Shadows of the Damned

Disappointing does not begin to describe this. A meeting of some of the best minds in Japanese game turns into an ego tripping vanity project with no new elements to offer. You'd think Mikami would most understand how to revamp Resi 4 all over again, but so many of its shooter elements are watered down and turned into universally signed but ultimately easy puzzles that fail to develop over the course of the campaign. It lacks the visceral feel of Resi 4 with no environmental interaction to speak of and later weapons introducing input lag for their modifiers, a cardinal sin for an action game. Suda's version of the underworld starts interesting but fails to ultimately impress, and the humour is hit-and-miss, though some dissections of the relationship between Garcia and his girlfriend have some kooky edge to them.

The only man of the trio that demonstrates his pedigree is Yamaoka, my favourite composer still finding ways to impress with some haunting, atonal atmospheric pieces, good old spins on melodic contributions and some rocking tunes for good measure, including working with the old singer for British punk band The Damned. Geddit? The adventure is still so much less than the sum of its parts, and those parts ain't all that pretty on their own, and it's only because the game isn't borked or particularly bad that it's not getting a lower score. What should have been an instant knockout hit is rightfully forgotten.