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Superman: Shadow of Apokolips

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Superman: Shadow of Apokolips
North American PS2 cover art
North American PS2 cover art
Developer(s)Infogrames Sheffield House
Publisher(s)Infogrames[a]
Producer(s)David Abrams
Designer(s)Michael Traquair
Programmer(s)Ian Badcoe
Artist(s)Mark Sweeney
Composer(s)Red Mustard Productions
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, GameCube
ReleasePlayStation 2
GameCube
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Superman: Shadow of Apokolips is a video game that was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube consoles. It was developed by Infogrames Sheffield House, published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name, and released in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. It is based on the television series Superman: The Animated Series.

Plot

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Believing Intergang to be starting up again, Superman learns that beings causing chaos throughout Metropolis are, in fact, a group of robots using Intergang's old methods. These "Interbots" have access to very high-grade weaponry, which is powerful enough to seriously injure or even kill the Man of Steel. These bots are being ordered by a leader that is later revealed to be Lex Luthor, who is secretly working with Darkseid.

Finding that the weapons come from Apokolips, Superman sets out to destroy the bots, and their weapons, having to fight a multitude of enemies that Luthor sends after him. Parasite, Metallo, and Livewire contracted to kill Superman to allow the bots free rein to obey Luthor's wishes.

Design

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The game featured designs reflecting the look and feel of Superman: The Animated Series. The story was advanced by a series of cut scenes that were created using cel-shaded animation in order to further emulate the look of traditional animation. The original Animated Series voice cast all returned to their roles for the game, featuring Tim Daly as Clark Kent / Superman, Dana Delany as Lois Lane, Lori Petty as Livewire, Malcolm McDowell as Metallo, Michael York as Kanto, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. Darkseid and Parasite from the series also appeared, but they were not played by Michael Ironside and the late Brion James respectively, but instead by Kevin Michael Richardson and Brian George (George would later voice Parasite in Justice League).

Development and release

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In September 2000, Infogrames picked up the license to publish and develop Superman video games from Titus Interactive under a new deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[6]

At E3 2002, Infogrames revealed Shadow of Apokolips as a PlayStation 2 title, based on Superman: The Animated Series, alongside its unrelated Xbox companion game Superman: The Man of Steel, which was based on the comic books.[7]

Infogrames published a GameCube port of the game in March 2003.[8] The GameCube version, also handled by Infogrames Sheffield House, includes many additional features and improvements over the PlayStation 2 version, featuring three selectable difficulty settings, Widescreen, Progressive Scan and Dolby Pro Logic II support, additions of secret items in every level where cheat codes can be unlocked, a free-roaming mode where the player can explore Metropolis at their own free will, enhanced boss AI, and a "Making of" movie featuring the game's development and beta elements.[9]

Reception

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The game received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Prior to release, an air of apprehension surrounded the title due to the failure of the 1999 Superman video game, also based on the animated show. GameSpot praised the game's presentation, saying "...the Man of Steel has never looked or moved better", while panning the mechanics behind the game: "He's faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and can be trapped in walls because of poor collision detection: He's Superman!"[19] IGN felt it was the superior title to the Xbox counterpart, Superman: The Man of Steel, but calling it an "average superhero game".[24] Entertainment Weekly, however, gave the game a C− and wrote: "What keeps the game from taking off is the overly simplistic episodic nature of the missions set before you...The wacky control configuration also makes your heat vision, ice breath, X-ray vision, and superspeed incredibly difficult to use on the fly".[29]

GameRankings gave the game a score of 65.46% for the PlayStation 2 version[10] and 64.37% for the GameCube version,[11] while Metacritic gave it a score of 64 out of 100 for the PS2 version[13] and 66 out of 100 for the GameCube version.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Infogrames: Godzilla versus Superman". Eurogamer. October 16, 2002.
  2. ^ "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips". IGN. Archived from the original on July 2, 2004. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  3. ^ "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips". Game Nation. Archived from the original on July 31, 2003. Retrieved July 18, 2024. Superman: Shadow of Apokolips is due for release on PlayStation 2 on the 22nd of November, so look out for it on retail shelves shortly!
  4. ^ Bramwell, Tom (May 2, 2003). "What's New?". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  5. ^ "Atari Ships Superman: Shadow of Apokolips and Superman: Countdown to Apokolips". GameZone. March 26, 2003. Archived from the original on December 31, 2004. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "Infogrames Picks up Superman". 8 September 2000.
  7. ^ "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips - PS2 - Preview". 4 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Atari Brings Superman to Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance". 4 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Atari Brings Superman to Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance". 4 May 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  11. ^ a b "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips for GameCube". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  12. ^ a b "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  13. ^ a b "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips Critic Reviews for PlayStation". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  14. ^ Weiss, Brett Alan. "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (PS2) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2015-07-04.
  15. ^ "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 161. December 2002. p. 218.
  16. ^ Reiner, Andrew (November 2002). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (PS2)". Game Informer. No. 115. p. 113. Archived from the original on 2004-08-24. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  17. ^ "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (GC)". Game Informer. No. 121. May 2003. p. 87.
  18. ^ The D-Pad Destroyer (2002-10-03). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2006-01-18. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  19. ^ a b Varanini, Giancarlo (2002-10-03). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  20. ^ Varanini, Giancarlo (2003-03-28). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips Review (GC)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  21. ^ Villoria, Gerald (2002-10-14). "GameSpy: Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (PS2)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  22. ^ Williams, Bryn (2003-04-12). "GameSpy: Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (GCN)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  23. ^ Knutson, Michael (2002-10-08). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  24. ^ a b Perry, Douglass C. (2002-09-26). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (PS2)". IGN. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  25. ^ Lewis, Cory D. (2003-04-02). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (GC)". IGN. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  26. ^ Bickham, Jes (June 2003). "Superman of Apokolips". NGC Magazine. No. 81. p. 48. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  27. ^ "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips". Nintendo Power. Vol. 168. May 2003. p. 138.
  28. ^ "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. December 2002. p. 174.
  29. ^ a b Bernardin, Marc (2002-10-04). "Superficial (Terminator: Dawn of Fate; Superman: Shadow of Apokolips)". Entertainment Weekly. No. 675–676. p. 157. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  30. ^ Melville, Richard (February 2003). "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips". PlayStation World. No. 8. p. 70. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  1. ^ Released under the Atari brand name
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