There are some little things that I liked about SotD that often go unrecognized in modern games. For instance, your health does not automatically regenerate-it takes good old fashioned booze to fix your pains.

The top notch presentation; The terrific soundtrack and audio work; The overall road movie-style experience

The clunky controls and combat; The boss battles tend to lack impact; The lack of replay value

Say what you will about visionary game creator Suda 51, the guy's got moxie. Placing his name on the cover of his most recent game Shadows of the Damned is one thing, but calling it "a Suda 51 trip" is another. It's the right word, given its otherworldly nature.

Visually arresting; Excellent combat and controls; Amazing soundtrack; Doesn't take itself too seriously

Can't pause or skip cutscenes; Could use more enemy variety

When booting up a new game from Grasshopper Manufacture there's only one thing you know for sure, and that's that a whole load of craziness is about to ensue. With everything from a boss battle against a giant crow with a potty mouth, to disembodied baby heads screaming for strawberries, to a...

Shadows of the Damned makes demon blasting a hell of a lot of fun in this video review with Tom Mc Shea.

Uniformly outstanding sound design; Challenging and terrifying boss fights; Good array of different gameplay activities; all of them fun; Clever use of darkness mechanics; Morphing guns are a pleasure to shoot

No New Game; Stiff movement animation

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+ Hilarious story dialogue and execution; + Strong; varied gameplay

- Poor enemy design

Though it's a bit rough around the edges, this spooky, stylish shoot-'em-up from Grashopper Manufacture is an off-the-wall blast.

Awesome atmosphere and oddball sense of humor; solid shoot-'em-up gameplay; excellent soundtrack from Akira Yamaoka

Shadows of the Damned is much more than another stylishly directed horror game with a raunchy sense of humor and over-the-top gameplay. This game is also a collaborative effort from some of Japan's top talent, including Goichi Suda, aka Suda51 (No More Heroes), Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil 4), and...

A demon with a goat's head is riding a horse that defecates pure darkness. Then the demon eats the horse's heart, grows to the size of a ten-story building, eats the rest of the horse and proceeds to urinate more darkness into a gigantic fountain. That's just the first boss.

The game delivers what you might expect from two iconic developers. Unique story, plenty of grindhouse-style visuals and slightly lackluster gameplay. Fans of these auteurs will be pleased. Parents of impressionable youths will not.

Shadows of the Damned is set in Hell, though you'll occasionally wonder why things don't always look hellish. I say "occasionally," because this game is, in fact, seriously messed up -- and I mean that in the best possible way.