Shadows of the Damned: The Untold Story Explores the Game’s Interesting Development

Shadows of the Damned incurred a lot of hype when announced way back when. The major reveal was that industry icons SUDA 51, Shinji Mikami, and Akira Yamaoka were to collaborate on a new Grasshopper Manufacture game published by EA. Shadows of the Damned released in June 2011, and while it was fun, it noticeably fell short of fan expectations. Odd omissions here. Lack of polish there. Gameplay inconsistencies made it an awkward title, but it still had many redeem qualities regardless. It looked great and its B-movie humor was enjoyable.

Youtuber Hikikimori Media started a new series last month entitled Shadows of the Damned: The Untold Story that explores the game’s (alleged) troubled development. The multi-part video series touches upon discarded game concepts like SUDA 51’s lost Kafka-inspired game Kurayami — elements of which can be found in Shadows of the Damned and maybe even The Evil Within. Hmm!

While we can’t validate or say we agree with all of Hikikimori Media’s claims, the series is well worth watching to recap the game’s development. Some interesting past comments from SUDA and Shinji Mikami come up, which are sure to spur some conspiracies.