Having become literally sick of his job as an undertaker in the early 90’s he got a job at Human Entertainment working on a game called Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special, a job he got due to his extensive knowledge of the sport which was otherwise lacking amongst the development team. 

Wrestling along with manga are still major influences evident in his more recent and popular Wii games No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (2007, 2010), in which we saw assassin Travis Touchdown’s hotel room adorned with wrestling and anime collectables, as well as being able to stun your foes with a variety of professional wrestling maneuvers.  

Suda set up Grasshopper Manufacture as an indie game developer in 1998 and though his games are often gory and horrific his only notable survival horror has been 2005’s Michigan: Report from Hell (PS2), since then he’s been working on a horror under the previsional title Kurayami, meaning simply “Darkness”. A game where a torch bearing protagonist challenged evil monsters and puzzles, whilst seeking out the safety of well lit areas, originally expected as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. 

The game never completed development and in 2008 what he did have no doubt became the genesis of Shadows of the DAMNED—SoTD though Suda 51 would prefer you use just DMD. Backed by EA and its Partners program who along with publishing and distributing the game licensed Grasshopper the use of Unreal Engine 3. 

In December 2008 his Killer 7 writing partner Shinji Mikami came on board as Creative Producer, but surely a better project could not have reunited them. Soon after leaving Konami, Akira Yamaoka, snakeskin trousered sound-smith famous for his audio design for the down right scary Silent Hill games, and self-professed fan of No More Heroes, joined Grasshopper to work on the game.

The game was officially unveiled at last years Tokyo Game Show, in which we see the signature Suda protagonist, Garcia Hotspur – “A man that had it all, a killer motorcycle, a sweet leather jacket and a Hot Girlfriend from HELL!!!!”. So yeah, his girlfriend Paula has been killed and sent to the City of the Damned at the bequest of Fleming, the ruler of said city who has saved her a place in his bed.

The City of the Damned is a horrible dark world full of bountiful ladies in bondage gear, grotesque demons and horned devils. There is even a huge blood soaked man-mountain with two Wolverine like blades attached to his fists called George.

As Garcia, the leather clad rock n’ roll road warrior, you seek to get your girl back. Lucky for you, you have enlisted the help of the ultimate survival tool in the form of Johnson, a shapeshifting demon who not only provides his torch but 3 magical weapons, vocal guidance and various quips in the manner of a ghostly butler. 

As with all his previous titles, Suda has injected his black humor throughout. A lot of laughs come from Johnson, your swiss army knife of destruction. Weapons include The Big Boner which spits out chunks of bones, while typical Johnson dialogue might include, "Demons are like men, they all want to get inside the prettiest girls.”  

Gameplay wise it seems very similar to Alan Wake and Resident Evil. The action takes place in 3rd person, with quicktime event button mashing as Garcia shifts from areas of light to darkness. While in the dark the demons become invincible, protected by some kind of dark matter forcefield and must be lit up before they can be dispensed.

You must fire light at the Gargoyles found on the surrounding walls, hitting the right one unlocks a new area and well lit escape route. Much as with Resident Evil and Killer 7 one must solve puzzles to unlock certain doors, often in combinations, such as an eyeball and brain once found must be taken to and fed to a lock in the form of a hungry baby’s head. 

The walls of the City of the Damned are adorned with various demon-king Fleming propaganda posters. Suda appears keen to be seen as smart and sophisticated, and not just a hulking crass beast. There are also many posters for a local gastronomic treat called Strawberry Shitcake, made of mashed up human tongues. Yummy. 

In an age where the censor has relaxed its reigns on videos nasties—Sam Rami’s Evil Dead, one of many film references in DAMNED, was once banned—they still seem to be less forgiving on video games. Though clearly tongue in cheek in its use of sex and violence the game has already come up against cuts likely led by EA, for example Paula was originally naked. Similarly, No More Heroes was originally heavily cut in Europe and Japan.

Shadows of the DAMNED has forsaken some of the visual and thematic trademarks of Suda’s previous hits, such as retro style pixilation and goofball humor, favouring more of a psychological action thriller. The game still has comedy elements but the humor is of a much darker nature, influenced by films such as Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and the Japanese comic book Crows by Hiroshi Takahashi.

Although I may miss the more blatant silliness of his No More Hero’s games, Shadows of the DAMNED looks like a real visceral stomp through a crazy blood soaked grindhouse inspired hell, that looks like a hell of a lot of fun.