Please login to submit a screenshot

Title Shadow of the Beast 3
Publisher Psygnosis/Reflections, 1993
Game Type General Action
Compatibility Not A1200, but patch available
HD Installable Yes (With Patch)
Submission William Payne

Review
By the time Beast 3 was released, the series' appeal had begun to wane,
and this instalment was never as successful as either of its predecessors.
Beast 1 knocked us out with its graphics, Beast 2 revived us by getting
our brains into gear with some pretty tricky puzzles (possibly the only
game ever that was made more playable by inputting an invulnerability
cheat) and Beast 3, well, we glanced at the screenshots, didn't really see
anything new, and pretty much left it at that.

The main character has again evolved, from a proper beast in the first
game, to more human, if slightly Neanderthal appearing guy in the second
one to a proper, clothes-wearing man vaguely reminiscent of Indiana Jones
in the third instalment. The gameplay remains pretty much the same though,
presented as a side-on four-way scrolling graphic adventure which builds
on the puzzle-solving elements introduced in Beast 2. The game doesn't
seem quite as complete, though, and never made as significant a
contribution to the Amiga games scene as either of the others. It already
seemed too passé, way too eighties. Beast 1 seemed pretty dated, gameplay
wise, when it was released, and with no significant advances seen here, it
was never going to do well in the harsh world of Amiga gaming in 1993.
The four quests that needed to be completed could be tackled in any order,
but they were all pretty short in terms of actual number of puzzles. One
improvement over its predecessors was that it did actually seem like a
feasible game to complete without using an infinite life cheat. The
frequency with which the enemies attacked was slightly lowered and you
started the game with more than one life. These minor tweaks weren't
enough to raise it above the classification of distinctly average, nor to
remove the tired, seen-it-all before sleep from the player's eyes.

"Third time's a charm...of sorts"

Beast 1 set a landmark in Amiga history with its outstanding graphics and technological feats few else were able to reproduce on the same system. Beast 2 upped the ante; although it lost its predecessor's marvelous 3-D feel, it gained 8-way scrolling, richly detailed monsters, and a difficulty almost unheard of. And then there's Beast 3.

As story goes, Beast 3 is our hero's final chapter to rid himself of the elusive Maletoth. Maletoth, the Beast Lord who enslaved him years ago and turned the hero into his hideous messenger, has finally found himself weakened. With his forces in ruins and his mage Zelek destroyed (thanks to you in Beast 2), Maletoth has gone into hiding, trying to gain his powers back.

Meanwhile, Aarbron (whose name has finally been revealed in this episode) has saved his baby sister from Zelek's grasp. While sleeping, he receives a message from a mage Maletoth has kept imprisoned for years. The mage explains that Maletoth is ripe for destruction, and rewards Aarbron with the recovery of his full humanity (as opposed to the caveman-like form he had in Beast 2) and a one-way trip on an airplane back to Karamoon. The mage says he can create a spell to destroy Maletoth, but he needs ingredients to do it. Aarbron must journey to four areas of Karamoon and collect these items for the final showdown with Maletoth himself.

By itself, Beast 3 offers little in the way of 'newness'; rather, it finally took the best of its brethren and put it together in a cohesive, immersive environment. And yet, something is missing this time around.

It's certainly not in the graphics. For this installment, Reflections combined the eight-way parallax scrolling of the second game, the first game's multiple planes of perspective, and a new eerie, sepia-tone feel that expands on both of these ideals. With fewer enemies in this entry, more detail was added to the individual monsters, allowing for some...well, creative ideas. Take the skeletons, for example, that tear their heads off and throw them at anyone who passes by. The main character himself is now dressed for adventure...no loincloth this time, but an honest-to-god set of pants, fedora, and whi--I mean, shurikens to help him along. The backgrounds, although murkier than the previous games, still have that surreal landscape down pat. And Reflections didn't disappoint on the little touches here and there (the twisted, deformed statues et al...though some of them seem a little too obvious this time around).

It's not the sound effects or the music. While the music overall doesn't evoke in quite the same way it did in the earlier games (although I have to say the Forest level music is, in my opinion, one of the best in the series), the sound effects are outstanding. The shuriken weapon makes a boomerang sound as it flies out, with a satisfying 'BOOM!' when something explodes. Pet monsters bark, fireballs whistle, cranes whine while they operate...granted, there aren't a great many DIFFERENT sound effects in the game, but the ones used are crisp and add to the experience rather than take it away.

It's not the gameplay. While Aarbron's jump is still a little funky, it's certainly a lot better than the first two games. Taking a hint from Beast 2 rather than 1, Aarbron turns on a dime and has a basic weapon attack with serious range. The puzzles, although sometimes hard, are MUCH more forgiving than the earlier games. Added to this is an option that if you screw up a puzzle, you can hit a key and go back to the last time the game loaded, instead of dying and starting the game over again. You get 3 (count 'em, 3) lives to spare through the game, and between levels, if a bottle still has a little health left in it, the bottle gets replenished to full capacity. The enemies are far less numerous, though their placement still doesn't make much sense at times. The ambitious (but at times overly complicated) ''Ask'' system for Beast 2 was removed in 3.

What is it, then? Maybe it's just the sense of wonder that the first two games had. While Reflections did attempt to make the game may look less linear than the other two by splitting the game up into four sections that can be visited in (almost) any order from a main screen, you still have to go from the forest, castle fortress, cavernous wastelands, and a factory/zoo/museum in that order if you want complete the game. Granted, it does make the world a bit easier to go through...how many thought to start the game by going to the left in Beasts 1 & 2? None of you? Ah, good. But the sense of a coherent, fully explorable world was lost. Yes, you could get yourself into trouble going all over the fields of Maletoth's Citadel or the wild plains of Karamoon, but the freedom of it added so much depth. With the hub system, and the fact you are still essentially railed to completion, breaks that element of having an entire fantasy world to explore.

But enough negativity. Do I like the game? Yes, I do. It's a blast, and probably the only one of the series with serious replayability, since it is easy compared to 1 & 2. Is it beautiful? Yes. While it doesn't have the sheer Wow factor of 1 or the vibrancy of 2, it has a visual aesthete that's all its own.

The problem was, by 1992, the PC world was growing, and the Amiga was getting left behind in the dust. In 3 years, Commodore would go bankrupt. Although a worthy end to Aarbron's journey, it was largely forgotten in the rush.

Plus, it had quite a reputation to live up to. Its predecessors won major awards for their daring, their difficulty, and their art. Beast 3 was...well, Beast 3. When it wasn't exactly like the others, it didn't do well.

If you can find it, get your hands on it, but remember: this game is NOT Beast 1 & 2. It's a simple, easy to get into platformer with great graphics, good sound, good controls, and intriguing puzzles. It's a sequel, and at that, it does very well.

GRAPHICS: 9
The tone is right for the series...we still get our weirded out land of Karamoon, but with some new twists in monster design and color scheme. Aarbron looks as good as he ever did.

SOUND: 8
The music isn't quite on par with the emotive works in 1 & 2 (esp. 1), but work for the game. The Forest theme is great and the sound effects are good.

CONTROL: 8
This is the true strong point. Most of the kinks have finally been worked out. Switching between items is now done via hitting the space bar (which takes out a lot of unnecessary guess work, I can tell you), jumping is a bit more precise (though not perfect by any means), and hitting the action button...well, does the appropriate action. Very streamlined, very efficient, very appreciated.

OVERALL: 8
Not much more to say here than I said above. An interesting, beatable, but in the end, merely 'good' game. Reflections and Psygnosis did good, but this Beast might have arrived just a little too late to be fully enjoyed.


Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 10/15/03