Shadowgrounds

The Good
This is a great budget release that really shows off what smaller developers can do.

The graphics aren't the best in the world but for a game like this there awesome. The developers have made great use of lighting that adds really good atmosphere to the game and makes it really creepy in places. Another good use of the lighting system is the torch, some of the aliens are scared of the light and will run away but others are attracted to light.

The sounds make this game creepy as well. It's not uncommon to be walking down the corridor and heard the aliens before you see them. You'll hear their sounds, you'll be checking all round you, you'll be checking the radar but all you'll see are blobs everywhere. Hehehe!

The background music is really good as well. It adds atmosphere to the levels and bounding music when in a battle.

The weapons in the game are the best i've seen in this type of shooter. They are well thought out and imaginative not just thrown in as an after thought like in many games nowadays. For your shooting pleasure there's a pistol, pulse rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher (what game would be complete without one?), lasergun, grenade launcher, railgun :D, electric gun, flame thrower, minigun :D. Another great thing about the weapons is the ability to upgrade them. Upgrade points are dropped by aliens after you kill them so that means the more aliens you kill the better weapons you get!

The Bad
There's not a lot to dislike or moan about with this game. There were a few crashing bugs in it but these have since been fixed with the help of the community and a patches as been released. The only other thing I can think of would be that the game can eat lower PC systems alive.

The Bottom Line
Shadowgrounds is a 360 top down shooter like you used to get in the late 80s and earlier 90s. The game that springs to mind straight away is the legendary Alien Breed.

The game starts on the planet Ganymede (one of Jupiters moons). Your a mechanic and your fixing a car when all the lights go out. The power is down and you have to fix it. You meet up with a few friends to fix the generators and then all hell breaks loose. ALIENS are everywhere! You have to fight through hordes of aliens to complete your mission and save the colony.

Every so often a little developer that no one has heard of releases an absolute gem of a game that shows the big boys that gameplay rules and this is one such game! BUY IT!

Here's looking forward to Frozenbyte's next release!!!!!!!