In the Last Story, Shadow is confronted by Black Doom after gathering all of the Emeralds. Black Doom commands him to give up the Emeralds so that they can begin the Ritual Of Prosperity. Sonic and the others (including Eggman) then arrive and tell Shadow not to listen to the alien leader. After it is revealed that Black Doom wishes to harvest humans as an energy source, he takes the Emeralds from Shadow and uses Chaos Control to warp the Black Comet down to the surface of the planet.
Black Doom then explains that he helped Professor Gerald create Shadow but only in return for the Chaos Emeralds, which were needed to bring the comet down to the surface. This reveals that Shadow was actually created using Black Doom's DNA. As Eggman is in disbelief that his grandfather would betray the planet, Black Doom paralyzes everyone with a special gas and leaves them to be devoured by his alien offspring. As the end seems near, Shadow suddenly hears Maria asking for help and he breaks through the paralysis. Black Doom flees, leaving Shadow the only hope for the planet.
After playing The Last Way, Shadow catches up with Black Doom and suddenly is attacked by mind control. Black Doom tells him that he can control him as they have the same blood running through their veins. Shadow refuses to believe it as the scene switches to the ARK where Charmy, Vector and Espio race to hack data disks that they found earlier in the game. They finally get inside and a film showing a sane Professor Gerald begins to play. He refers to Shadow as his "son" and tells him that he is the only hope for the planet. It is revealed that the only way to defeat the Black Arms is to destroy the Black Comet using the Eclipse Cannon, a powerful weapon built into the ARK. As the video ends, Maria steps into the frame and gives Shadow the inspiration he needs to break through Black Doom's control. Black Doom escapes and prompts Shadow to use the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow and fight the alien leader. Black Doom (now in his Devil Doom form) fights Shadow and is defeated.
Shadow then uses a super-powered Chaos Control to warp the Black Comet back into the planet's orbit and tear it apart with a blast from the Eclipse Cannon. Everyone below cheers in joy as the alien threat is destroyed forever. In one final scene on board the ARK, Shadow looks at a picture of Maria and Gerald before tossing it away, remarking "Goodbye forever...Shadow the Hedgehog".
Characters
For some missions, Shadow teams up with various allies from the series, some new and old. Potential allies for Shadow include Amy Rose, Charmy, Espio, Knuckles, Maria, Rouge, Sonic, Tails, Vector, Doom's Eye, E-123 Omega, and Eggman. The allies act as combat support and guidance and give help to Shadow should he need it. When an ally is not present, Shadow himself talks to the player about what they need to do. In the PS2 and Gamecube versions of the game, a second player can connect a 2nd controller and play a character as an unofficial "co-op mode".
Enemies
During Shadow's journey, three different factions are present in the missions. GUN, the Black Arms and the Eggman Empire will all try to attack him regardless of who he sides with in a mission. The GUN enemies, who are hunting him down due to their Commander's orders, include human troops and robotic troops as well as traditional GUN Beatles and walkers and killing them earns Dark points. The Black Arms include gun and sword wielding humanoid aliens, flying creatures, and missile-launching worms and killing them earns Hero points. The Eggman Empire enemies are Eggman's typical robots, including the Egg Pawns and bomb-throwing jugglers, as well as Shadow Androids. Killing them earns either Dark or Hero points, depending on who the opposing side is. Abilities
Shadow's abilities in Shadow the Hedgehog are similar to those from Sonic Adventure 2. He can jump and jump dash/homing attack, as well as spin dash, light dash,slide to attack while running, and can preform a punch-punch-kick combo. He also has the ability to use weapons and drive vehicles that he finds or commandeers. Shadow also keeps his ability to wall run from Sonic Heroes. He can use Chaos Spear, but only when you unlock the last story and turn into Super Shadow. Weapons
Shadow can use a variety of weapons found throughout each stage. Ranging from pistols and machine guns to close combat weapons, Gatling guns, bazookas, and even laser rifles. Weapons are commonly found in boxes and dropped from enemies. When a weapon is first picked up, Shadow receives some initial of ammunition for that weapon; more ammunition can be gathered by picking up more copies of the weapon. Only one weapon can be held at a time, and when Shadow runs out of ammunition for his weapon, he will toss it aside and it disappears. Even melee weapons such as swords have ammunition points, which may represent their durability. Six special weapons can be unlocked in Story mode. The first five are each unlocked by completing either the Hero or Dark mission of one of the five Stages (and their ammo can be increased by completing both the Hero and Dark missions.) The last special weapon, the "Shadow Rifle" is unlocked upon completion of the Last Story.
These special weapons are contained within black boxes with Shadow's head on it. When one of these boxes is opened, it drops all unlocked special weapons.
Chaos Powers
When Shadow's Hero gauge is full, Shadow becomes invincible, gets unlimited ammunition, and can activate "Chaos Control" which fast forwards through the stage (or slows down time in boss battles) until the Hero gauge is empty. When Shadow's Dark gauge is full, Shadow gets the exact same benefits as with the Hero Gauge, but uses Chaos Blast, which uses creates a huge blast of chaos energy, destroying everything nearby. Chaos Blast
Interestingly, while both sides are often seen exchanging shots with one-another, they will rarely ever hit each other. This is because the developers wanted all the enemy deaths to be a result of the player's actions. The player cannot simply wait out a fire fight until enemies are weakened, but must instead do the work themselves.
Story Mode
The story mode of Shadow the Hedgehog is broken into stages, with cut-scenes in-between. The first stage of a game of story mode is always Westopolis. After that, however, the next stage played is determined by which "mission" was completed in the previous stage. For example, if the "Dark" mission is completed in Westopolis, the next stage will be Digital Circuit, whereas if the "Hero" mission is completed, the next stage will be Lethal Highway and if the "Normal" mission is completed, the next stage will be Glyphic Canyon. Each stage (except for Last Story, which has only The Last Way), has 2 or 3 missions, which can be Dark, Normal, or Hero. There is a door in each stage, which requires five keys to unlock. There are bonuses such as weapons and shortcuts behind the door. Levels
Stage 01: - Westopolis (Starting);
- Digital Circuit (Pure-Dark/Dark) after Dark mission in Westopolis
- Glyphic Canyon (Normal) after Normal Mission in Westopolis
- Lethal Highway (Pure-Hero/Hero) after Hero mission in Westopolis - Black Bull as Boss
- Cryptic Castle (Pure-Dark/Dark) after Dark Mission in Digital Circuit or Glyphic Canyon - Egg Breaker as Boss
- Prison Island after Normal Mission in Glyphic Canon, Hero Mission in Digital Circuit or Dark Mission in Lethal Highway (Normal)
- Circus Park (Pure-HeroHero) after Hero Mission in Glyphic Canyon or Lethal Highway
- Central City (Pure Dark) after Dark Mission in Cryptic Castle
- The Doom (Semi-Dark) after Dark Mission in Prison Island or Normal Mission in Cryptic Castle - Heavy Dog as Boss
- Sky Troops (Normal) after Hero Mission in Cryptic Castle or Dark Mission of Circus Park or Neutral Mission in Prison Island
- Mad Matrix (Semi-Hero) after Normal Mission in Circus Park or Hero Mission in Prison Island - Egg Breaker as Boss
- Death Ruins (Pure Hero) after Hero Mission in Circus Park - Black Bull as Boss
- The ARK (Pure Dark) after Dark Mission in The Doom or Central City - Blue Falcon as Boss
- Air Fleet after Dark Mission in Sky Troops, Normal Mission in The Doom or Hero Mission in Central City (Semi-Dark)
- Iron Jungle (Normal) after Hero Mission in The Doom, Neutral Mission in Sky Troops or Dark Mission in Mad Matrix - Egg Breaker as Boss
- Space Gadget after Hero Mission in Sky Troops, Normal Mission in Mad Matrix or Dark Mission in Death Ruins (Semi-Hero)
- Lost Impact after Hero Mission of Mad Matrix or Death Ruins (Pure Hero)
- GUN Fortress (Pure Dark) after Dark Mission in Air Fleet or The Ark
- Black Comet (Semi-Dark) after Dark Mission in Iron Jungle, Neutral Mission in The Ark, Neutral Mission in Air Fleet
- Lava Shelter (Normal) after Normal Mission in Iron Jungle, Hero Mission in Air Fleet or Dark Mission in Space Gadget
- Cosmic Fall (Semi-Hero) after Dark Mission in Iron Jungle, Neutral Mission in Space Gadget or Lost Impact
- Final Haunt (Pure Hero) after Hero Mission in Space Gadget or Lost Impact
- Sonic & Diablon - Fought by completing Dark mission in GUN Fortress, Cosmic Fall and Final Haunt
- Egg Dealer (Normal) - Fought by completing Lava Shelter, Cosmic Fall on Dark & Black Comet on Hero
- Black Doom (Hero) - Fought after completing the Hero mission in Final Haunt, GUN Fortress and Cosmic Fall
- Last Stage: The Last Way
- Last Boss: Devil Doom
Ranking
Shadow the Hedgehog uses the traditional A through E ranking also featured in Sonic Adventure 2/Sonic Heroes, etc.The number of points required for each ranking varies between stages and between missions within each stage.
Videos
Final Levels & Endings
Final levels do not feature neutral missions, causing the player to choose either a Hero or Dark boss battle as their final fight. - GUN Fortress (Pure Dark)
- Hero: Rouge the Bat: Find the 6th Chaos Emerald; afterwards, these two defeat Black Doom and Shadow declares he will conquer the universe.
- Dark: Doom's Eye: Destroy GUN's 3 Central Computers then defeat Sonic the Hedgehog and Diablon (controlled by GUN Commander).
- Black Comet (Dark)
- Hero: Knuckles the Echidna: Find the center of the comet; Dr. Eggman appears and demands Shadow hands over the six Emeralds to him. With Knuckles help, Shadow defeats Eggman and declares that he, and only he, knows what is best and that is the master of his own life.
- Dark: Black Doom: Eliminate all the GUN armies infliltrating the base, then defeat Sonic & Diablon and steal the seventh Chaos Emerald. Shadow announces himself the protector and servant of Black Doom.
- Lava Shelter (Neutral)
- Hero: E-123 Omega: Find Dr. Eggman and defeat his army; when they find him, Omega and Shadow are determined to defeat him (Shadow stating he will make him regret creating him); when they do, Shadow announces himself "Shadow Android" and that he will take over and lead the Eggman Empire.
- Dark: Doctor Eggman: Activate the base's lava defenses to stop G.U.N. from entering. Afterwards, Shadow decides to kill Eggman in response to his creation for him; he then declares he is the copy, replacement (and thanks to the Emeralds, stronger) version of the original Shadow the Hedgehog.
- Cosmic Fall (Hero)
- Hero: Vector the Crocodile: Find the Computer Room before The ARK explodes then kill Black Doom (Shadow accpets to himself that he is an expirement gone horribly wrong).
- Dark: Doom's Eye: Find the Chaos Emerald. Shadow and Vector then defeat [[Eggman
- Final Haunt (Pure Hero)
- Hero: Sonic the Hedgehog: Find [[Black Doom then defeat him; Shadow announces
- Dark: Doom's Eye: Activate the Comet's shield defenses
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