Shadow Man

Shadow Man is an action-adventure game developed by Acclaim Studios Teesside and published by Acclaim Entertainment. The game was released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Dreamcast.

Nightdive Studios released a remastered version for the PC in 2021 & for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2022.

Plot
The multi-demon Legion has constructed a large tower and plans to end the human race by obtaining the Dark Souls that were sealed away centuries ago. The Shadow Man must venture into Deadside (the realm of the dead) and secure them before Legion acquires them.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Amazing graphics for it's time.
 * 2) A vast open world to explore.
 * 3) Some areas are off-limits and require certain items to be accessed (akin to the Metroidvania games).
 * 4) The game blends many game genres, such as action-adventure, platformer, and survival horror.
 * 5) Wield both firearms and magic items.
 * 6) Explore two different worlds: the "Liveside" and the "Deadside" via magic portals.
 * 7) Interesting and neat enemy designs.
 * 8) Multiple puzzles that require a lot of wits.
 * 9) Many boss battles, including Jack the Ripper and the Biblical demon, Legion.
 * 10) Excellent soundtrack.
 * 11) Some magic items allow the player to acquire several abilities and effects, such as flying, walk on lava, transform, etc.
 * 12) The Remastered version restores many unused content & has even better graphics.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Due to the cartridge space limitations of the Nintendo 64, the N64 version suffers from poor quality sound effects, dialogue, and music, and it has fewer music tracks than in the other versions, which was the result of heavy sound compression to compensate for the said cartridge space limitations.
 * 2) The PlayStation version is a massive downgrade & is pretty much hard to see.
 * 3) The Dreamcast version has glitchy audio & unstable framerate. The audio quality is also compressed compared to the PC version but not as bad as N64.
 * 4) For most of the game you will have to find and destroy Govis to collect dark souls trapped in them, involving a lot of backtracking, which can get annoying.