Holy cow, they're making a new Shadowman game

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Shadow Man, a game about a possessed voodoo warrior who protects the world of the living from the land of the dead, was originally released in 1999, and was brought back to life by Nightdive Studios in 2021 as Shadow Man Remastered. And now an all new game is on the way: Shadowman Darque Legacy, a tale of an all-new Shadowman that's set to launch next year.

This time around, Shadowman is Jack Boniface, a newcomer to the job who must face off against a growing evil that threatens everything his predecessors have fought for.

"Clash with the fanatical Brethren cultists, from hammer-wielding brutes to sorcerous necromancers, and battle truly wretched creatures that have slithered forth from the most desolate depths," developer Blowfish Studios said. "Deliver brutal and bloody finishers with a range of Shadowman weapons."

Shadowman: Darque Legacy promises a range of "diverse locations" for players to explore in both Liveside and Deadside, as well as an "RPG lite" character progression system that will enable characters to be upgraded across a range of powers and abilities.

"It’s been an honor to breathe new life into such an iconic IP, with Shadowman’s first venture into gaming since the PlayStation 2 era," game director Clinton McCleary said. "We're looking forward to ushering fans into the horrifying, punishing, but rewarding experience we've crafted."

One thing Shadowman fans may notice is a very slight change in the title: The 1999 game was entitled Shadow Man, while this is Shadowman. The obvious question is, why the change? And my answer would be, I do not know. They're based on the same property, that being the Valiant comic called "Shadowman", and it looks like for one reason or another—maybe some funky licensing details, maybe someone just wasn't paying attention—it was the 1999 game that got it wrong. This old Game Informer review, for instance, calls it Shadow Man in the main body of text, but Shadowman in one of the sidebars.

Shadowman: Darque Legacy is currently expected to arrive sometime in 2024, and will be available for PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.