All right, the title for this comment doesn't mean that's a bad thing. This is not like other Sonic games because it's a Shadow game. The game is made to personify Shadow's character; a confused hedgehog capable of great and terrible things. The game is much darker than others and has a much more involved storyline that finally ties up all the loose ends left in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes.
Story: The story is a bit out there, even for a Sonic game, but it's still a great one. The story opens up with Shadow trying to remember his past, the only thing he can remember is the gruesome murder of a girl named Maria. As he contemplates this, the sky is filled with blood-shot clouds as aliens known as the Black Arms literally storm down and start killing and destroying everyone and everything. Laser cannons begin to shoot out from the sky, causing mass destruction. The leader, Black-Doom, then approaches Shadow and tells him to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds and give them to him as part of a promise made long ago. From there, it's up to you to decide what to do; serve the aliens, help Sonic and Gun, help eggman, or simply collect the emeralds for yourself. Now, this is the basic concept, there is A LOT more going on in this game. The game has 10 different endings and you need to play through them all to understand what Shadow is all about. Once this is done, the final level is opened and this reveals everything from the alien's intentions, to Black-Doom's relation to Shadow, and even mysteries in Sonic Adventure 2 such as why would Gerald create the Eclipse Cannon before he went insane. The story ties everything up nicely and, surprisingly, there are no plot holes. The only complaint I have is that it is extremely difficult to know what event takes place when as there are so many paths to take (Over 300, no joke).
Gameplay: Now the gameplay can either suck or be great depending on which level you're on and which mission you're undertaking. There's really no in between rating for gameplay, it's either great or horrible. The main problem is that even when you have decided which side to serve, characters from opposite sides will randomly show up and tell you to help them even though you decided not to. That and the fact that everyone shoots at you, even the side your helping, making it very hard to make sure that you're serving the side you want to. Lastly, some missions are way too long; some take almost 30 minutes, especially for those who are new to the game. It's bad because the missions before hand are really short, so you're not expecting the next ones to be so long. Other than that, and I know that's a lot, the gameplay is usually very fun, fast, and action oriented. It can just be VERY frustrating at time, which is why I gave this game an 8.
Graphics; FMV are beautiful and are good enough to be mistaken as a fully animated Shadow movie. The action stages have good graphics, but nothing mind blowing. That's pretty much it.
Music&Voices: The music is great, especially the theme songs. Each one reflect Shadow perfectly. Some are sad while others are Gothic and some are cheerful. The action stages have very suitable music too and really makes the game that more enjoyable. In terms of voices, there should only be two to care about; Shadow and Black-Doom. I'm happy to say that, at least in my opinion, that both are fantastically done. Griffith does Shadow which concerned me. He's alright as Sonic in this game, acting is good but voice just doesn't fit, but his acting and voice for Shadow are simply top notch. You can tell he put A LOT of effort in this game. Black-Doom may be even better as this guy gets my vote for best villain since Ganondorf simply on voice. Almost every word from this guy is about the murder and torture of the humans. Great villain and the voice acting has to be heard to be fully appreciated. Other great acting goes to Mike Polluck as Eggman and Gerald Robotnick and the voice acting for the Gun Commander, Maria, and the President are also very well done. So, great game and it is something new and different.
