Predominantly, she has a grappling hook to help navigate the terrain and pull over crates and barrels to cause distractions, and on the whole is a hell of a lot of fun. Shadwen also has various gadgets and tools at her disposal, each of which can be crafted by finding components scattered throughout the levels. On the off-chance you get caught, or want to try things a bit more cleanly, there’s also the ability to rewind time to undo any mistakes you might have made. This gives you the freedom to assess your situation, find hiding spots quickly, and plan exactly how you’re going to deal with the guards between you and the exit. The central gameplay hook of Shadwen will sound familiar for those who’ve played Superhot: time only moves when you do. I hope Frozenbyte builds on the lore of Shadwen, because what’s there is both special and criminally underutilised. There’s so much that’s simply hinted at that I often found myself sat in a bush for far too long, just to hear what the guards were chatting about. I want to explore the reports of spirits attacking soldiers, and delve deeper into the fantastical elements sat just beneath the surface. I’d love to see more of the city, how the famine has affected things, and the obvious tensions between the social classes. While the immediate plot and cast are pretty naff, and I really struggled to care about a six-year-old’s ponderings on the intricacies of good versus evil, the world everything happens in is fascinating. One of the areas where Shadwen does best is in its world-building. Fortunately, she can’t die and can even easily squeeze through small gaps to help out, but she can be scarred for life if she sees a dead body, changing the direction of the game’s story. Lethal and non-lethal options are available, but there’s a catch: Lily has to come too.

Gone are the campy and bright characters of Trine Shadwen is gruesome, blood-thirsty, and gritty.Įach level has the same basic goal of getting to the end of the level undetected by any means necessary. It’s a lot darker than Frozenbyte’s most well-known series. Shadwen takes place in a famine-ravished city that’s recently been occupied by an enemy, and it’s up to skilled assassin Shadwen and a small orphan girl named Lily to sneak through it and put a stop to the king. Unfortunately, while it shows promise, maybe Frozenbyte is a bit too eager to get this one out. There’s a fantastic stealth game in there somewhereįrozenbyte really doesn’t waste any time, does it? Less than a year after Trine 3 was released, the developer is back with timey-wimey stealth game Shadwen.

Shadwen non lethal