A quandary: Future Gamer have both PC and N64 versions of Shadowman to review. Which one do we cover? Why, both. In a special double-length review, we consider the pros and cons of Acclaim's adult-only adventure...
James Price

What constitutes 'adult' content in a videogame? Is it violence? Swearing? Sex? Or is it intelligent direction, plot, puzzles and a side order of production values? Does Shadowman earn its 'adult' status by virtue of noteworthy script, play and atmosphere, or does it opt instead for titillation in the form of gore, arbitrary nudity and low-brow dialogue, as many of its cinematic cousins have done? Only Smarties have the answer.

SMARTIES: Gosh, that's a tricky one. Can I ask my other confectionery friends to help?

FUTURE GAMER: Go ahead.

SMARTIES: My mate Lion Bar knows all about violence. Don't you, mate?

LION BAR: Roar! Yes. And Shadowman has loads. Of course, most of it is pretty abstract as you're fighting creatures within Deadside, a twilight world where damned souls roam. Shoot a representation of a 'real' person in a game and censors and moral guardians alike get pretty twitchy. Monsters, however, aren't so bad. Thus, Shadowman's Shadowgun can blast zombie-like anthropoids into a bloody explosion, their screams ringing as their bodies are ripped apart, and that's okay. In a relative sense, of course.

SMARTIES: So is Shadowman especially violent, then?

LION BAR: Not really. It does have its nasty moments, naturally. It's not a game I'd want my cubs to play, but you soon become inured to its moderate visceral excesses, simply because there's so much combat. As a good friend of mine who lives in a zoo once said, "Once you've savaged one mentalist who climbs over your fence, you've savaged 'em all." There's the odd atmosphere-enhancing graphic or event that might make you think, "Oooh!" but this is no Soldier of Fortune. If it fosters disquiet in a player, it'll be by subtle implication, rather than full-on bloodthirsty gore or horror. It's all down to individual interpretation, really.

SMARTIES: And swearing?

FRUIT PASTILLES: It has rude words that rhyme with 'writ', but there's no trace of 'ducks', 'tankers' or even 'runts'. Mind you, it's a bit sparse with dialogue in general. Shadowman recites a bit of narrative when you enter most new areas, and there's the odd verbal exchange with NPCs, but not that much. Still, at least they managed to fit the speech into the N64 version - all 256 megabits of it.