I was expecting this game to primarily be about sneaking around, but I was mistaken. In fact, stealth is never used outside of the tutorial portion of the game. In other words, if you’re looking for a survival horror experience akin to ‘Resident Evil 7’ or ‘The Persistence,’ then keep looking. If that’s not what you were looking for, then the game is actually pretty fun.
I’ll be honest, it’s not a particularly challenging or complicated game. You can move slowly in order to avoid being detected by any enemies that are around, but there are no alternative routes or options for stealthy players. The protagonist will always have to charge headfirst into danger when she inevitably encounters an enemy. Luckily, combat is somewhat satisfying and I rarely felt frustrated because of it.
Surely enough, fighting makes up most of the gameplay here, which may surprise people who expected something else out of a VR stealth game. As a whole it’s pretty fun, you mostly run into the same enemy types over and over again but there are enough strategies for each type that things stay fresh throughout your playthrough.
There are also collectables hidden throughout the levels which will give you insight into the protagonist’s past as well as unlock concept art in the menu screen once you’ve found everything. In order to encourage players to explore every nook and cranny of Shadow Point, developer Catland has included an achievement called ‘Going up?…’ which requires players to visit every ladder spot in the game at least once – something I scoffed at when I first saw it, but now I’m pretty excited to complete. As the article draws to a close, let’s do some conclusions based on what we’ve read so far.
– Gameplay is mostly combat and running away from enemies
– Stealth mechanics are minimal and not used outside of the tutorial – but this doesn’t make the game less fun since there are several strategies for each enemy type
– Collectables allow players to learn more about the protagonist’s past, as well as unlock concept art once they’ve collected everything in-game
– ‘Going up?…’ is an achievement that requires you to visit every ladder spot in the game at least once
Overall, the game isn’t groundbreaking or amazing, but it’s certainly not bad either. If you’re into games that are more on the action side rather than the stealth side, then it’s definitely worth checking out if you have an Oculus Quest. There’s also some replay value to be found here, with four different difficulties (normal, normal+no enemies, nightmare and nightmare+no enemies) as well as three different endings to discover.
The art style of this game is super nice too btw! I love the cell-shaded visuals here; they make everything look like a comic book which makes for pleasant-looking gameplay even during slow parts or quiet moments where there aren’t any enemies around.
I’ll give Shadow Point Review 3 stars because the game is fun but it’s definitely not without its problems. While I appreciate the challenge on nightmare difficulty, normal being detected by enemies doesn’t really matter because you can just run away if they spot you.