When songwriters collaborate, it is generally a hit or miss factor yet actors collaborate all the time, but very rarely will you have two game developers collaborate in such a high-profile way. Shinji Mikami; best known for being the father of the modern survival horror game and Suda 51; best known for stylish yet bizarre concepts have joined forces to bring us Shadows of the Damned. I took the opportunity to attend a small gathering to see whether or not too many game developers spoils the broth.

I took the role of Garcia, a demon hunter whose girl Paula has been snatched by a demon going by the name of Flemming and his hellish forces. Starting in what looks like a hotel room, the game showed me the many similarities that this game will have with Resident Evil 4/5. Appropriate really since the creator of that series is Shinji Mikami is involved in this project. What is apparent from this tutorial level is that the action is a higher octane than that of previous survival horror games with fast paced action and quick reflexes required to avoid getting hit.

The game then shifts to an abandoned town with what looks a little Victorian. It becomes apparent though that as you master the principle of the light gun attack, that the undead roam freely and are slightly peckish. It turns out that this is the Underworld, where there is a constant battle against darkness and light. Most people would go into these hellish situations of despair with guns or some form of melee weapon. Garcia however has his own personal demon, and here is where I am not joking; it’s called Johnson (insert jokes here). Thankfully though, Johnson turns into many strange and wonderful objects of destruction such as a torch to beat things down with or a firearm such as a pistol or shotgun. It is a particularly satisfying visual pleasure when you make a headshot not because you might get a slow motion scene, but because of the fountain that subsequently forms from the absence of a cranium plugging in vital fluids. Some enemies however catch onto this shenanigans and put on a mask to protect their heads from your gun; spoil sports.

Darkness probably plays the most important role though. When you step into pitch blackness, it actually hurts you. To get rid of it permanently you need to trigger a light source or collect… hearts. Not cute hearts like in Zelda, no, human hearts. Apparently the human heart, once picked up, makes it so you last longer in the dark without dying. It’s a great little feature that is prominent in a couple of puzzle sequences. However, with the darkness comes an observation. Goats are a symbol of light? This is a bizarrely twisted game that seems to have its own concept of demonic mythology, and it somehow works because it has the randomness that Suda 51 is known for. This madness comes off in the script as well with banter going from Garcia and Johnson in the entire demo. Curiously though, Garcia spoke random Spanish in certain places which were mostly swearwords. Another bit of random mythology, the effect of alcohol in the underworld is to heal you; so bottles of Sake are your healing items. The boss in the demo was a large beast with a bladed saw that has a huge pod on its back. This pod is apparently filled with human blood and is needed for “larger demons”. Essentially read this as “big target”. While this boss was painfully simple to dispatch once you know how to efficiently use the tools provided, I can see the pod being used in more interesting ways and with increasingly difficult conditions for the boss to expose the pod.

From the looks of things, we could be on to something very special here. The mechanics are very interesting in not just combat but also for puzzles. It’s high octane action that kept me on my toes the entire demo. It is certainly more than a little bizarre with its own take on demon mythology and it certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously. Oddly, it seems that this collaboration has given birth to what is perhaps the most promising original IP of the year.

Shadows of the Damned is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on June 24, 2011.