Shadow Man: Shadow Power, Voodoo Weapons, and Liveside-to-Deadside Gameplay

The Shadow Level Display: Powering Up and Holding Your Nerve

The purple Shadow Level Display uses two narrow arcs to track power. The inner arc is Shadow Power, which covers the Shadowmask's context-sensitive actions and the ShadowGun. While the player holds the relevant left-hand or right-hand control to charge the ShadowGun, a bright white-green arc rises over that inner track until it hits its maximum. That ceiling is set by the current Shadow Level. Releasing the control at any point fires the ShadowGun at whatever level the display shows at that moment, so the charge can be cut short deliberately.

Some context-sensitive actions channel Shadow Power into objects other than the ShadowGun, such as the consoles that open the Coffin Gates, by pressing the Action button near that object. During channeling the display fills the same way it does for the ShadowGun. Such an action can fail when Shadow Man's Shadow Level is too low, and the fix is to raise that level by collecting more Dark Souls. Because Shadow Level caps Shadow Power, and the outer Voodoo arc shares that capacity limit, gathering Dark Souls also raises the ceiling on both arcs.

The ShadowGun and Voodoo Weapons: Two Ways to Kill a Soul

The ShadowGun channels Shadow Power, charged by holding the Left Hand or Right Hand control, into screaming wraiths that tear souls from enemies. When it deals the killing blow, the target dies and leaves behind a LifeForce Energy pickup that replenishes Shadow Man's LifeForce. Some enemies carry Dark Souls within them and are immortal; because the wraiths pull the soul from the body, the ShadowGun is the only weapon capable of finishing such a creature. Quick-draw lets Shadow Man fire the ShadowGun with a hand control when it is not already drawn.

Voodoo weapons, the Asson, Flambeau, Marteau, Calabash and Enseigne, are arcane arms usable only by Shadow Man and powered by Voodoo Power, which they deplete at rates depending on their actions. They hit harder than the ShadowGun and obliterate an enemy outright, leaving no LifeForce behind. Against creatures holding immortal Dark Souls they only incapacitate the target long enough for its soul to be taken with the ShadowGun. All but the Asson and Enseigne serve dual purposes. Mike's real-world weapons, handgun, shotgun, MP-909 and 0.9-SMG, work only in Liveside.

Ambidile Handplay: Hands, Holsters and Ledge-Sniping

Shadow Man's handplay rests on an ambidextrous frame: Mike or Shadow Man can carry any weapon or item combination in either hand. Pressing the Left Hand or Right Hand control performs an action with that hand, or with whatever weapon or item that hand holds, so the same loadout can be split across both sides. Basic movement runs on the I and M keys for forwards and backwards and J and K for left and right, while strafing, crouching, jumping and swimming each have their own bindings. The Left Hand and Right Hand controls double as quick draw and fire; the Z and X keys map to them by default.

Ledge work depends on leaving at least one hand empty. Once Shadow Man or Mike has grasped a ledge, he hangs from it, and from that position he can climb up and over, work his way sideways along the edge, or snipe at enemies below. Jumping while hanging is a distinct move from a jump performed with both hands full. Jumps gain extra momentum and clear more distance at maximum running speed, and in mid-air pushing left, right, forwards or backwards lets him drift. The camera rotates to one of six preset rotations and dollies closer or further to three preset distances.

Gad, Poigne and the Teddy Bear: Opening Deadside's Locked Routes

Deadside's locked routes open through three distinct tools. The Teddy Bear, given to Mike by Nettie at the very start, is the link between Mike and his dead brother Luke; by focusing on it, Mike passes across the veil into Deadside. The first use takes him between the Louisiana Swampland and Deadside through the Teddy Bear Screen, and each new area he visits adds a memory of that location, so by the end he can travel instantly among all the major locations. Separately, the Poigne wristlets let Shadow Man climb the Bloodfalls in Deadside, a route Mike himself cannot take.

The Gad come in three types, voodoo tattoos that appear only on Shadow Man, and each grants a special ability that opens previously inaccessible areas. They are awarded for completing specific trials within the Temples. Toucher lets him touch fiery objects and perform fire-related actions such as hanging on burning ledges; Marcher lets him walk over hot coals and fire; Nager lets him submerge in lakes of burning liquids and walk through sheets of fire. Because Shadow Man does not breathe, he cannot drown and can stay underwater indefinitely, and he survives falls of any distance.

Death and Reincarnation: Liveside, Deadside and the LifeForce Loop

Neither Mike nor Shadow Man dies in the conventional sense. When Mike's LifeForce is drained by damage, he passes across the veil into Deadside and continues there as Shadow Man, who can then return to Liveside as Mike. This turns the LifeForce bar into the pivot of the whole loop rather than a simple health meter: Liveside play risks Mike's supply, and its exhaustion relocates the player to the spirit world in a different body with its own means of crossing back.

The two bodies carry different physical limits. Mike must surface for air while swimming; pushing Jump dives him below the surface and propels him through the water, and his air supply replenishes whenever his head is out of it, draining steadily while submerged. Shadow Man needs no air and can swim indefinitely. Weapons and objects remain usable while swimming, so a submerged swimmer is not disarmed. Climbing out works by pushing forwards at a low enough ledge to grab hold, which also lets either form wade.

The Long Haul: Artifacts, Puzzles, Files and Save Slots

Progress through Deadside depends on collecting sinister voodoo artifacts, which the puzzles require before a route will open further. The larger goal is to stop an apocalypse by gathering these artifacts and defeating enemies, so exploration and combat feed the same objective rather than running as separate tracks. As Mike or Shadow Man moves through locales such as the Louisiana swamplands, a New York tenement, a Texas prison and an asylum, every artifact found pushes the puzzle chain forward while also serving the mission against the coming evil.

Collected books, documents and files stay in the inventory for the whole adventure, so notes about an investigator's pursuit of five serial killers cannot be taken or lost once picked up. Using an item from the Inventory screen lets the direction controls page through its sections and pages, keeping reference material available at any time. Progress is saved through the Pause Menu or the 5 key, choosing a save slot and confirming when a slot is already occupied; restoring works the same way, and slots can also be deleted.

First published Oct 28, 2026.