Cyber Shadow (Xbox One)
Ninjas and science fiction elements intersect quite often in video games. Being a stealthy Japanese assassin is certainly thrilling, but adding some lasers and robots to the picture can easily make things more exciting. While these two bedfellows have few similarities on a conceptual level beyond an air of coolness, Cyber Shadow takes these two genres and has them intersect on a deeper level than simply applying a cybernetic coat to the ninja action.
In Cyber Shadow, the robots who patrol Mekacity after a terrible explosion rocks it require the mystical energies ninjas tap into in order to continue functioning. A clan of ninjas who were protecting the city were able to tap into special shrines and connect with an afterlife known as the Ethos. The creator of the machines is able to drain the life energy from the shrines and the ninjas themselves, capturing the members of the clan to continue fueling his work. Shadow is one such captive, his organic body ruined by the explosion but cybernetics kept him alive so he could be a battery like his other clan members. When he is freed though, he sets about trying to find and release his fellow ninja from their fate, the state of the clan’s Master a particular concern as you learn more of the personal connection he has with her in short but informative cutscenes. The game actually begins with very little info given and it doesn’t delay the action for too long to give you more substance to the story in later scenes, the final form of the plot providing a deeper link between Shadow, the Master, and the people responsible for this situation that adds helpful context to make the whole adventure a touch more satisfying.
Shadow starts off with a fairly small range of abilities to navigate the 2D side-scrolling world, the game having a focus on moving forward most of the time but some areas you can return to later with the skills you gain to grab a few extra goodies. At first your sword slash is your main way of handling trouble and even in the final moments of the game the swift and easy swing of the blade is also the most reliable method for quick damage. Regular enemies are a dangerous and ever changing mix of forms meant to deny you the limited space you must cross, your health pretty limited and the strength of your robot opposition growing in turn as you start to be able to sustain more damage. Because of the danger they present you often need to think about how you need to move forward but not so much that it slows things down, respecting your foe important to getting in and striking at the right moment so they don’t shoot you or barrel into you. The robots can work together rather deviously with area specific concerns as well. One long hall has a large laser routinely firing down it and you need to quickly move between safe spots where enemies will try to deny you entry, and late in the game advancing walls of purple organic matter force you to be quick even though many enemies wait up ahead to try and knock you back into it. While the science fiction city can make certain areas seem rather similar, the game doing some work to change that like with the docks and some above ground areas in the ruined city, you can expect a lot of exploring of research labs that definitely benefit from the introduction of new dangers and machines to give them a distinct feel.
As you progress through the adventure you will begin to get more than your sword to face the world with. Some of these are movement focused powers like a wall jump that not only gives you more flexibility in exploring areas but can often help you reach hidden items like expansions to your health and mystical power. The mystical powers from your tie to the Ethos definitely have the bigger impact, many of them not only assisting in battle but giving you a tool for interacting with the environment. A shuriken gives you a way to attack from afar but it can also be used to activate switches. A downward aerial stab can be used to leap across enemies when the distance is otherwise too much to cross normally, but later you get a jumping strike that becomes key to covering large distances. Over time you start to get more of the kit you need to be an expert ninja warrior who can cover ground speedily and slice through robots with ease, the game even having a nice touch where a late game area has robots from all the different areas reappear so you can compare how easy they are to take down now to earlier in the game. Not every ability fits into your kit perfectly though, the parry a key power that controls a little oddly.
To invalidate incoming projectiles you can press forward right as they would hit you and then slash them to send them back even more powerful than they were before. Naturally, stepping up to an approaching projectile is putting yourself in danger, but the game has a pretty tight requirement for what it considers proper timing. You can learn it through some early experimentation, but it never feels totally reliable. On the other hand, if it was too reliable it would invalidate a lot of the enemies and bosses, but the jumping strike can also be a little finicky since it requires a sprinting start. Sprinting can be done by pressing forward on the stick twice, and if you’re trying to parry a bullet coming towards you it’s not too hard to press forward more than once for some insurance and instead dash by mistake. You can use a button input for sprinting instead to make it easier to use on purpose at least, and while there are some growing pains and slip ups they’re not to the level they’ll leave you in a bind or get you killed too often.
Many of your special abilities that also function as attacks draw from an energy source, meaning that you can’t just keep hurling shurikens at enemies ahead of you to try and play it safe. If you do need an ability to progress in a level you’ll get a weakened version of the power if you’re completely dry, but having this limitation does mean the game’s difficult bosses manage to maintain their danger while making you think about which ability might best damage them. The bosses feel like Cyber Shadow’s highlight, all of them deadly at first as you’re learning how they attack but a mastery of the patterns gets you closer and closer to success on each retry. Some like the water serpent are a bit plainer than the rest since it is invulnerable and out of sight so often, but many of them keep you moving and reacting while trying to find those moments you can sneak in your own strikes. Many have evolving attack patterns too, like the flying cybernetic warrior who first relies heavily on air strikes and lasers before shifting more to a large katana as you wear them down. One giant robot asks you to try and prioritize attacking different parts of it as it can shift health into its main life bar if you don’t prioritize targets well while elsewhere a defense system fills the room with small targets you need to break to give you room to actually move around, your positioning sometimes determining where attacks may head and the player needing to be careful about where they’re moving to and when they try to attack.
Death is likely to be fairly common as you learn what dangers are ahead and gradually but rather quickly train yourself to move through them more quickly after dying. The checkpoints are spaced so that you do need to truly understand the area ahead to clear it while still showing some mercy by placing them between tougher segments so it’s not a brutal gauntlet. Checkpoints actually feature a rather interesting system where the energy you collect from destroyed robots can be used to empower the checkpoint. Some naturally have a feature like a full heal activated so you can get topped off when you find it, but other times you’ll need to pay up to get that benefit or other boons. Special energy refills are also an option and rarely given for free, but the most interesting feature of the checkpoint is the weapon drop option. While exploring you might find a weapon inside an enemy or a container that took a little skill to hit, your basic blade and mystic powers not all you bring to bear against the robots of Mekacity. Some are simple like the Blade Extend that just lets you slash a bit further ahead of yourself or the SP Dispenser that slowly refills your attack energy and is great to have for boss fights because of it. Others though are truly unique additions to your arsenal. The Charge Blaster floats beside you and fires a shot when you swing your blade, the player needing to make sure not to swing it too often or it won’t build up enough energy but the blast pretty strong when it’s fully ready. The E-Field shields you from projectiles in the front and can be launched forward as an attack, the Orbiter surrounds you with energy pellets that damage enemies that come near, and the Swag Blade is a hard to control bladed weapon on a line that reacts to your movements but carves through foes with ease if you can move right to hurl it at them. You’ll lose these weapons if you take three hits while holding them, but their presence can make navigating an area a more layered experience as you aren’t just relying on your basic blade and the rare ninja power to respond to how enemies are laid out or trying to hurt you. Having them for a boss can open up all kinds of strategic opportunities too, Cyber Shadow trying not to place any that would be too good near a boss to invalidate them but having an option like the Charge Blaster for the water serpent boss feels like a natural fit for such a mobile foe.
Some truly excellent old school music backs many of the stages and fights in Cyber Shadow in a world with some top notch pixel art as well. The evocative futuristic tunes are done by Enrique Martin, but beyond publishing duties like translations handled by Yacht Club Games, Cyber Shadow is mostly the product of a single man. Aarne Hunziker’s work is certainly impressive, the game even having segments like a motorcycle ride that break from the formula for a bit and no doubt added to what was apparently a decade of development. There are no real cut corners to be seen or doldrums since the game frequently introduces new enemy types and punctuates things well with bosses, this bit of trivia more something interesting I learned after playing through the adventure rather than anything that clearly left its mark on the experience. The learning curve for each area will probably determine the overall length of one’s time spent with it, but unless you’re stuck on a particularly tricky section it keeps moving forward into new and interesting content fairly quickly.
THE VERDICT: While a few little control quirks keep it from being a completely smooth ninja adventure, Cyber Shadow provides a well conceived set of skills and attack options that make moving into new areas and facing new enemies constantly engaging. The extra weapons give you special options you’ll want to protect, your growing ninja skills let you navigate spaces in new ways or change how you approach attacking foes, and the bosses and specific stage sections serve as good tests of your understanding of your various abilities. It is difficult but with the sense of satisfaction of knowing you figured out how the danger ahead can be bested, the checkpoints placed well to keep things challenging. Some superb music definitely helps the adventure, Cyber Shadow a rewarding experience where it’s easy to justify trying again even during its harder moments.
And so, I give Cyber Shadow for Xbox One…
A GOOD rating. The parry and sprint being a little awkward with their overlap and testy nature does mean it is hard to see if Cyber Shadow has what it needs to achieve greatness, but once you learn the proper level of caution in using either, you do still have an exciting ninja action game that does a good job of evolving your character and the dangers he faces. The robotic enemies occupying the stages you explore are tailor fit to that space and serve as interesting but brief roadblocks, your evolving skill set giving you more freedom for how to approach things but the right kind of limits like the special energy system or the collectible weapons breaking if you get too careless. You aren’t blitzing through Cyber Shadow’s world nor are you tip-toeing, the quick conflicts between engaging with a specific area’s unique geometry or hazard gimmicks requiring some thought but often a bit of swift action as well or you’ll leave yourself open to more injury. Bosses providing a more focused test of your ability to smartly utilize all your options makes them interesting to encounter even if you can expect to die frequently as you learn their fair but tough to handle attack methods. Perhaps remapping more of the abilities to specific buttons would have done the game well, especially since late in the game you can gain charge powers where you need to not only hold down attack but then input extra directions and button presses to pull off some moves that aren’t as easy to slip into regular action for the oddly complicated approach to using them.
Hunziker did have a good sense for what makes progressing through a side-scrolling action game satisfying despite some control clutter, and he did so while providing a story framing that is interesting despite not demanding too much attention. The constant push forward into new experiences, the evolution of your abilities, and the only repetition really coming from those moments where you’re still working out how to handle something that killed you before you move onto a new trial make Cyber Shadow an easy game to stick with even as it gets more difficult, and with the small allowances it does give to the player, it isn’t held back much by those little moments where the controls aren’t as smooth as they could have been.