ShadowFlare Review

ShadowFlare is a downloadable, episodic role-playing/action game that was released in Japan in 2001 and quickly became a best selling game in that country.  Now the game has been released in the US, and can be had for $14.99 and a 94MB download.  After playing the game, it is easy to see where the inspiration for the game came from.  ShadowFlare owes a lot to Diablo, but throws in a few new features of its own.

ShadowFlare takes place in the future after the arrival of a demon into the world nearly destroyed humanity.  Now small villages of humans try to hold out against the demon and his evil minions.  In this world you are a male or female mercenary who accepts missions for profit.  These missions usually involve slaying evil creatures or retrieving lost and stolen items.  Completing missions rewards you with items and experience, allowing you to take on more dangerous (and rewarding) missions.

As you gain experience you'll also gain levels, improving your character.  Unlike just about every other game in the genre, though, you won't have any control over which stats improve when you level up - this might cause a few RPG fans to go through withdrawal.  However, after a few levels you'll be able to specify a profession, either sword fighter, wizard/witch, or hunter.  Sword fighters are warriors who specialize in melee combat, wizards and witches are spell casters, and hunters are archery specialists.  After you select your profession, your skills and attributes will improve according to your selected profession.

Control in ShadowFlare is a simple point and click affair, with the mouse used to set a destination for your character, to attack enemies, and to target spells.  You can also assign items to hotkeys to make them readily available during combat.  If you've played any of the Diablo games, you'll know how to control ShadowFlare without even consulting the manual; control and the entire interface is virtually identical to Diablo's.

To its credit, ShadowFlare does add some new features not found in its inspiration.  You are accompanied on your adventures by a dog companion.  The companion can be commanded to target individual enemies, or given the freedom to attack at will.  The dog is a tough customer, and is a big help early on when your character is weak.  In an interesting touch, you can carry pieces of meat that when used will restore the health of you dog.

Another interesting feature is the increased power mode.  As you slay enemies, you fill a power meter.  When the meter is full, you can receive a temporary boost to your speed and fighting power.  Needless to say, this can be quite handy when facing a tough opponent.

ShadowFlare also gives you the ability to place land mines.  You deploy the mines on the ground, and they will explode when an enemy steps on them or after a short period of time.  They are pretty powerful and can be a big help in clearing out large groups of enemies.

While the game has its charm, it is definitely not on par with Diablo or the genre's other leading games.  The graphics are a few years behind the times, and there is not a large variety of enemies in the game.  The enemy AI is competent enough, but the pathfinding for your hero has some problems.  Your character will try to take the direct route to the point you click, even if there is an obstacle in the way.  The game is also too challenging at the beginning, mostly because it is impossible to find new weapons and armor early on.  Couple this with the fact that you can only save the game while exiting, and you might have to replay the first part of the game a few times.

ShadowFlare is an episodic game, with future episodes to be available by download.  In addition to single player play, the game allows up to four players to quest cooperatively over the Internet.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 62%.  It's cheap, can be downloaded straight from the Internet, and has a few novel features, but don't expect it to be on par with the leading games in the genre.  It's the poor man's Diablo.

System Requirements:  Pentium II 450;  128 MB RAM;  Mouse.