Shadows of the Damned Will Be Between Casual and Hardcore

Shadows of the Damned is set to span the divide across the hardcore and casual video game categories, has said one of the developers involved in the creation of the new title which will be developer by Grasshoper and published by Electronic Arts.

Akira Yamaoka, who is best known for the work he has done on the Silent Hill franchise, has told Gamasustra that the new title from Grasshoper Manufacture will be “neither fully casual nor fully hardcore.”

Yamaoka added, “Damned is a wholly new style of game, and I think it'll appeal to a group of users who are neither fully casual nor fully hardcore,” and “"Perhaps not everyone, though - I mean, hardcore gamers are different from anime fans or people who play sports games - but I'm hoping people who aren't in one of these categories will be interested in buying it.”

The main creative minds behind Shadows of the Damned are Suda 51, the creator of No More Heroes, and Shinki Mikami, the man who built the Resident Evil franchise.

Both the creators are associated with complex games that have a lot of gameplay mechanics that need to be mastered, appealing most to so called hardcore gamers.

Shadows of the Damned will allow the player to take on the role of a demon hunter, named Garcia, who is set to explore the developer's take on Hell itself as he tries to rescue the love of his life.

The game will be publisher through the EA Partners program and initial information suggests that it could be quite similar to Dante's Inferno.

The two main designers have said that they plan to mix both “punk rock” elements and “psychological thriller” bits in Shadows of the Damned.

The game is set to be delivered on the Xbox 360 and on the PlayStation 3 at some point during 2011.