Shadow Man, the fan-favorite action-adventure game originally developed by Acclaim and released for N64 (and later PC, PlayStation, and Dreamcast), will be remastered and re-released sometime next year for PC (via Steam and GOG), PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
The remaster will feature 4K resolution; improved shadow mapping, per-pixel lighting, and anti-aliasing; and the restoration of content that was cut from the original game, among other enhancements. “Our goal with the remaster is to give today’s generation of gamers all the features that they expect from a modern title while preserving the qualities that made Valiant’s iconic character and the original Shadow Man game such memorable classics to begin with,” said Stephen Kick, CEO at Nightdive Studios, the outfit handling the remaster.
Shadow Man stars you as supernatural hero Michael LeRoi in the age of Jack the Ripper, where you'll fight demons from the Deadside who are entering our world. The remaster is being powered by Nightdive's KEX engine – the same one used in the recent remasters of System Shock, Turok, and Forsaken. A new comic book series is also in the world, with Shadowman #1 set for a May 20 release.
IGN gave the original Shadow Man a 9.1 out of 10 back in 1999.
One by one, Nightdive Studios is rescuing early 3D games from obscurity. Earlier this year we learned that Shadow Man, an Acclaim action game from 1999, is getting the full remaster treatment in Nightdive's internal Kex Engine. Now we've gotten a proper look at it in a new trailer that debuted at the PC Gaming Show.
Shadow Man seems to mostly be a game about blasting monsters with voodoo powers and carrying torches through some very dank environments, though readers of the comic book it's based on may know there's more going on. Shadow Man isn't gonna win any awards for beauty, but it's noticeably crisp in Nightdive's engine. The remaster supports up to 4K resolution, and also has some substantial graphical updates around light and shadows and added anti-aliasing and ambient occlusion.
There are a few other interesting bullet points in Nightdive's update as well:
Updated gameplay and enhancements
Restored lost content
Tweaked/improved AI
It's exciting to see a remaster able to dig up and restore discarded bits of a game two decades after it was made, and even some small tweaks to AI and controls can make a big difference in making an old game feel playable today.
We don't have a set date for Shadow Man, but earlier this year Nightdive told us to expect it in early 2021. Here's a pile of screenshots for a closer look.
Originally Posted by IGN
Shadow Man, the fan-favorite action-adventure game originally developed by Acclaim and released for N64 (and later PC, PlayStation, and Dreamcast), will be remastered and re-released sometime next year for PC (via Steam and GOG), PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
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