Shadowgrounds
Encyclopedia
Shadowgrounds is a shoot 'em up
for Microsoft Windows
, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X
, developed by Frozenbyte
. The game takes place on a space colony
on Ganymede
which is being attacked by aliens
. It was released for Windows on November 11, 2005 in stores in Finland
and Germany
, and in Spring 2006 in the rest of Europe
and North America
.
As well as being available through retail stores, the game began being distributed on Valve Software's Steam on May 8, 2006. The game is also available on Gametap
as of January 31, 2008 and Good Old Games as of March 3, 2011. The game was later ported by IGIOS and published to Linux by Linux Game Publishing
, with the Linux
version being released on September 16, 2009.
A sequel, Shadowgrounds Survivor
, was released in 2007 and focuses on three separate characters trying to survive the alien onslaught shown in the first game. Both games were later released together along with two other Frozenbyte titles, Trine
and Splot, to form the third Humble Indie Bundle
. The Humble Frozenbyte Bundle games were also offered as incentives in the later Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle.
, who is tasked with the repair of various systems. After the arrival of the aliens, the player performs a variety of quests until meeting up with the captain, who tells the player to contact nearby planets and ships for help, then to escape. The player then rescues the captain of a downed rescue ship, and is then tasked with destroying the alien mothership. Upon reaching the centre of the ship, the player is approached by aliens who inform the player of the dangers of the energy source that the player has been utilizing throughout the game.
reminiscent of the Alien Breed
series. Like the earlier Finnish game Death Rally
, Shadowgrounds presents a familiar (some might say dated) concept with modern resources. The plot of a monster attack on a space colony
exists only as a thin justification for the action, monsters are plentiful and weapons large.
Shadowgrounds uses light and darkness as vital components of gameplay and atmosphere, hence the name. The game is largely dark, and the hero carries a motion scanner and a flashlight with a regenerating but limited power supply (a common gaming trope
). There are ten weapons, all with three possible upgrades. Medpacks, weapon
s and ammunition
are found in stores and near dead soldiers.
Players explore indoor and outdoor facilities in order to complete a usually linear series of tasks (usually of the "FedEx" or "get to Point B" varieties, though other tasks include disarming force fields, enabling a radio transmitter, or fixing various broken machinery), while clearing the area of a chain of progressively more powerful creatures. Occasionally, other NPC
s fight alongside the player, but, especially in the case of characters central to the plot, they are invulnerable and can be left to kill while the player recharges his flashlight or hunts for items.
In order to enable upgrades the weapons, players collect upgrade pieces from killing monsters. Players can also pick up weapons and ammunition and health packs and destroy a large amount of crates (another cliché of the genre). Finally, there are PDA
s and computer terminal
s scattered through the maps that serve to loosely advance the plot with some optional exposition
.
There are a number of vehicle
s shown both in cutscene
s and on the various map
s, including an alien ship and an earth mover
; however, none of these are player-drivable, and the game will switch to non-interactive cutscene if a task involves a vehicle.
, which was added late in development as a bonus for fans, is available within the single-player story. Cooperatively, one player controls Tyler via the keyboard and mouse, and one to three more can play as unnamed characters, using gamepads attached to the same computer. There is no Internet
or LAN
support.
There are a few other gameplay differences between the single-player and cooperative modes. The respawns that are available in single player mode are still a facet of the game; however, each time any player of the team dies, all players are respawned at a safe location, and one respawn from the respawn pool is used. Similarly, weapons collected are made available to all players, and upgrade parts are shared (ammunition, however, is not distributed).
After the game was included as part of the third Humble Indie Bundle
, the Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor source code (but not their graphics or level editor) was publicly released. The source-code license prohibits commercial use and permits Frozenbyte to change the license terms at will.
rank of 73, MetaCritic
score of 74, and a GameRankings rank of 75.60%. While the game was generally praised for its successful recreation of classic top down shooter gameplay, it was criticized as being somewhat repetitive as well as being sometimes overly difficult, especially due to its lack of a standard saving system. The game's plot was criticized for being too simplistic or not presented well enough to hold one's interest.
Reaction to the game's atmosphere was mixed, with some reviewers finding the game genuinely frightening, while others found it unimpressive or found its presentation simply not as competent or successful as it was implemented in similar games such as the Doom
series, to which Shadowgrounds was often compared. Critics generally thought favourably of the game's graphics, which were complimented for being rich and detailed, especially for a budget title. The game's music and sound effects were praised; Lordi
guitarist Amen played guitar
on the official Shadowgrounds soundtrack, which was composed by Ari Pulkkinen
.
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, developed by Frozenbyte
Frozenbyte
Frozenbyte Inc. is a Finnish game-developer founded in 2001 and based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has now grown to a professional team of almost 20 people, with its first commercial game being Shadowgrounds for Microsoft Windows...
. The game takes place on a space colony
Space colony
Space colony may refer to:* Space colonization, any colony outside of the planet Earth* Space habitat, a free-floating extraterrestrial colony specifically-Fiction:* Space colony , fictional space colonies in the Gundam anime series...
on Ganymede
Ganymede (moon)
Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System. It is the seventh moon and third Galilean satellite outward from Jupiter. Completing an orbit in roughly seven days, Ganymede participates in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively...
which is being attacked by aliens
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
. It was released for Windows on November 11, 2005 in stores in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and in Spring 2006 in the rest of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
As well as being available through retail stores, the game began being distributed on Valve Software's Steam on May 8, 2006. The game is also available on Gametap
GameTap
GameTap is an American online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System . Dubbed by TBS as a "first of its kind broadband gaming network", the service provides users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content...
as of January 31, 2008 and Good Old Games as of March 3, 2011. The game was later ported by IGIOS and published to Linux by Linux Game Publishing
Linux Game Publishing
Linux Game Publishing is a software company based in Nottingham in England. It ports, publishes and sells video games running on Linux operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsors the development of Grapple, a free software network library for games...
, with the Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
version being released on September 16, 2009.
A sequel, Shadowgrounds Survivor
Shadowgrounds Survivor
Shadowgrounds Survivor is a shooter game developed by Frozenbyte and the sequel to Shadowgrounds. It has three playable characters, a RPG-like upgrade system for weapons and characters, a survival mode, graphics enhanced from its predecessor, an integrated physics engine, and a soundtrack by Ari...
, was released in 2007 and focuses on three separate characters trying to survive the alien onslaught shown in the first game. Both games were later released together along with two other Frozenbyte titles, Trine
Trine (video game)
Trine is a side-scrolling action platform and puzzle video game, available for the Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and PlayStation Network. It was developed by the Finnish company Frozenbyte, who previously developed the Shadowgrounds series...
and Splot, to form the third Humble Indie Bundle
Humble Indie Bundle
The Humble Indie Bundles or Humble Bundles are a series of game bundles, that are sold and distributed online at a price determined by the purchaser. The games are multi-platform, DRM-free, and independently developed, and buyers can set the revenue split between the developers, charities and...
. The Humble Frozenbyte Bundle games were also offered as incentives in the later Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle.
Plot
Players take the role of Wesley Tyler, a mechanic on the IGTO Repair Base on GanymedeGanymede (moon)
Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System. It is the seventh moon and third Galilean satellite outward from Jupiter. Completing an orbit in roughly seven days, Ganymede participates in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively...
, who is tasked with the repair of various systems. After the arrival of the aliens, the player performs a variety of quests until meeting up with the captain, who tells the player to contact nearby planets and ships for help, then to escape. The player then rescues the captain of a downed rescue ship, and is then tasked with destroying the alien mothership. Upon reaching the centre of the ship, the player is approached by aliens who inform the player of the dangers of the energy source that the player has been utilizing throughout the game.
Gameplay
The game is a fast-paced top-down shooterShoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
reminiscent of the Alien Breed
Alien Breed
Alien Breed is the first in a series of science fiction computer games played in the form of a top-down shooter for one or two players. It was released in 1991 by Team17 for the Commodore Amiga and later in 1993 by MicroLeague for MS-DOS.-Gameplay:...
series. Like the earlier Finnish game Death Rally
Death Rally
Death Rally is a top-down perspective racing video game developed by Remedy, published by Apogee and distributed by GT Interactive. It was released on September 6, 1996...
, Shadowgrounds presents a familiar (some might say dated) concept with modern resources. The plot of a monster attack on a space colony
Space colony
Space colony may refer to:* Space colonization, any colony outside of the planet Earth* Space habitat, a free-floating extraterrestrial colony specifically-Fiction:* Space colony , fictional space colonies in the Gundam anime series...
exists only as a thin justification for the action, monsters are plentiful and weapons large.
Shadowgrounds uses light and darkness as vital components of gameplay and atmosphere, hence the name. The game is largely dark, and the hero carries a motion scanner and a flashlight with a regenerating but limited power supply (a common gaming trope
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
). There are ten weapons, all with three possible upgrades. Medpacks, weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s and ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
are found in stores and near dead soldiers.
Players explore indoor and outdoor facilities in order to complete a usually linear series of tasks (usually of the "FedEx" or "get to Point B" varieties, though other tasks include disarming force fields, enabling a radio transmitter, or fixing various broken machinery), while clearing the area of a chain of progressively more powerful creatures. Occasionally, other NPC
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s fight alongside the player, but, especially in the case of characters central to the plot, they are invulnerable and can be left to kill while the player recharges his flashlight or hunts for items.
In order to enable upgrades the weapons, players collect upgrade pieces from killing monsters. Players can also pick up weapons and ammunition and health packs and destroy a large amount of crates (another cliché of the genre). Finally, there are PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s and computer terminal
Computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
s scattered through the maps that serve to loosely advance the plot with some optional exposition
Exposition (plot device)
At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration...
.
There are a number of vehicle
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
s shown both in cutscene
Cutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
s and on the various map
Level (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
s, including an alien ship and an earth mover
Earth Mover
Earth Mover is the third studio album by Hard trance duo Cosmic Gate. It was released on September 18th, 2006 in Germany.-Track listing:#A Mile In My Shoes – 7:18#I Feel Wonderful – 4:38...
; however, none of these are player-drivable, and the game will switch to non-interactive cutscene if a task involves a vehicle.
Cooperative mode
Cooperative gameplayCooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
, which was added late in development as a bonus for fans, is available within the single-player story. Cooperatively, one player controls Tyler via the keyboard and mouse, and one to three more can play as unnamed characters, using gamepads attached to the same computer. There is no Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
or LAN
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
support.
There are a few other gameplay differences between the single-player and cooperative modes. The respawns that are available in single player mode are still a facet of the game; however, each time any player of the team dies, all players are respawned at a safe location, and one respawn from the respawn pool is used. Similarly, weapons collected are made available to all players, and upgrade parts are shared (ammunition, however, is not distributed).
Modifications
Frozenbyte has released extensive documentation on how to make modifications on the Shadowgrounds engine, as well as how to make custom maps and scenarios. While the first version of the official Level Editor, released on 29 June 2006, was only for retail versions of the game, users who purchased the game via Steam received access to the editor on 13 July 2006. With that release, all of the filesystem for the Editor was moved onto the Steam platform.After the game was included as part of the third Humble Indie Bundle
Humble Indie Bundle
The Humble Indie Bundles or Humble Bundles are a series of game bundles, that are sold and distributed online at a price determined by the purchaser. The games are multi-platform, DRM-free, and independently developed, and buyers can set the revenue split between the developers, charities and...
, the Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor source code (but not their graphics or level editor) was publicly released. The source-code license prohibits commercial use and permits Frozenbyte to change the license terms at will.
Reception
Shadowgrounds received mixed but generally positive reviews, holding a MobyGamesMobyGames
-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
rank of 73, MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
score of 74, and a GameRankings rank of 75.60%. While the game was generally praised for its successful recreation of classic top down shooter gameplay, it was criticized as being somewhat repetitive as well as being sometimes overly difficult, especially due to its lack of a standard saving system. The game's plot was criticized for being too simplistic or not presented well enough to hold one's interest.
Reaction to the game's atmosphere was mixed, with some reviewers finding the game genuinely frightening, while others found it unimpressive or found its presentation simply not as competent or successful as it was implemented in similar games such as the Doom
Doom (series)
Doom is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by id Software. The series focuses on the exploits of an unnamed space marine operating under the UAC , who fights hordes of undead and demons in order to survive...
series, to which Shadowgrounds was often compared. Critics generally thought favourably of the game's graphics, which were complimented for being rich and detailed, especially for a budget title. The game's music and sound effects were praised; Lordi
Lordi
Lordi is a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1996 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume-designer, Mr. Lordi. The band is known for wearing monster masks and using pyrotechnics during concerts...
guitarist Amen played guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
on the official Shadowgrounds soundtrack, which was composed by Ari Pulkkinen
Ari Pulkkinen
Ari Pulkkinen is an Finnish video game composer, musician and a sound designer. His Angry Birds Theme is his most famous composition.-Biography:...
.