ShadoWalker

Stealth games usually challenge the players to stay hidden and strike quickly in order to avoid detection, which can sometimes be a lot more fun than simply gunning down an entire building of bad guys. On the other hand, it’s a lot more difficult to program and design such a game, because there’s nothing easier than lining up a pack of enemies that are eagerly running toward your bullets.

ShadoWalker is an interesting stealth/adventure game in which you play the role of a summoned creature that cannot live in the light, which is why you must remain in total darkness at all times. Naturally, this means avoiding light cones and various other sources that instantly kill you, while also making your way across tricky levels that challenge you to think outside the box.

The first interesting skill you can use allows you to drop into the ground and move underneath the floor, although this doesn’t help with the light. However, it does enable you to move a lot faster, as well as climb vertical walls and make use of every piece of terrain at your disposal. Granted, this can disorient you sometimes because of the sudden perspective changes, but you can get used to it.

It’s also possible to swallow enemies whole, although this part of the game is not very polished. In essence, it doesn’t feel like it matters when you kill someone, especially since the enemies cannot fight back, except if they are carrying a light source of some kind. Even so, the atmosphere is quite interesting, and the background story is decent as well.

As for the graphics, the game uses Unreal Engine 4 to render everything, so it certainly has the capability to impress under the right circumstances. Naturally, the lighting is great, as are the post-processing effects added on top. The level design is a bit repetitive and annoying sometimes, and it seems like the camera might be a bit frustrating every now and again.

In the end, ShadoWalker is quite clearly an amateur project, but it has the potential to grow into something much nicer with enough effort and dedication. However, even this short experience can be pretty fun if you are in the right mood.