And on this point, I have mixed feelings. The game is a mess with a script so bad and self-aware that it serves its purpose: making you laugh. The game constantly mocks video game conventions, such as puzzles, checkpoints, and health bars. Because it makes no sense, it tries to explain everything within a demonic world in a way that makes even less sense, until you can’t help but smile. You’re in hell collecting strawberries as keys to give to baby doors, collecting gems that improve your ability, and alcohol that restores your health.

A road movie to hell

Ultimately, Shadows of the Damned has no complexes. Nor any gameplay, and that’s fine. If it has to put huge weak points on enemies, it does so with pride. The same goes for its puzzles or the light and darkness system it invents to give a little more shine, never better said, to its levels. But, all in all, it really is a game that couldn’t compete head to head with the best shooters of the moment, and even less with those of today.

Because yes, Shadows of the Damned has a fair control and a gunplay that could be improved. This remaster would have been fabulously helped by a review of the controls to make them more modern and natural, as well as a refinement of its aiming system and camera. Grasshopper, however, has only wanted to bring the original work as it was conceived, and it is respectable. It is still a fun game where perhaps the experience gains more from its shameless set than from the excellence of its mechanics.

And from the very beginning, Shadows of the Damned is already filling the screen with blood, insults and demons. Now that it’s in ultra high definition, you can better see García Hotspur ‘s resemblance to a young Benicio del Toro, who will have to cross the gates of hell itself to rescue his beloved Paula, kidnapped by a demon called Fleming. The game exudes style, starting from the start after the prologue with a fabulous menu to the crazy camera shots.

And you know what? Even though it’s not the best shooter in history, you can see the creativity of its developers beyond pure charisma. Even though today it seems like an excessively guided game, some phases are well developed and yes, García will hate “the fucking puzzles”, but the creators don’t and they liven up the combats well. Combats that, as I said, may not have the best feel to the controls, but they are well measured because they know how to be more than just a kill-kill, having to use an alternative shot on some enemies, the environment, knowing when to change weapons and mastering their cadences and reloads. In addition, the final bosses are better designed than they seem and require finesse in dodging to face the weak point.

So Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is enjoyable if you know what you’re getting at, just as it was when it was released. Besides the fact that you won’t find many similar current products, it was worth bringing this game to the new consoles so that it doesn’t fall into oblivion and even more so to computers, which it had never done before. So, this hell will be eternal .