Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Aug 6, 2014

  Even though it's a standard "shoot everthing that moves" game i found it quite entertaining! And it's really worth buying at such a low price.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 12, 2014

  [i]Shadowgrounds: Survivor[/i] was first released 7 years ago as a sequel to the original [i]Shadowgrounds[/i]. It's a pretty well-made game, all about shooting hordes and hordes of pesky zombies from a top-down perspective. The story isn't remarkable in any way: three survivors of a massive alien attack try to "get out" in any way possible. Developer Frozenbyte has however improved upon the original in several ways. First of all, the three characters manage to come across as individuals, not as thirteen-in-a-dozen heroes, mostly thanks to the excellent voice-acting (although it's sometimes over-the-top, but better this than bland voices). Secondly, the weapons-arsenal is pretty neat, with a very distinctive "feel" about every weapon and individual weapons for all three character. Added to this is a well thought-out weapons- and character upgrade-system, which adds a light rpg-flavour to the game. Don't expect any keep of delving deep into weapons' customization or character builing, but still, it's pretty well done and really adds some much-needed depth to the gameplay. The original Shadowgrounds already had some solid graphics and these are markedly improved upon in Survivor. Especially light&shadows, explosions, fire effects (awesome flamethrower!!) and physics-effects are really impressive. Just as in the original, level-design is more than decent, with several items to search for and a logical built-up of each level. I found the game to be a tad short: after just under 5 hours I was through the singleplayer-campaign, not even having unlocked all of the character and weapons-upgrades. This can be done in the six unlockable missions where you have to keep alive for as long as possible, but since the leaderbords are dead now, that's fairly useless. Actually I wanted to play along for a bit longer, which is always a good sign. Alas, there have been seven years past since its release, so it seems like this little "franchise" will stay at two items forever. All in all, this is totally recommendable game for anyone who fancies shooting dozens of zombies in a no-brains way. I feel it's a bit expensive (7 euro at the moment) for a small-scale seven years' old game, but it gets discounts quite often, especially in a pack together with the original Shadowgrounds. Steam trading cards are a welcome addition too, Steam achievements are not here. Overall score: 7.5/10
• gamedeal user

  Oct 7, 2014

  Top-down shooter in which you murder lots and lots of aliens, collect upgrade parts to upgrade your weapons, and unlike in the first game, get EXP, level up, and spend points on several passive abilities, as well as one active ability. The roll has been replaced with a much needed fast dash, the battery on your flashlight never runs out now, and you can now carry up to 5 medkits when you run over them with full health. Also including: Wacky physics, cartoonishly gibbing critical hits, modified weapons, and one newish weapon. It's episodic, you switch between 3 characters throughout the campaign as you progress through it. They all have 3 different playstyles, weapons, and abilities; Play as: The Marine, with the Pistol, Pulse Rifle, Rocket Launcher, and Frag Grenades. As Napalm, the drunk Shotgun, Flamethrower, Minigun, and Poison Grenade wielding dude. Or as Sniper, equipped with a Pistol, Rail Gun, Plasma Rifle, and EMP Grenades. Overall, the game was a bit too easy (well, at least easier than the first) as I NEVER used any of my portable medkits. Also, theres way too many crescendo events (get barriered in, kill a shit ton of aliens until they're all dead or something unlocks, etc) sprinkled throughout the game. Also theres only like one boss, and thats near the beginning of the game, any other "boss" after that are bloody crescendo events. The first game had at least several bosses :/ Not a bad experience, definitely faster paced (for the most part) than the first game, but I actually kind of liked the first game a bit better. Anyway, if you're a fan of top-down shooters, give this a try when its on sale.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 15, 2014

  Shame on those who dislikes the game just for crashing without any attempt to take a look in the officcial FAQ. It is just required PhysX Legacy to run on modern computers. http://steamcommunity.com/app/11200/discussions/0/540742667868172890/
• gamedeal user

  Jun 21, 2015

  Largely disappointing. The first game had a somewhat entertaining plot development, a larger variety of weapons and a fair bit ofpromise. There were more enemies and boss battles. The sequal looks more graphically robust, but at the same time just a poor attempt to grab some more money by releasing a dumbed down game with the same assets. Edit: A lot of people are experiencing 100% crashes with this game. This is due to PhysX. Look up the lagacy PhysX from nVidia and you'll be fine.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 4, 2013

  Shadowgrounds Survivor is the unmistakable sequel to previous years top down horde mode shooter Shadowgrounds. Unmistakable because if you didn't see the title you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart. That's not to say Survivor doesn't introduce a few new features, multiple playable characters and a more detailed level progression makes the game a good deal more engaging as you go along. The storyline is as was in the original utterly forgettable and can be easily ignored. The greatest strength of Shadowgrounds Survivor is once again it's use of atmospheric lightning which does a good job at turning otherwise bland encounters with the alien horde into something a little more suspenseful, lending somewhat from the horror genre. The problem is also, once again, that this is a genre that has done it all before, the top down shooter horde mode gives you nothing new, nothing you haven't seen a hundred times before. You go from room to room in a linear progression stopping only to pick up the occasional ammo pack in between scripted attacks by the same massive blob of aliens you've already killed in the last ten rooms. Even the boss battles mostly boils down to the same run and gun tactics as the rest of the game making playing the game feel like a grind the more you progress. All in all as with the original the problem is that Shadowgrounds does nothing to innovate. It adds nothing that you didn't see in the last five games you played int this genre and that makes it a tiresome experience for anyone but the most hardcore fans.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 14, 2016

  Like its immediate predecessor, Survivor is a top-down shooter that hearkens back to the days of Smash TV and Total Carnage, except that there is a much more detailed plot and a heavy nod to role-playing games. As opposed to the blanket machine-part upgrade system of Shadowgrounds, Survivor has implemented a more refined approach, with unique class abilities, general class abilities and weapon abilities tailored to each of the three characters. Basic gameplay is still kill or be killed, run and gun, etc. Every kill nets you some experience, which is banked toward increased levels, and each level brings with it some upgrade points. Weapon upgrade parts are still found on the battlefield, dropped by enemies, but now you also get class-specific abilities and character tweaks. These are what increase with each level. Using the marine as an example, you'll be able to buy quick weapon reloads, tough skin and fragmentation grenades. This is in addition to the basic set of character improvements that all three avatars have: radar display, increased health, critical hits, and an "auto-doctor" that will dose you with a health kit (if you have one stockpiled) if you fall below 50% health at any time. Survivor really beefed up the graphics. Lighting, already a major element of the ambience of Shadowgrounds, has been used to even greater effect this time. I lost count of how many rounds I wasted shooting at flickering movement that I thought was an enemy but was really just shadows playing off of my flashlight beam. Shaders have also been given some love, textures and particle effects. The overall effect is beautiful. [b]Gameplay: 8/10[/b] It is easy to control after re-mapping the keys to your liking. Some weapons have secondary fire and there is lots and lots of action. This is the non-thinking man's action title. [b]Graphics: 9/10[/b] Surprisingly, the game looks way better then the original; I know that's not uncommon (duh), but for a value title, the spit and polish rivals that of other full-priced games. [b]Sound: 7/10[/b] I liked the voiceovers the characters had, and the ambient music does provide the right feel for the game, but some sound effects are lacking. [b]Difficulty: Medium[/b] You can set the difficulty to your liking. [b]Concept: 7/10[/b] A well-used idea, wrapped neatly in a simple game that is surprisingly fun and entertaining. [b]Overall: 8/10[/b] You must like killing aliens, lots of action and the kind of game where it pays to go looking down deserted dark corridors.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 28, 2016

  Most people that've played the original Shadowgrounds can agree that it's a hidden gem among isometric shooters. The game has pretty much everything going for it; engaging gameplay, immersive atmosphere, a great soundtrack, and a ton of blood. For an older game from 2006, it's aged remarkably well despite not being able to play it in a 1080p or higher resolution. It's only right that one should assume the same success from its follow up release, Shadowgrounds Survivor, which was released a year later. Taking place once again on Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, the player will control three characters over the course of 9 chapters that are split into 24 levels. They're among the last remaining humans on the celestial body, who have to fight through the alien forces that are threatening to overrun it. By order of appearance, gamers will control soldier Luke "Marine" Giffords, pest control agent Bruno "Napalm" Lastmann, and scout Isabel "Sniper" Larose. Regarded as a spin-off sequel, Shadowgrounds Survivor doesn't have much barring on the original storyline, and to be quite honest it doesn't have much of a story at all despite its many cutscenes and voice acted segments. We're going to do this review in the style of the good, the bad, and the ugly, in that order. The good here is that Frozenbyte returned with all of the signature gameplay from the series' sophomore release, and they also introduced some new elements as well. New to this expansion is the ability to level up each survivor individually, and the ability to unlock character specific upgrades. This in tandem with the older function to upgrade weapons makes for a slightly more RPG styled experience, and it works fairly well despite the limited amount of unlocks available. The game also has an incredible, thick atmosphere that has been enhanced thanks to upgraded environment elements such as heavy rain, lightning, and snowstorms. Likewise, the music and ambient layers of the title are superior in comparison to the former release. Lastly, each of the 24 levels takes you on a new journey in a new location, which is quite impressive given the age of the game. These three latter ingredients are probably the best things that Shadowgrounds Survivor has going for it. I should also mention that this title can be played in 1080p resolution, so that's a plus. Sadly, this title does have more of the bad than the good. Long gone are the big maps that were worth exploring in Shadowgrounds, they've been replaced by very linear and short landscapes. Each level will last anywhere from 5-10 minutes at most, perhaps a little longer if it's a wave based level. This leads me to the next point, Shadowgrounds Survivor now has a wave based mechanic, and you will find yourself more often than not fighting off wave after wave of aliens. This takes away the horror factor that was instilled in the original game, as it's never a guessing game as to whether or not you're going to be up against an enemy. A big reward that came from exploring in the first Shadowgrounds was finding PDA logs that gave a deeper aspect to the story, well those have been taken out of this follow up. They're instead replaced by cutscenes that don't tell much of a story, and some brief dialogue; it's all very shallow in comparison. There's also not as many weapons, and each character has three that they carry; pistols, a minigun, flamethrower, plasma rifle, railgun, assault rifle, and rocket launcher. Now, lastly, we come to the ugly. This game does have a crashing problem, and it also has visual issues. During a mission with Bruno where I was in the sewers, I was seeing double... literally. Two of Bruno, two of each monster, two of every pick up. In all fairness, it was the only level that I encountered this issue, but it still made for quite a disorienting experience. There's also no longer a manual save mechanic, it has been instead replaced by game created save points that are only at the start of each level; if you die, you go back to the beginning, and that really blows. Despite having a leveling system, you can actually reach an experience point cap per level far before you reach the end of it, which defeats the purpose entirely. Rather than lasting for upwards of ten hours, this title can be completed in as little as 2-3, with very little replay factor; you can find "secrets" to unlock for a bonus mode, but they're all arbitrary things like playing the game in black and white or unlimited ammo on your next playthrough. There's also a survivor mode but it's just more wave based stuff that this series was not built on. The original Shadowgrounds really had it all; a horrific and gripping sci-fi atmosphere, tons of blood, a decent enough storyline with logs that filled in the gaps, tons of weapons, huge explorable maps, manual saves, and even bosses with mechanics. Shadowgrounds Survivor has built upon the atmosphere of the original, somehow manages to be less gore-filled, the story is very shallow with no log pick-ups, hardly any exploration rewards, minimal weapons, small maps, auto-saves at the beginning of each level, and the bosses have been replaced by waves that are frankly boring. The RPG-like elements aren't even that well developed, and it's hard to believe there's an EXP cap on every level. To be very blunt, Shadowgrounds Survivor should only be played if you're really reaching the bottom of the isometric shooter barrel. [h1]Rating: [b]2.0/5.0[/b] - It's not awful, but it's not great.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore [h1]Related Reviews:[/h1] [b]Review for Shadowgrounds: [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/THNEmbalmer/recommended/2500]Here[/url][/b]
• gamedeal user

  Feb 1, 2017

  Well meh :/ Original shadowground was way way better than this, 3 character are nice but fighting in arenas way to often and way to long get very boring and tedious, ant even exploration doesn't feel all that great like in first shadowground and sewer level have problem with water reflection it basically looks like duplicated scene and translated a bit but not flipped as it should be, something went wrong with that and whole level is very confusing. Overal meh, not worth it, get original shadowground instead.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 3, 2017

  The first Shadowgrounds kind of typified the linear top-down shooter type in terms of design and was overlong, but had its moments. Survivor attempts to establish more of an identity for itself by offering multiple characters with multiple skill-sets, but this makes the balance and level design suffer. It's just hard to imagine quite what the developers were hoping to accomplish beyond the most surface level aspirations with such a change.