It has recently been announced that Nightdive studios will be bringing the classic Blade Runner experience to modern day consoles later this year. But not content on just delivering that icon of the gaming and film industries, Nightdive have also today confirmed that thanks to a new partnership with Valiant Entertainment, the beloved Shadow Man will also arrive.
Shadow Man is the brave and powerful supernatural hero who protects humanity from the sinister demons that lurk in the Deadside and spill into our world. The original game was developed by Acclaim Studios and published for the PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast way back in 1999, before being thought of a something of a lost classic. That was until it was published again by Nightdive on PC in 2014.
Now though a fully remastered version of the game will be coming to Xbox, PlayStation and Switch in 2021, as the Shadowman comic series returns. The remastered edition will also be coming to Windows PC via the Steam and GOG platforms.
With Valiant Entertainment the home to the third-largest connected universe in comics, behind Marvel and DC, with over 2,000 characters, anticipation for some Shadow Man love is most certainly high. If you’re up for taking a ride into the unexplored territories of the human psyche as you try to stop a marauding band of villains from unleashing unspeakable horrors upon the world as we know it, then this is going to be the game for you.
“As part of our continued growth into the video game industry, we’re happy to bring Valiant fans this immensely popular Shadow Man character as the next title we release,” said Dan Mintz, Chairman and CEO of Valiant Entertainment. “Using this platform allows the Valiant fans to experience and explore the universe creatively.”
Much like that of Blade Runner, we will find Shadow Man updated using Nightdive’s KEX engine which has been used to restore the likes of System Shock: Enhanced Edition, Turok, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Blood: Fresh Supply, and Forsaken Remastered, previously.
And as you would expect to hear, the Remastered version adds a host of features in addition to console support:
- 4K widescreen display
- Dynamic shadow mapping
- Dynamic per-pixel lighting
- Antialiasing, and other post-process effects
- Higher density of particle effects
- Refined art, audio, and assets
- Refined gameplay experience
- Reintroduction of missing content cut from the original game
- Xbox, PS4, Controller Pro support
- HDR Rendering
Stephen Kick, CEO at Nightdive Studios explained: “Our goal with the remaster is to give today’s generation of gamers all the features that they expect from a modern title while preserving the qualities that made Valiant’s iconic character and the original Shadow Man game such memorable classics to begin with.”
If you’re a fan then you’ll be glad to hear that Shadowman will also have a brand-new comic book series coming out later this year. From master of horror Cullen Bunn (Venom) and bone-chilling artist Jon Davis-Hunt (The Wildstorm), SHADOWMAN #1 will release on May 20th. Just hit up your local comic shop to preorder a copy now.
We will of course bring you as much up-to-date info surrounding the remastering of Shadow Man as and when we can. For now though, hold tight as 2021 will be here before you know it.
