Megaton - have you actually played Shadow? Its a surprisingly cool game
For example, rings now work as a power bar, when you get hit you loose ten, rather than all of them. Thats a real step in the right direction to making 3d sonic games less frustrating.
I don't really like a sonic character using guns, but there are some really cool huge FF style swords, and metal slug style mechs to ride in should you feel like it.
The really cool thing about it is that in each level you have 2 characters telling you what to do, one evil, one good. You can choose to listen to or ignore them. Hense you can play the level as a good guy, bad guy or as a rebel doing what you want and ignoring them. I think thats a really cool idea, it kinda makes you question your own morals and values, like Black & white
You don't HAVE to pick up the weapons. You don't have to shoot anything. You can just run to the end of the level like Sonic would. Or you can shoot all the bad guys. Or you can shoot the good guys and turn evil. Its really quite clever
Shadow is on a voyage of discovery to discover who he really is, whether he is a hedgehog or an android, and whether his mind washing/programing forces him to be evil or whether he can make the life choice to be good, and save Sonic, Amy et all
Of course, the camera is still as appalling as any cameras in 3d sonic games, and its still too easy and short. But its a lot more a sucessful sidestep for sonic games than Chaotix, Sonic Drift or Sonic Fighters for example
