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Shadow Master is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by HammerHead and published by Psygnosis for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It met with predominantly negative reviews, which praised its visuals but criticized it for clunky controls and poorly designed, frustrating gameplay.

The Story Behind Shadow Master

Here is where Shadow Master came from and how it reached the Sony PlayStation.

Shadow Master was developed by Hammerhead, a newly formed company founded by Chris Stanforth, formerly of Traveller's Tales. The visual design concepts for the game were done by Rodney Matthews. The game was showcased at E3 1997 before being released later that year.

How Shadow Master Plays

Shadow Master is a retro game for 1 player, played here with your keyboard or any USB or Bluetooth gamepad.

Some have unlimited ammunition but are limited by an overheat meter which prevents constant use of the weapon, while others have a limited supply of ammunition but are much more effective and not limited by overheating. The levels are completed when all objectives in the current mission have been completed. Each level comes with its own complement of enemies, with many of them resembling creatures from Earth such as apes or wasps, but are mechanoid instead of living organisms.

If these drop below zero, a game over results. The player takes control of a futuristic and heavily armed ATV to traverse each level, combat aliens, and complete level objectives.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Shadow Master is a retro game that Sony PlayStation players still load up; the reviews and rankings below say why.

IGN stated that "weapon control is unclear, and piloting your vehicle is ugly. The game combines intense graphics with an incredibly huge volume of enemies... [and the] landscapes and creatures differ from anything you've seen before." Citing the issues with the controls, linear level designs, and save system, Computer Gaming World summed up that "Shadow Master is a game that focuses too much on art and sacrifices gameplay." IGN and Next Generation both concluded, "Everything about Shadow Master screams 'second rate'.

GamePro, for example, commented that the "lightning-fast gameplay... actually becomes annoying at times—as you blaze around a corner, you'll slide right into monsters. But with strategic puzzle elements, like timed switches and sequential triggers (where you have to press each trigger in a pattern), the game has some lasting power." GameSpot commented, "Hackneyed plot aside (an extreme evil has used up all of its planet's natural resources and is coming to - gasp - take ours), this game is actually pretty decent for a 3D shooter. Critics unanimously praised the game's visuals for their cutting edge effects and imaginative design, but most found its gameplay severely lacking.

Background sources: Wikipedia.

Shadow Master — Frequently Asked Questions

Can I play Shadow Master online for free?

Absolutely. The full game loads in the player at the top of this page and runs right in your browser — no installs, no plugins, no waiting.

Do I need a controller to play Shadow Master?

No. Keyboard controls work out of the box (see the controls panel), and any USB or Bluetooth gamepad is detected automatically.

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