Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms

 PC
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. Digital Chumps
    Dec 7, 2014
    90
    Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms provides a great value and a superb action RPG experience.
  2. Ragequit.gr
    Dec 11, 2014
    85
    Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms is a solid action/RPG overall. If you are looking for something in the vein of Diablo, you might be disappointed. But if you want something with an interesting story, novel mechanics and exquisite level design to dig in then Shadows is a worthy investment.
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Jan 15, 2015
    80
    Thanks to a good plot and some original ideas, Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms is a good exponent of the genre of action RPG, solid and fun. Graphically valid and scalable, for maximum details requires a great gaming system.
  5. Hooked Gamers
    Nov 20, 2014
    80
    It’s a rich experience with an abundance of soul and a unique vision; there’s no need to wait ten years for that glitzy triple-A game to ape its conventions and follow its narrative ambition.
  6. CalmDownTom
    Nov 20, 2014
    80
    I have played 8 hours of this game. 8 amazing hours of beating my enemies to a pulp and gorging myself on their souls… 8 hours of pure unadulterated madness.
  7. Hobby Consolas
    Mar 8, 2015
    78
    A classic RPG, well-executed, with an intense storyline and good graphics. It has some bugs, needs more variety of loot items and enemies, but it's an interesting Diablo III alternative.
  8. CD-Action
    Mar 4, 2015
    75
    This game is like a student who partied instead of studying but during the exam improvises so cleverly that the examiner just can’t find the strength to fail him. Shadows has some cool ideas and is very enjoyable but it’s surprising how it stumbles on some really basic issues. [02/2015, p.64]
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  9. 4P.de
    Dec 1, 2014
    74
    I welcome the slow paced combat which puts soul balancing and character exchange before abilities. The surprisingly deep story also is a breath of fresh air. But not all is well, especially in the engine department.
  10. Games.cz
    Mar 19, 2015
    70
    Heretic Kingdoms saga returns in dignified style. Too bad that a good atmosphere, great dialogue and the alternating of action heroes is corrupted by some technical difficulties in the fight and backlogs in the optimization and user interface.
  11. IGN Spain
    Mar 14, 2015
    70
    A game that may be too classic and entertaining, but the joy won't last for long due to its poor pacing.
  12. Softpedia
    Dec 24, 2014
    70
    The combat system has a lot of potential, what with the synergies between all the characters you can switch on the fly and the ability to teleport to an alternate dimension, but unfortunately, at the mechanical level, the controls simply don't feel fluid enough.
  13. GameSpot
    Dec 15, 2014
    70
    Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms has many unique qualities that both elevate and iterate on the traditional mechanics of the genre. With time and enough developer support, the game could even become an unheralded standout in a space dominated by a few big names.
  14. RPG Fan
    Dec 14, 2014
    70
    The ideas that could have made this a great game are often undermined by the actual clicking feeling subpar.
  15. Eurogamer Germany
    Dec 11, 2014
    70
    There's lots of interesting stories to experience while you clean out your quest log without ever slipping into a routine. It's just a shame the fighting mechanics and the presentation leave a bit to be desired.
  16. GameStar
    Nov 24, 2014
    66
    Good ideas with mediocre implementation. The basics just don't work.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 58 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 58
  3. Negative: 11 out of 58
  1. noisnam
    Nov 15, 2014
    9
    diablo3 pretty much kill all my desire to play Arpg since i thought nothing new is gonna to bring in to the genre, but this game tells mediablo3 pretty much kill all my desire to play Arpg since i thought nothing new is gonna to bring in to the genre, but this game tells me different. it allows you switch between ghost world and real world. and the team making is also very refreshing. story is amazing. blizzard developer should play this game and see wtf they did wrong with diablo.

    wish this game can do well, because gaming industry seems so brain dead now.    … Full Review »
  2. Fuz
    Sep 16, 2015
    7
    Good game with some nice ideas and a few major flaws.
    In Heretic Kingdoms you take the control of the Devourer: a demon that can eat people's    Good game with some nice ideas and a few major flaws.
    In Heretic Kingdoms you take the control of the Devourer: a demon that can eat people's souls and use them as puppets. It's an ARPG in the Diablo style but, due to the Devourer's power, you'll control a variety of different characters instead of a single one. This makes the game feel fresh and interesting.
    Too bad the game has some big flaws:
    Loading screen are insanely long and there are quite a lot. There's a loading screen even for when you
    want to change the party formation - you can have only 3 characters in your party plus the devourer - which made me almost never try new characters combination and killing one of the best characteristics of the game. You can't even equip or level up the inactive characters without traveling to the character select room (which is pointless also because it's just a room with the "puppets" and a single vendor, there was really no need to have it), leading to a very cluttered inventory. It also kills exploration. You will really spend a insane amount of time on loading screens, and you will think twice about loading the game if you don't have a lot of free time on your hands.
    Controls are bad. Really bad. They're unresponsive, the character often stops insted of attacking or just moves away, right mouse button is useless and the feeling is generally very very clunky. The combat feels often like a chore and it's not too funny.
    Crafting is very tedious and pointlessly time consuming due to the badly readable interface for it. Absolutely pointless, also because you can never craft items better than what you find.

    Now for the good part of it... there are some really good ideas in this. The party system is very interesting and adds something new to a overused genre. The world is beautiful and engaging, and makes you want to know more about it. The graphics are quite good: clean, readable, colorful, stylish.
    The musics are absolutely fantastic. My favourite part of the game. They have a sort of arabic influence and are really, really astonishing and never bore the player.

    All in all, a pretty decent game that gets pulled down by a few inexplicable flaws.    … Full Review »
  3. S_lution
    Nov 24, 2014
    10
    I played Diablo, Diablo 2 and tried Diablo 3 but quit that a few weeks in. I love Shadows for its story and its fresh approach. It's finallyI played Diablo, Diablo 2 and tried Diablo 3 but quit that a few weeks in. I love Shadows for its story and its fresh approach. It's finally something different in a genre that kept repeating itself.… Full Review »
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