The day has finally come. It has arrived. It's here. (Well, for us -- the rest of you get it soon). Shadowgun, Madfinger Games's excellent looking, console-quality action/shooter is coming to Tegra-powered Android devices. From the moment Shadowgun was announced, I was itching to get my greasy little fingers all over it and shoot whatever it is they're shooting in those trailers.
You play as Bruce Willis John Slade, mercenary extraordinaire, sent on a mission to capture (but not kill) the nefarious Dr. Simon from wherever he's hiding. You're accompanied by your robot lady-companion, S.A.R.A. So you hop in your mercenary spaceship and hightail it to the nearest evil genius hiding spot.
Standing in your way are hordes of bad guys (no, I don't know what they really are), obstacles, and gigantor bosses (like the Cyberlobster). So what do you do? Take your trusty machine gun and blow enough holes in all of them to keep on trucking through the muck, obviously.
The whole shindig is voice acted (and captioned!), which is done really well. Sure, sometimes the text doesn't match up with Slade's voice (like when ALL CAPS suggest he's yelling but he's mumbling to himself), but the fact they managed to voice act an entire game this long is insane.
Graphically, I feel like I'm playing Gears of War on my Electrify (or Thrive). That might sound like a cop out, but it's true. You control a big, burly man who carries a big gun and shoots things with graphics that look like they're worthy of blockbuster hits we're seeing on consoles. It's stunning and I think it's AWESOME. After Emissary of War, I was beside myself at how nice that game looked. Shadowgun takes those effects up to 11, if you will, and really spoils the player.
Fortunately, the graphics scale well from a phone to a tablet, but the controls are definitely tighter on the phone. It makes sense. Smaller screen, it's easier to hold, you don't have to move your thumb as much, I get it. Still, be aware that when you're gaming on a tablet, there's definitely a chance you'll accidentally stretch your thumb way too far out right when you're in a critical part of your fight against Cyberlobster, and well, at least you get to restart at your checkpoint.
Adding to the awesome, Shadowgun is big. I haven't managed to play through the whole game yet, but the trailer up there promises six hours of gameplay, and six hours on a mobile device sounds pretty sweet to me, especially if I get to gawk at super sweet eye candy for all of it. To really maximize your time, you could always start off on easy mode so you get three play throughs on it (on all of its difficulty modes). There's also achievements to be had and bonus cards to be collected, so once you've fulfilled your merc contract, don't think you can just put Shadowgun down and walk away.
If you've got a Tegra device, you'll want to get this game. There's no reason not to. It's the finest looking game we've had to grace our Android-green shores, and with all the features it's packing, you'd be silly to pass it on by.
Now we just wait for release.
Demo video and screen shots are after the break.
Update: Just got word that Shadowgun's going to cost $4.99 when it hits the Market. No date's announced yet, just "soon."
YouTube link for mobile viewing
