It can be argued that the survival horror genre has become quite stale these days. Resident Evil, Carrier, Dino Crisis, Alone In The Dark, Silent Hill and others, crowd a genre that has seen little creativity as of late. Dont get me wrong, Im a fan of Resident Evil but I think the formula is getting old, and is need of a serious make over. Shadow Of Destiny from Konami has taken the usual surival concept, and added a unique twist. What theyve come up with is a very original game, but one that is not without its problems.

You are Eike Kusch, and you are having a bad day. Unfortunately for Eike, a bad day for him isnt just losing a job or a girlfriend, no sir, Eike has a habit of dying. Eikes destiny for that day is to die, and theres nothing you can do about it. Or is there? After being stabbed to death while walking down the street, you awake to find yourself in a strange room. Even stranger, is the voice that confronts you, telling you what has happened. The voice tells you that you are destined to die, but if you are strong willed, you can prevent it from happening. Needless to say, Eike is a bit hesitant at first to believe he has died, and then to believe that he can do something about it. Realizing he has no choice but to accept his opportunity to live, Eike is taken back to a time shortly before his death.

This is where things get interesting. Youve only got a certain amount of time before you will be stabbed in the back while walking down the street. After speaking to a local psychic, Eike learns that his best bet at avoiding death is to have a crowd around him so the assailant cant get to him. This is the essence of the game. After surviving one brush with death, it is inevitable that Eike dies from something else. Eventually youll overcome your destiny and live happily ever after, or will you? The game features multiple endings, which vary based upon the choices that youve made.

Graphically, the game is above average, but not outstanding. The town that the game begins in is nicely laid out, and well designed. The buildings are all realistic looking, the stores are filled with things to buy, and even the art museum is filled with paintings that can be admired. However, not all buildings are filled with things for you to look at, some are quite barren. Its hard to describe what it is about certain places that make them not quite right, but I got the feeling more than once. As you travel through time, your surroundings will change to reflect the period. You can travel to the 1500s, 1800s, and even the good old 1980s. I dont think it is possible to eradicate New Kids On The Block, but if youre in the 80s you might as well try.

Most of the games cut-scenes utilize the in-game engine. With the power of the Playstation2, they are more than adequate, though some aliasing is apparent on the characters. The people that you encounter are all unique looking, and easy to remember. This comes in handy at times when you run across somebody that you recognize from another time or place.

The biggest problem I had with the way the game looked, was with the object that allowed me all to see it, the camera. Even though the game is not an action-platformer, the camera is an issue. As you are walking around town, trying not to get run over, or stabbed, its easy to become disoriented. Its possible to rotate the camera using either the L1 or R1 button, but the camera turns too slowly to be much of a help. The R2 button allows you to center the camera quickly, but it would have been much better to have a camera that was up to the original task. Indoors the problem is slightly different, but its still the cameras fault. After entering a room, its often impossible to see the entire room, which in turn makes it very difficult to navigate a large house or building. There is an option to switch to a first-person mode and look around the room to find a way out, but after switching back to third-person it is difficult to regain ones bearings. The camera wont ruin the game, and youll never die because of it, but it is annoying.

Shadow Of Destiny is more a thinking mans game than a shooting mans, so when there are lulls in the action, it relies heavily on music to help set the mood. Konami realized how instrumental (no pun intended) music could be in implying that your impending doom was near. The game doesnt have a huge movie-like soundtrack, instead it relies on slow, foreboding pieces to set the mood. Its similar to the music found in Tomb Raider, except it is used much more frequently. There are some nice sound effects used throughout the game. The person whom is trying to help you, Homoculous, has an eerie voice that echoes through all your speakers, if you are fortunate enough to have a surround system. Other sound effects such as doors, fires, and footsteps, all sound like the real thing, and help keep the mood.

Since we are essentially watching a story unfold, the voices telling the story had better be good, and for the most part they are. Eikes performance is solid, but nothing outstanding. Some of the other characters like the fortuneteller, or the owner of the museum are very well done. Of course, there are a few that arent so good, but they are minor characters, so theyll only annoy you from time to time. I suppose every game has to have its annoying bratty children, and this game is no exception.

As you can tell by now, youre goal is to survive the day and live a full life. Utilizing a Digipad to travel back and forth through time, it is possible to change things in the past that can keep you from dying in the present. Each time you successfully cheat death, a chapter comes to a close and the next one begins. Each chapter begins with your death and subsequent resurrection. Each new hour you live brings you one step closer to learning not only about your fate, but the fate of others around you. The game wouldnt be too exciting if thats all there were to do, so Eike, like any good protagonist does, meets several people during the course of the game that require his help. Whether you choose to help these people will affect other things in the future, and eventually which ending you see. Tasks range from getting a kitten, saving a building from fire, and many other things.

The controls of the game are simple enough, movement is done by using the left analog stick, square allows you to select items, triangle brings up a map, and x is and action button. The Digipad is very easy to use which is a good thing considering how often it is utilized. When an opportunity to travel through time arises, it will glow, telling you when to go. The Digipad does require one Energy Unit to work, and you have to collect these to keep it powered. The EUs are scattered throughout the city no matter what the time period, so theyre not difficult to find. Once mastering using the Digipad, its up to you to save yourself as described in the reviews introduction.

Shadow Of Destinys main fault is that it totally relies on ones ability to engross themselves in the storyline. While most games do this, the sometimes flimsy plotlines of the game have the potential to ruin the game for many people. Many of the scenarios in which Eike finds himself are easily escapable simply by being in a different place, however the game forces you to take more elaborate measures. For example, to avoid getting stabbed in the back, you must travel through time to find a pan to put in the back of your shirt to keep the knife from breaking the skin. Of course it would be much simpler to get a pan from the present, or just go somewhere else and not get stabbed. How quickly you accept the fact that youve got to go back a hundred years just to get a frying pan, is how quickly you will start enjoying the game. The storyline is much more cohesive towards the end, and the somewhat weak original premise is strengthened by the relationships forged with the games characters. This is what makes the game good, its ending, not the beginning.

This is one of the few games where its truly worth the time to play again to see the different endings. The first ending I got was the D ending, and while it was good, it wasnt the upbeat happy ending I was hoping for, so I tried again. After beating the game, an Extra menu appears on the main screen, and from there you can watch the different endings youve earned or see what level of completion you achieved during a particular chapter. This is where the game gets its huge amount of replay. Just doing a small thing like not telling someone about the future can change the whole rest of the game, and by playing again and doing the opposite of what you did the first time, its possible to create a whole new path for yourself. The game gives you the ability to save using multiple spots, so you can save before making an important decision, and then play the game differently from that point if you choose to do so later. After playing through the game several times, it would be nice to skip the cut-scenes that youve seen before, but you cant. Maybe the sequel will let us do this.

If you are able to get into the story, Shadow Of Destiny is a very good game. Despite the fact that it can be beaten rather quickly the first time through, youll never fell cheated because there are so many different endings to the game. Shadows main faults are its hard to believe premise, and its somewhat linear beginning chapters. If the beginning chapters had as many paths as the latter ones, the game would be much easier to get into, and be much more popular with those that have fleeting attention spans. Sadly those that dismiss the game after an hour and take it back to Blockbuster or EB are missing one heck of a game.