This will be quite a short review, because it has actually been quite a long time since I played through this game. Recently I've been thinking about this and numerous other games that I've played and which are criminally under appreciated; perhaps not in terms of review scores from critics but certainly from the game-playing public. There are a number of excellent video games that have not only been overlooked at the time of their release but haven't been given a new lease of life on budget labels and "best of" collections. The first of these games that I'd like to write a very brief review for is
El Shaddai - a unique hybrid of 2D and 3D platforming and
Devil May Cry style hack and slash brawling.
Firstly, the premise of
El Shaddai is very unique within video games. Based on the 'Book of Enoch' from the apocryphal 'Dead Seas Scrolls' - you play as the eponymous Enoch, who is tasked by God to hunt down and dispatch several fallen angels (not
demons!) who have fallen in love with mankind and have subverted creation into their own design. You also have to stop the Nephilim (angel-human hybrids) from destroying the world, and you are helped along the way by Lucifel (not Lucifer!), an angel who wears jeans and uses a cell phone to talk to God - as if time has no meaning in the realm of Heaven. Now *deep breath after all that*... as someone who is a complete Atheist I find the majority of Christian mythology to be pretty damn dull. However, this apocryphal tale is absolutely bonkers, and the most awesome basis for such an eccentric video game as
El Shaddai.
The gameplay of
El Shaddai is split between 3D platforming sections, which also involve a fair amount of hack and slash, and old-school 2D platforming sections. In both 3D and 2D the controls and collision detection are very tight and requires some precise platforming to get through the game; this is backed up with fantastic level design. Combat in the game uses a very unusual single button system, whereby the designers felt that "less-is-more". Rather than coming up with complicated multi-button combos (ala'
Bayonetta), instead
El Shaddai uses a context sensitive rhythm-based system. You create combos and different types of attacks by pressing the button in different tempos and sequences - it really is fantastic and very intuitive. The only downside is that combat doesn't really change very much throughout the game, only the bad guys that you face and your access to their weapons.
The other outstanding feature of
El Shaddai are it's unconventional graphics. There really is no way to accurately describe them (you have to see them in motion) - as while the engine itself is not technically impressive - the art style and design are just extraordinary. Characters are rendered in a sort of faux-cell-shaded effect, whilst the backgrounds of levels are composed of geometric shapes, lines, and amorphous textures, which all shift in colour and tone as you move through them. The effect is unlike anything you will ever have played before and ranges from the bizzare to the downright breathtaking.
El Shaddai is criminally overlooked for many reasons.The characters, setting and story are totally unique - as is the graphical presentation - and diametrically opposed to the grey and brown first/third-person shooters that dominate the market. But really, the most infuriating thing is that
El Shaddai is just a damn good game, exquisitely made, and the experience is utterly unforgettable.
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