Superman: Shadow of Apokolips is a 2002 video game for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, developed by Infogrames Sheffield House, and published by Infogrames under the Atari banner.
Based on Superman: The Animated Series, the story has Darkseid secretly provide Lex Luthor with robot schematics that will help the two defeat Superman once and for all. After Superman saves a Lex Corp dam from destruction, he discovers scientists from throughout Metropolis, including Professor Hamilton, have gone missing. As such, Superman makes it his mission to rescue them and uncover the plot. It was followed by a 2003 prequel for the Game Boy Advance, Superman: Countdown to Apokolips, where Kalibak and Bruno Manheim launch a reign of terror across Metropolis that Superman has to stop.
Shadow of Apokolips includes these tropes:
- And the Adventure Continues: The game ends this way, with Superman defeating Metallo and flying off to another adventure, while Darkseid says he will keep an eye on him and Luthor.
- Anonymous Benefactor: Darkseid and Kanto help Luthor this way, much to the latter's chagrin. Lex tries to act like this towards Metallo after breaking him out, but Corben immediately makes a bee line for his former employer.
- Big Bad: While Darkseid provided the schematics, Lex is ultimately the one calling the shots. He sent the Interbots to kidnap scientists as a distraction while he springs supervillains out of jail.
- Big Dam Plot: In the third level, Flood Damage, Superman has to stop the Lex Corp dam from being destroyed by Interbots. Failure will actually result in a Game Over screen depicting the dam bursting.
- Bookends: The first we see of Superman is a news report of him beating Metallo. As it so happens, Metallo is the final boss of the game.
- Boss-Only Level: The last four levels of the game are back-to-back boss fights with Livewire, Parasite and Metallo.
- Breakable Weapons: Superman can use crates and pipes against enemies, though they break after too many uses.
- Cel Shading: The game uses this to simulate the cartoon.
- Cheat Code: Present. Inputing cheats allows players access to multiple characters, as well the ability to explore Metropolis or unlock every bonus feature in the game early.
- Checkpoint: Levels in the game can be long, so there are checkpoints aplenty to keep Superman going. However, in one instance, the timer of a self destruct mechanism only resets to when you last entered a room. There are no checkpoints in boss fights.
- Damsel in Distress: Superman rescues Lois a couple of times in the game, mostly early on. Near the end, Metallo kidnaps her and Jimmy but were let go fairly quickly. They were just bait to lure Superman into a factory for their final showdown.
- Deadly Gas: In Lex Corp, there are sections where gas is released that, if allowed to spread for too long, will result in an instant Game Over. Superman has to plug the holes or break the glass on fans to clear the gas.
- Demoted to Extra: Lois, Perry and Jimmy are much less prominent in the game compared to the show. Professor Hamilton and Maggie Sawyer fair a bit better, but the supporting cast take a back seat in this installment.
- Enemy-Detecting Radar: The minimap not only detects enemies, but also highlights civilians and mission objectives.
- Escort Mission: In Uprising!, Superman has to escort the prison guards around the prison and protect them from prisoners and Interbots. The guards can take a surprising amount of damage, but will die if you don't intervene often enough.
- Excuse Plot: The game doesn't have much of a story. Its only real development is Darkseid taking an interest in Luthor, but the story otherwise exists as a tour of Superman's world and villains from the cartoon.
- Eye Beams: Superman's Heat Vision works like this. While Superman can stun enemies or send them running, the Heat Vision does not seem to kill regular enemies on the ground, but flying enemies are taken out quite easily. Fast tapping the Heat Vision button results in short but powerful bursts that can take out stronger enemies and bosses.
- Final Boss: Not Darkseid or Lex, but Metallo inside of a car factory. Metallo has two phases, the second one making him invulnerable to punches, requiring Superman to either throw cars at him or blast him with Eye Beams.
- Gotta Rescue Them All: A couple of instances. The player could let the hostages escape on their own, but it is usually easier to just pick up them up and take them to safety.
- Great Escape: Lex commands the Interbots to break several supervillains out of Stryker's, including Metallo. Superman needs to quell the Prison Riot that erupts from the escape plan.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Darkseid, manipulating the games' events to get rid of the Man of Steel and Take Over the World.
- Health Meter: Superman is equipped with a health meter. He has Nigh-Invulnerability, but enough firepower can take his health down to zero.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Lex frees Metallo from prison to offer him a job, but Metallo decides to use his newfound freedom to kill his old boss. To be clear, Metallo wasn't aware that Lex was the one that sprung him out but it probably wouldn't have changed his mind.
- Immune to Bullets: Present for Superman. A plot point in the game is how the Interbots are equipped with special laser weaponry that can take him out if the player is not careful.
- Interquel: Based on context clues, Shadow of Apokolips appears to take place after Apokolips... Now! as neither Dan Turpin nor Bruno Manheim appear and Superman mentions Darkseid by name, but before Legacy as Supes is still friends with Professor Hamilton and his reputation is intact. The effect is akin to a Non-Serial Movie in game form.
- Left Hanging: Darkseid's promise to keep track of Luthor is never followed up on, not in a sequel game or in the rest of the DCAU.
- Lethal Lava Land: Mountain Strike! and Reactor Meltdown! take place inside a volcano lab. Both levels even require Superman to use coolants to stop eruptions all over the facility.
- Mecha-Mooks: The primary enemies of the game, sent by Darkseid to kidnap scientists or steal equipment. Superman must stop them in almost every level.
- Motive Decay: Averted. In the DCAU proper, Metallo seemed to forget all about his vendetta against Lex Luthor after his first appearance. In this game, he still hasn't forgotten what Luthor did to him and goes after him leading to a boss fight.
- P.O.V. Cam: In order to use X-Ray Vision, Superman will need to enter First Person mode through the press of a button.
- Power Copying: Parasite, as per usual. He absorbed Superman's powers in a cutscene, which plays into the boss fight as the player needs to keep their distance from Parasite to avoid having their health taken.
- Regenerating Health: Superman's health automatically regenerates when he isn't hurt. It is incredibly slow, however.
- Rogues Gallery: Superman faces his usual nemesis Lex Luthor, Metallo, Parasite, Livewire and Kanto (though notably not Darkseid himself) over the course of the game.
- Save the Villain: Superman has to save Lex from Metallo in the penultimate battle.
- Secondary Adaptation: It is a video game based on Superman: The Animated Series, released two years after the series had already finished. It features the majority of the voice cast from the show, only missing Brion James as Parasite and Michael Ironside as Darkseid.
- Sentry Gun: Superman will fight these throughout the Lex Corp/Lex Labs levels. As Clark, you will need to use Heat Vision on them to bypass security.
- Shock and Awe: Livewire, to such a degree she can send out electric orbs that follow Superman wherever he goes. Drenching Livewire in water is key to defeating her.
- Starter Villain: A criminal escaping in a helicopter is the first opponent Superman thwarts in the game. Later on, he deals with his proper villains.
- Stealth-Based Mission: Clark and Lois sneak into Lex Corp, so Clark gets his own mission where he has to avoid being spotted while searching the facility. It is the only level like this.
- Suicide Attack: Some Interbots will attempt to explode themselves to kill Superman
- Super-Breath: A mechanic of the game, used to put out fires or push away enemies.
- Suspiciously Cracked Wall: Averted, to a frustrating degree. Certain walls require Superman to use X-Ray Vision in order to see through and find the next objective. Sometimes, the player isn't afforded that luxury and has to guess which part they have to break.
- Tank Goodness: Tanks can deplete Superman's health and are fortified enough to take a few minutes to break just using your fists. It is much easier to destroy them by slamming your full body flying at super speed.
- The Unfought: Despite setting the plot in motion, there is no fight with Darkseid. Kanto is a boss, but Darkseid manages to remain untouched as he tended to do in the show. Ditto for Lex Luthor, who as usual Superman is not able to pin any crimes on him.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: While the rest of the game is an action adventure beat-em-up, Infiltration is a stealth level where Clark... well, infiltrates Lex Corp.
- Video Game Tutorial: The first level, A Day in the Life..., is a tutorial showing the player how to fly, pick up objects and stop flying vehicles as Superman. The second level, Officer Down!, depicts combat and the use of X-Ray/Heat Visions in gameplay.
- Villain Respect: Darkseid and Kanto both respect Lex's intelligence, claiming him to be inventive for a human. It's to the point they decide to keep tabs on him along with Superman.
- Wide-Open Sandbox: This is one of the few superhero games released before Spider Man 2 to make use of this. Most every level in the game is a giant sandbox to accomodate Superman's flight, with hundreds of enemies to fight in the process. Metropolis is even explorable with a cheat code.
- X-Ray Vision: One of Superman's abilities and a mechanic of the game. Superman can use this to uncover enemies and hostages behind walls or crates.
Countdown to Apokolips includes these tropes:
- Continuity Snarl: Bruno Manheim is active in the game while taking orders from Kalibak. One could place Countdown before Apokolips... Now! if it weren't for Kalibak openly referring to Apokolips and its technology, something Superman wouldn't find out about until the two-parter.
