Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment – What’s Old is New… Again
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is proof that developer Yacht Club Games still has new tricks up its sleeve for the newly rebranded “Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove”, a collection of the original campaign bundled with the current and future DLC. The new campaign follows a similar format to its predecessors, but is able to recapture the retro platforming action an entirely new way.
Taking place before the events of Shovel of Hope, Specter of Torment tells the story of Specter Knight. Sent out by The Enchantress , Specter Knight is tasked to find and form the Order of No Quarter, the slew of evil henchmen found in the original campaign, in order to restore his lost humanity. Throughout the adventure, players will get a glimpse into the memories of Specter Knight, showing how he became the servant of The Enchantress, as well has his own personal motivations. These playable memories take the story to an unexpected new level, adding a surprising amount of depth to the increasingly the rich lore of Shovel Knight.
Specter Knight adds a whole new set of moves and abilities, not only in combat but also in traversal. Climbing and jumping off walls, slashing through the air and sliding on rails all feel very satisfying and makes getting around each newly remixed level a pleasure. Specter Knight’s combat feels best while you’re off the ground, as enemies and lanterns will allow you to slash up or downward through the air, providing a fast and exciting flow when paired with walking on walls. This move can be fast, fun and effective as you relentlessly slash through enemies, but get careless, and you’ll find yourself falling down a pit from slashing the wrong direction. Specter Knight also comes with an array of new special abilities and armor. Flaming scythes that climb up walls, creating a ghostly double for extended reach, and even a suit of armor that saves you from falling in pits. These additions all add interesting ways to change up the gameplay.
Despite being the same from the first campaign, each level is custom remade for the new set of moves, making it never feel like old territory and often feels like new levels entirely. Remixed music from the original campaign is just familiar enough to have you humming along . Levels can be played in any order, much in the style of classic Mega Man, proving a change to the formula of the original campaign. Some may find the loss the Super Mario Bros. 3 overworld style a misstep, but we enjoyed the ability to pick and choose levels as we please. Despite the high quality of these remixed levels, we couldn’t help but wonder what one or two totally new levels could be like.
What’s most surprising of all is the price. For owners of the original Shovel Knight, this new campaign is totally free. Specter of Torment can be purchased as a stand alone campaign for $9.99, but we recommend buying the complete experience. For $24.99, you’ll get the three available campaigns as well as upcoming King Knight campaign and any future campaigns. We can’t recommend it enough.
