Shadow the Hedgehog 2

Shadow the Hedgehog 2, sometimes known as Shadow the Hedgehog 2: Apocalypse is the sequel to Shadow the Hedgehog . The game takes place many years after the events of the original. The game focuses on Silver returning to the past to get Shadow and Omega to prevent the Apocalypse. As the two investigate they find GUN at war with itself. With the military now owned by a manipulative cult, known as "The Wise" led by Jerome Wise, and the hacktivist rebellion led by GUN Commanders and hacker Darke Hash, things heat up. To make matters worse, Rouge has gone missing getting to the bottom of things and Omega is stuck looking after Cream the Rabbit in this dire time of action.
== Characters Of Interest ==
===Shadow the Hedgehog===
Shadow is the "Ultimate Lifeform", who was created by Black Doom and Professor Gerald Robotnik. Black Doom gave Robotnik the ultimate technology in return for the 7 chaos emeralds however before this was possible G.U.N attempted to shut the project down for an unknown reason. This attempt failed, however, in the mess, Shadow's only friend Maria was killed, instead. Over 50 years later Black Doom came back to earth to claim Shadow as his servant in order to conquer earth and endanger the human race. Despite his best efforts, Black Doom failed, and Shadow protected the human race by killing Black Doom. Sometime after Black Doom's defeat Shadow retires from fighting for the humans and resides in the land of the animals with Sonic and friends. That is until he is approached by Silver to return to the land of the humans to stop the Apocalypse and rescue his missing friend, Rouge. Shadow accepts only if he can work with his other friend, E-123 Omega, the ultimate killing machine.
=== E-123 Omega ===
Omega is the "Ultimate Killing Machine" created by Dr. Eggman as the 24th and last of the doctor's E-100 Series robots. After gaining feelings and going rogue, Omega joins GUN with his friend Rouge. With a knack for the sadistic and a passion to destroy things went well. Eventually, Omega decided to take a vacation and try to "get away from all the violence". This included him doing a small favor and babysitting Cream the Rabbit for some time. Unfortunately for him, Shadow contacts him about helping prevent the Apocalypse is thrown right back into the wire-y and metal oil-shed that is robotic annihilation. The only difficult part, keeping Cream safe during the supposed end of the world.
=== Rouge The Bat ===
A GUN agent, Rouge quickly befriended Shadow and Omega, and eventually hooked up Omega with his job at GUN. During the Wise and GUN conflict, Rouge ends up going on an investigation which leads to her disappearance. It's up to Shadow and Omega now to find her.
===Dr. Eggman===
Omega's creator, focused on building the Eggman Empire (Eggmanland). Although there were some close calls Dr. Eggman has never succeeded in his plan to create his true land of Eggmanly-ness. His Grandfather also happened to be the creator of Shadow.
=== Jerome Wise ===
Jerome was an old head of defense for The President of the United Federation, however, after the Black Arms invasion, he was swiftly fired. Following his firing, Jerome decided to dedicate his life to creating The Church of the Wise to one day re-open Project Shadow and definitively find the key to immortality. His organization ended up becoming so powerful that he was actually able to buy out GUN to work for him and enforce anything he wished, trumping even the president in power. The only ones to oppose him now is The Rebellion, a group of GUN Commanders furious with his corrupt ways.
=== Darke Hash ===
The mysterious leader of The Rebellion, Darke is a talented hacker and one of humanity's last hopes. He has a bizarre obsession with the black aliens and is always recognizable by his signature revolver, arm cast, and sunglasses.
=== Cream the Rabbit ===
Cream is an innocent little rabbit girl, Omega is tasked with taking care of during the game's events. She and her pet Chao, Cheese are not fans of violence and dislike Omega's brutally violent tendencies.
== Gameplay ==
Gameplay in Shadow the Hedgehog 2 is split into two distinct modes, indicated by the two different playable characters, Shadow The Hedgehog and E-123 Omega.
=== Ally System/Meters ===
In this game rather than an ally simply determining which mission you do, the allies affect gameplay. Rather than there being a hero/dark meter, there is a character-specific meter called a Shadow/Omega meter respectively, and an ally meter. Once enough work is done on an ally's objective the player can initiate a power attack specific to the ally character. For example, team up with Darke and a black arms robot will come in and throw a car at other enemies, similar to the creature throwing a car in the intro of Shadow 1. Cream will do an attack with Cheese messing with the enemies.
=== Shadow the Hedgehog ===
Shadow's gameplay is very similar to that of his gameplay in the original Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Adventure 2, with a few major differences. The first of which being the Style system, similar to that found in The Devil May Cry series, where Shadow has a choice of four different buffs he can choose before a stage to aid him throughout it. Each buff can be leveled up to level 3, before each stage. Each style has an action attack and meter attack, taking the place of the hero/dark gauge in Shadow 1.
* Gunslinger
** Double Damage (Level 1)
** Dual Wielding (Level 2)
** Lead Shield (Attracts the most powerful surrounding guns) (Level 3)
** Shadow Time Mode (Meter Attack)
* Hedge-Warrior
** Stomp Attack (Level 1)
** Melee Attacks (Level 2) (Similar to Shadow in Sonic 06)
** Light Speed Chain Attack (Takes out multiple targets with a light speed homing attack) (Level 3)
** Boost (Think Chaos Control from Shadow 1) (Meter Attack)
* Chaos Mode
** Chaos Blast (Level 1)
** Chaos Control (Acts as a teleportation to an enemy and kills the enemy. Think a faster homing attack or Final Fantasy XV) (Level 2)
** Chaos Spear (Level 3)
** Super Chaos Control (Stops Timer) (Meter Attack)
* Black Soldier
** Double Damage (Homing Attack does Double damage) (Level 1)
** True Shadow (Absorb into the ground to sneak up on enemies. Think Drill Wisp but used for combat) (Level 2)
** Clones (Shadow can make up to 5 clones just like Black Doom in Shadow 1, to take out the nearest enemies) (Level 3)
** Black Tornado (Similar to Team Sonic's Team Blast in Sonic Heroes) (Meter Attack)
Shadow's gameplay, like the original's consists of missions with anywhere from one, to three possible sides to take, changing the stage's objective. This time around however each assist character has a gauge which when filled allows them to perform an attack with Shadow, depending on how much they follow the ally's objective. Physics-wise the game plays less slippery than the original and both weapons and the homing attack have manual lock-on systems.
=== E-123 Omega ===
Omega's gameplay is something completely unique and nothing like what's been in a previous sonic game. In Shadow 2, Omega plays like a first-person shooter, with mild platforming and combat elements. By default, Omega has three useable weapons, his Mini-Guns, which shoot fast but take a while to fire, The Rocket Launchers, which do a ton of damage but don't have much range, a small clip and take a while to reload, The Flamethrower, which acts as a closer range weapon and his own Metal Fists, which act as melee attacks. Omega also has a gauge that when filled allows him to do an over the top melee attack if a punch is successfully thrown. Omega can also grab onto ledges and has his rocket boosters which give him increased speed and a double jump. As Omega goes through the game he can also unlock buffs or "programs" which act as Omega's answer to Shadow's ally attacks. Allies have weapons themed by themselves able to be plugged into Omega like something from Bioshock. These take the place of a fifth weapon slot not to be confused with weapon upgrades, which also appear.
E-123 Omega’s Arsenal –
Default
* Mini Gun
* Rocket Launcher
* Metal Hands
Upgrades
* Flame Thrower
* Vacuum
* Chainsaw Arm
* Laser Beam
* Support Slot
* Long Range Function
* Grenade Launcher
* Flame Shield
* The Dealer ( does more damage more it’s used, if hit it makes most of your arsenal useless)
=== Special Stages/Support Buddies ===
This game's idea of special stages are actually special hard versions of Boss Battles the player will have to face throughout the game as well as
also comes with the addition of Support Buddies that can be collected in levels via special stage boss battles such as Perfect Chaos. These bosses after defeated are stored in jars via E-123 Omega after they are sucked in by his vacuum weapon. These jars can be thrown out into battles and has the boss come back out to help you in defeating enemies or clearing rooms (think Final Fantasy summons, mixed with Pokemon, mixed with finding secret characters in fighting games.)
* List of Special Stage/Bosses
** Hard Hash Worm
** Hard XL-1 Mad Sloth
** Biolizard
** Perfect Chaos
** Sonic the Hedgehog
** Phantom E-123 Omega
** Phantom Shadow the Hedgehog
* List of Support Buddies
** Diablon (from defeating Hard XL-1 Mad Sloth)
** Hash Worm (from defeating Hard Hash Worm)
** Biolizard
** Perfect Chaos
** Dark Gaia Guardian (from Sonic)
** Light Gaia (from Phantom Omega)
** Mini-Black Doom (from Phantom Shadow)
== Levels ==
Much like the original Shadow the Hedgehog levels are split up into different paths, however, this game has a new twist. After the third level, the player is locked into a story and has choices that carry devastating consequences. Past this point, the player can make a few things different but in the end, are powerless to truly change course.
=== The Consequence System ===
To combat the problem of a lack of stakes/consequences for the player's action in the first game, Shadow 2 introduces the consequence system. While the first few levels work the same way as the original game, this changes once the player reaches the third stage. First of all, once they reach the third stage there's no going back for the rest of the story. The player is either on the Hero, Neutral or Dark path. However, this isn't the end of the branching missions. Rather than the normal two options, the third stage has the player making a difficult and drastic decision that will have lasting consequences of both the story and gameplay. A heroic option leading down the Heroic path of each branch, and the Evil option, leading down the Evil path of each branch.
In the case of the Hero story (Rocket Launch), Shadow and Omega have to save either a city full of innocent civilians or Cream the Rabbit from being killed by a rocket. Saving one will lead to the death of the other.
In the Neutral story (Rapid Highway), Shadow and Omega have to avoid or destroy a lethal GUN truck full of members of the rebellion.
In the Dark Story (Darke Comet), Shadow and Omega have to decide whether to set off or disarm explosives on the Darke Comet when going to confront Darke Hash on his connection to the Black Arms.
Making things even more drastic, the decision of the player doesn't come into effect until after the following stage. Even after that, the player will no longer be able to make a decision which determines the next stage, only what power-ups and bosses the player get. 
=== List Of Levels - ===
* Westopolis
* Carnival Paradise
* Gigabyte Highway
* Rocket Launch
* Downpour Mountains
* Shrine of the Wise
* Core of the Wise
* Icy Wasteland
* Cyber Battlefield
* Aerial Convoy
* Sky Deck
* Rapid Highway
* Facility Escape
* Lost Island
* Damned Facility
* Lost Snowscape
* Cursed Icebox
* Church of the Wise
* Foggy Overpass
* Darke Comet
* Crazy Convoy
* Mad Gadget
* Cosmic Core
* Comet Perimeter
* The Comet
=== List of Bosses ===
* Hash Worm (Rebellion Normal Boss)
* XL-1 Mad Sloth (Wise Normal Boss)
* Silver the Hedgehog (Evil Pre-Final Boss)
* Sonic the Hedgehog (Neutral Pre-Final Boss)
* Corrupted Cream (Hero Pre-Final Boss)
* Seraphon-01 - False God (Hero Final Boss)
* Shadow Mk. 2 - The New Ultimate Lifeform (Neutral Final Boss)
* Darke Doom - Son of Black Doom (Evil Final Boss)
* Perfect Devil Seraphon - Bringer of Destruction (True Final Boss)
=== Last Story Levels ===
This game's last story segment is distinctly different from most other Sonic games in that rather than a stage or two the player must traverse through a normal story's playthrough worth of stages. Each having a theme already seen in an earlier level.
* Westopolis
* Island Attack (Island Level)
* Rouge Rescue (Industrial Base Level)
* Encoded Assault (Cyberspace Level)
* Distorted Highway (City Level)
* The Weapon (Wise Base Level)
* The Last Stand (Black/Darke Comet Level)
** Perfect Devil Seraphon (Boss)
== Story ==
=== Endings ===
 	Hero 	Neutral 	Dark
Heroic	Shadow and Omega leave Jerome Wise to be arrested and think back on his horrible actions.	Shadow and Omega defeat Shadow Mk. 2 and rescue Rouge. 	Shadow and Omega kill Darke Doom and prevent the Black Arms from ever rising again
Evil 	Jerome Wise is killed by Shadow and Omega as revenge for all those he killed previously. 	Shadow and Omega defeat Shadow Mk. 2, and free Rouge, leaving her to her own devices.	Shadow and Omega fire the Eclipse Cannon at the Rebellion base, which kicks off the start of the Apocolypse.
Main Article - Shadow the Hedgehog 2/Story
Shadow is enjoying his peaceful retirement on South Island, teaching animals self-defense when he is visited by Silver the Hedgehog. Silver explains to Shadow that GUN has been bought out by a corrupt cult (The Wise) and is at war with itself. Shadow shows surprise but little interest in helping. Silver explains further that this conflict leads to the annihilation of the entire world. Shadow cites Rouge as a better aid, but Silver has a defense against that too. She's gone missing. Finally, Shadow accepts this as his final mission serving the humans and travels to Westopolis to get the help of Omega.
Unfortunately for Shadow, Omega is on vacation, and babysitting Cream the Rabbit. Omega initially refuses to help Shadow, but after the two are ambushed by GUN bots, Omega willingly accepts the invitation to slaughter and merely brings Cream along for safety in the dark times.
== Last Story *Spoilers* ==
After completing all the stories as Shadow and Omega and completing all the special stages the player is greeted with the Last Story. The playthrough starts as normal with Westopolis but is stopped halfway through by Silver the Hedgehog. Silver then explains to Shadow and Omega that they've been in a time loop, giving a story justification for the branching path of the stories.
Silver explains how he's been resetting the timeline in every path since Shadow and Omega have failed to stop the Apocalypse. However, Silver has used up too much power and can no longer reset the timeline, meaning they only have one more shot to stop the Apocalypse for good. With his remaining power, Silver gives Shadow and Omega all their memories from the different timelines and leaves to go back to the future. With all their knowledge, Shadow and Omega set off to rescue Rouge, keep Cream safe and help the Rebellion take down the Wise army for good one last time.
== Themes ==
At the end of each different story much like the first game each has it's own theme at the game's credits, these come in the form of Shadow and having a unique hero, neutral and dark theme.
 	Heroic Hero 	Dark Hero 	Heroic Neutral 	Dark Neutral 	Heroic Evil 	Dark Evil
Shadow 	132x132px|center	thumb|136x136px	139x139px|center	thumb|133x133px	thumb|135x135px	145x145px|center
E-123 Omega	136x136px|center	thumb|144x144px	thumb|164x164px 	thumb|157x157px	thumb|149x149px	thumb|157x157px
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