ShadowBringer

[h1] Horrendously bad AI, you can just sweep next to guards and they don't even fart. Bring them in the air and jump from place to place. Collect keycard to unlock next door. 3 levels, not too much. In general avoid or become shadow of yourself. [/h1]

"ShadowBringer" is one of literally thousands of student projects infesting Steam. It's from DigiPen. While student projects tend to be better quality than most "amateur" games, we must still question what value they have for gamers. This isn't a fully fleshed out game. It's the result of an academic exercise and has much more limited value than a professionally developed game. Educational institutions should not be using Steam as a dumping ground for homework assignments. It helps their marketing and makes students feel good, but it puts the business before the needs of gamers. This is one of those student projects that's upsetting. Not because it's garbage, but because this could and should have been a real, fully developed game. This first person stealth game has a really compelling theme... you're a monster escaping from some facility, stealth around... this is one of those student projects, if it was a real game, would have been AAA and made stacks of cash. Instead, we get a short demo for a game that will never be made. That's teasing and disappointing. The game is quite short, and can be run through in just 30 minutes. The lack of content here makes it hard to sugg…

I walked leisurely through the first level, and my interactions with the second brought on a desire for more immersive flair in lieu of difficulty before I got slightly lost because the keypad and door are separate objects. The third level tested my patience with several attempts burned on failing to escape after self destructing; one especially tragic misfortune was teleporting and getting trapped underneath the stairs, which didn't block the light's damage; I suppose that's ultimately preferable from actually getting stuck and needing to restart the entire game. The game is a thoroughly tread path of stealthy Nerve mazers versus spotlights, offering its unique motif of light exposure acting directly as a health bar. In the second level I encountered several small lights which I felt should have an effect on me, perhaps only part of the damage's visual and somatic effects with none of the damage, to create consistency for the character and to initiate the player on being in light for short periods in order to complete certain tasks or escape enemies. The third level had a satisfying challenge, although the late inclusion of the shield guards felt too slight; since they already pe…

really good

I think the game is okay. It’s a 3D stealth game where you, a [REDACTED] subject, need to escape the facility. You have two abilities to help you, but beware of the light—it’s not kind. There’s some lore for world-building if that’s your thing. It’s not a horror game, so it isn’t creepy at all, but it’s still fun to play. If you like short, stealthy sci-fi games, you’ll probably enjoy this. Not to mention, it’s free.

z