Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered review: a creative underworld romp marred by misogyny

Still very much a product of its time

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Grasshopper Manufacture

• Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
• Publisher: Grasshopper Manufacture
• Release: October 31st, 2024
• On: Windows
• From: Steam
• Price: £30/€30/$30
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i7-12700F, Nvidia RTX 3080, 16GB RAM, Windows 11

Look up major events in 2011 and there’s some world-changing stuff… and some not so world-changing stuff. Shadows Of The Damned’s Xbox 360/PS3 release may slip into either camp, depending on whether you liked it back in the day or not. It’s a third-person action adventure where two famous video game folks joined forces: No More Heroes ’ Suda51 and Resident Evil’s Shinji Mikami. And to my knowledge, it’s considered a bit of a cult classic.

So, having played Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered after never experiencing the original, do I think it’s any good? If you were a fan of the OG, there’s no doubt you’ll like it. If you’re coming in as a newbie, I think it’s refreshing in the sense it’s a trim throwback with some interesting ideas and middling-to-good execution. But its whole schtick isn’t only a product of its time - it’s actually downright yucky.

You’re Garcia Hotspur, a hot-blooded biker lad whose arms are covered in tattoos and his hair slick with gel. Right from the get-go, his girlfriend Paula is kidnapped from the hotel they’re staying in and dragged into the underworld. Such is Garcia’s love for Paula that he flings himself into the nether portal with one thing on his mind: rescuing her. Thankfully he doesn’t need to rely on his bare fists, because he has a magical gun called… Johnson.

Light shot can also be used as a means to remove the dark cloak from enemies, or a way to stagger them. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Grasshopper Manufacture

Besides being the first of many dick jokes, Johnson is a posh yet wise-cracking skull that acts as a guide through the underworld - which itself is more than just some pools of lava, or a river lined with ghosts. It’s a journey through gothic streets, an oppressive forest, a hellish dimension, some dingy libraries, grimy sewers, and more. It’s actually a rather characterful depiction of a demon realm, if also a procession of primary-coloured areas typical of the era.

And since Resi veteran Mikami worked on the game, Shadows has you control Garcia in a typically Resi way - prior to the remakes , anyway. It’s from an over-the-shoulder perspective, with tank movements and laser sight aiming. A lot of the combat’s tension is driven by the pressure of lining up your shots as demons shamble towards you, and it’s elevated by Garcia’s inability to move while doing so.

I should probably touch quickly on how this remaster varies at all from the original. Well, it runs at 60fps, looks a bit nicer, and has a New Game Plus (you can do multiple playthroughs and keep stuff from previous ones), as well as some new outfits. As I mentioned right at the top of this review, I haven’t played the original so I don’t have a point of reference. Either way, it’s technically fine, running well on both my desktop and my Steam Deck. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Grasshopper Manufacture

And thanks to the influence of No More Heroes’ Suda51, your journey through the underworld keeps you guessing. One of the game’s key gimmicks is the demons’ ability to conjure the darkness, clouding you in an alternate reality that gradually knocks your health bar as you sit within it. Demons, though? They thrive within its cloak, gaining an impenetrable skin that makes them impossible to kill. To counter it early on, you need to use Johnson’s light shot, an alternate fire option that lets you escape the darkness by finding and shooting nearby goat head statues. Doing so clears up the fog and voila, the demons become killable.

Throughout the story, the gimmick deepens. Suddenly the goat statues might be replaced by red veins that lead to crackable orbs. You might need to light fireworks, their explosions giving you temporary respite. Maybe there’s a massive hand spewing darkness and you’ll need to dip in and out of dark zones to find the right path to close it. There’s even weird anglerfish/slug hybrids that can help you traverse dimly lit spots.

The variety on offer keeps things from becoming stale, and I like how exploration is largely a bunch of arcade scenarios spliced together. Sometimes they have very little cohesion, but by virtue of the game’s bonkersness they end up kinda just working out.

If all the shooting and complete lack of scares didn’t make it obvious, Shadows is very much an action game first and a horror game (very distantly) second. One where 99% of your time will be spent shooting armoured demons, skittery bastards, big brutes, and bizarro bosses with clearly labelled red gems on their bodies. Beat those bosses and you’ll unlock new weapon modes for Johnson, who’ll be able to transform and upgrade into genuinely exciting new toys: an assault rifle that locks onto multiple enemies, a shotgun that loads multiple skull slugs, and a revolver that fires sticky bombs. All of which are useful in certain situations and deliver a lovely mulching of the flesh when their bullets connect with the baddies.

<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/shadows-of-the-damned-boner.jpg?width=2048&height=2048&fit=bounds&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“Garcia stares at a lewd poster, depicting a woman on all fours with a portal placed in a certain spot, and a message that reads, “Need a bigger boner?”. - 5”>

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Grasshopper Manufacture

Despite the variety on offer, though, I can’t help but feel like the game’s stop-and-shoot rhythm plateaus quite quickly and rarely soars to any great heights. I think it’s because the darkness gimmick forever piles on the pressure and feeds its way into a lot of the fights, so it didn’t take long for me to get tired of racing to find the goat’s head or the orbs or whatever to stop my health being leeched. All of this compounds with the labour-intensive tank aiming, which injects tension into some of the more horror-leaning encounters but becomes a bit tired when you’re forever facing off against streams of nasties.

Shadows Of The Damned: Hella Remastered will no doubt please fans of the original, as it doesn’t touch the demonic meat and bones of the original besides giving them a bit of a face lift. For those coming in fresh, it’s a fairly good time, but only until you start noticing its nastiness. I respect its zaniness and its double-A feel from yesteryear, but I also despise how its characters and its world portray women. I wish that attitude had been tossed in the bin and ‘remastered’ instead, honestly.

Find out how we conduct our reviews by reading our review policy .

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , PC , Nintendo Switch

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.