Review Summary: I can't remember what I used to be.
There’s an entire collection of reasons as to why
Shadow the Hedgehog, as a video game, does not work. However, its successes and failures as a narrative, as a video game, as a chance to explore new territory are all immaterial to the actual problem at hand: it all lacks a soul. It was too dark, too chaotic, and tried too hard to be edgy and dramatic, tried too hard to be something that it couldn't possibly be – it’s not even a little bit surprising audiences responded to it poorly. It was too dark to sell, and as a result, it shows in the music SEGA sound director Jun Senoue helped compose for the game. Ironically,
Shadow Soundtrax is one of the least interesting soundtracks in SEGA’s library, which is disappointing, considering how diverse and ambitious the music was in Sonic games, especially Shadow's 3D predecessors.
The problem isn’t that the music is too grim and edgy for a series known for its good vibes and mirth – it's just incredibly repetitive and uninteresting. Gone are the diverse, ambitious melodies that accompanied the stages in the two Sonic Adventure games – instead, we have heavy riffs, downtuned guitars and bass with the occasional synth mixed in. For heavy as tracks like “Westopolis”, “Central City”, “Black Bull”, and “Iron Jungle” are, they don’t possess a shred of ingenuity; it’s like Senoue and his team weren’t even trying this time around. The musicianship is perfect, esp. in the guitar area, but that means little to nothing if the tunes themselves have no creativity. Even admittedly catchy tunes like the bass-heavy “Space Gadget” and the mellow “Air Fleet” simply lack substance, and after a while, it becomes grating.
In regards to the vocal tracks (something that has been done in Sonic for quite a while), there are a total of seven of them (one of them doesn’t even count – it is a barely-noticeable remix of a song from Sonic Adventure 2’s soundtrack), and they vary in quality and substance as well. “Almost Dead” is jawdroppingly terrible – performed by industrial metal band Powerman 5000, the riff is heavy for the sake of being heavy, and the lyrics are so laughably pessimistic they’re cringe-worthy. “I Am All Of Me” (Crush 40) is a different monster altogether, a pounding, minor-key tune that, while catchy and noticeably more powerful than “Almost Dead”, suffers from the exact same problems. “All Hail Shadow” (Magna-Fi) and “Never Turn Back” (again, Crush 40) are much more brightly-paced rockers, much more enjoyable ones, too, but they have a very formulaic, generic structure.
In the midst of all this, though, there are some seriously good songs; while the album itself is far from smooth or streamlined, you’re bound to find a great tune or two in between the bad ones. “G.U.N. Fortress” is the best tune on the whole soundtrack, an ambient, soothing jazz tune that’s set to the most hostile, violent level on the game - it is simple, but it is exciting in its simplicity, a breath of fresh air from all the crushing rock / thrash metal beforehand. “The Last Way” is a thrilling, tense song, with its restless electronics and orchestral accompaniment; “Mad Matrix” is an electronic rock gem, and “Final Haunt” is an unexpected delight – it is very upbeat and groovy - reminiscent, even, of the classic 90’s Sonic games.
The bulk of the huge soundtrack is in the number of “Event” tracks that it has, and most of them range from under a minute to almost two minutes; while they are primarily forgettable and serve only to add background, there are some standouts as well, such as a piano track (“If What You Say Is True”), upbeat electronics (“The Real Truth”, “I Refuse”, “Ending – Android”) and the like. And, while most of the vocal tracks are forgettable, “Chosen One” (Mona Lisa Overdrive) is a bitter, brooding ballad that is by far and away one of the best songs on the soundtrack – it marries a slow, minimalistic riff and beat to some admittedly very good, if melodramatic, lyrics.
“I can't remember what I used to be
Something's turning me upside down
You made me, and I love you
But I can't change the things I've done (I'm the chosen one)”
This was no way to keep the company alive – even if
Shadow had turned a profit, the fact remains that the soundtrack on this game is as dire and dull as the game is - it lacks a soul. There are imaginative touches, bursts of creativity and good songwriting, in spades, but as a whole the thing is difficult to swallow because it simply isn’t engaging or intriguing enough to leave much of an impression. Whereas the previous soundtrack in Sonic the Hedgehog’s very impressive music library had a wide berth of good songs with a handful of bad ones in between,
Shadow flips this ideal, with a vast array of mediocre songs interspersed with good ones. Too much metal, not enough creativity, and a general lack of inspiration absolutely smother what could have been a decent attempt into darker territory.
