Ever since his debut as director ofSuper Fire Pro Wresting 3 Final Boutin 1993, Goichi “Suda51” Suda has long been one of the most polarizing figures in the gaming industry. While many of Suda’s games have been regarded as classics with major followings, such asThe Silver Case,No More Heroes, andKiller7,Grasshopper Manufacture’s games have seen mixed success in the west. Now, after finishing work onNo More Heroes 3, Suda51 has teased that he might be returning to the world ofShadows of the Damned, the 2011 action-horror shooter developed in collaboration withResident Evilcreator Shinji Mikami.
Suda’s relationship withthe originalShadows of the Damnedhas a long historyspanning all the way back to 2006, just after Grasshopper Manufacture had finished up working onKiller7with Capcom. Originally envisioned as a survival horror game calledKurayami, the game was revealed in a 2006 issue of Edge magazine. After being unable to find a publisher for the project, Suda eventually pitched it to EA, who agreed to publish it, but eventually rejected five versions of the game’s original drafts before it eventually becameShadows of the Damned, which ended up being far different from what Suda had originally envisioned forKurayami.
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Shadows of the Damnedended up having a very troubled development, eventually taking three years to complete and with Mikami and Suda publicly commenting on their disappointment with how much EA changed the game from its initial pitch to release. Suda even claimed that he believed that EA lied to him about liking the initial pitch due to how many changes they forced him and the team to make. All of this is to say that it’s somewhat surprising to hear that, in a recent interview with Destructoid, Suda revealed thatGrasshopper Manufacture has acquired the rights toShadows of the Damnedand are planning to grow the IP moving forward.
When asked if it is possible that characters fromNo More Heroes 3such as Midori Midorikawa (who originates fromThe 25th Ward: The Silver Case) andShadows of the Damnedwill return in future Grasshopper Manufacture games, Suda explained Grasshopper Manufacture is free to do whatever it wants with them moving forward, as well as characters fromShadows of the Damned. This explains theShadows of the Damned-inspired level fromTravis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, which positioned itself as a sequel to the original game.
Understandably, a lot would have to change with a sequel toShadows of the Damned. Many elements of the original game have not aged well, including its protagonist Garcia Hotspur, who is voiced by a non-latino actor. Much of the game’s writing relies on sexist humor, a trope Grasshopper Manufacture has seemed to outgrow since the release ofKiller is Dead. Regardless, it appears a sequel toShadows of the Damnedis on the cards, let’s hopeShinji Mikami andSilent Hillcomposer Akira Yamaokahave also freed their schedules accordingly.
Shadows of the Damnedis available for PS3 and Xbox 360.
