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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was a downloadable game published by Activision and developed by Red Fly Studio. Out of the Shadows is a four-player online co-op brawler with a "skill-based combat system built around combo-driven action." Out of the Shadows is not based on the 2012 series, but exists in its own "hyper realistic 3D-style" world inspired by the show. It was released on August 28, 2013 for Xbox Live Arcade and Windows PCs (Steam platform).[1] It was initially scheduled for September 24, 2013, on PlayStation Network, but exactly one week prior, it was heavily delayed, eventually releasing on April 15, 2014.

Description[]

Announcement trailer
Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles-_Out_of_the_Shadows_Announcement_Trailer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows takes you back to how it all began. Be the four Turtles, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael in the fight to save New York City from mutants, the Foot and the Shredder. With seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op, along with team combo moves and relentless combat, this is the game fans have been waiting for.

Gameplay[]

The game is a brawler for Xbox Live and PlayStation online. A demo was released that showcased some of the distinctive features of the game. Each turtle possesses a different combat style based on their personality and weapons, modified for hack and slash gameplay. Their base similarities include a parkour traversal system, triggered by using the jump and sprint buttons in tandem, a Batman: Arkham Asylum style counter/block system, light and heavy attack buttons, 10 throwable shuriken and last but not least, the ability to taunt enemies using the D-pad key used to select them.

Donatello is for technical players and, like in previous games, his advantage is his long reach with the bo, but that comes at the expense of being the slowest of the foursome. Raphael is much more hands on and his fighting style mimics Muay Thai and MMA. The diminutive Michelangelo is the quickest of the turtles and his martial arts style is similar to capoeira. His impressive speed allows him to build up long combos quickly for more devastating attacks later on. And lastly, Leonardo is the all-around fighter who uses plenty of kicks and counters in his arsenal.

Each turtle doesn't fight alone. The foursome work off each other and in Out of the Shadows that translates to coordinated team attacks. Players can switch easily between the four ninja turtles using the D-pad and have them do combo finishers and tag moves like a "Turtle Power KO". These are triggered by racking up combos until the hit counter turns the turtle's distinctive color, or by inputting the combo in proximity to another turtle so they can perform the move together. Blocking an enemy's attack late can also be used to hold them in place so the player can switch to another Turtle and attack them, resulting in an instant "TPKO". Players can also "Juggle Attack" by using a combo to launch an enemy up into the air then switch to another Turtle, who jumps up after them and sends them slamming back to earth for an instant knock out. (Alternatively the player can press the launching Turtles D-pad button to make them do the jump)

Each of these moves fills three green bars under the players health and block bars, allowing the player to perform a special attack. The Turtles start out with their base ability to perform whirling 90°, 180° or 360° attacks that knock out a target while delivering damage to surrounding enemies. As the player earns more XP they can unlock each Turtles' specific special ability. Leo combines his swords to form a "Blade Staff" he can use like a giant boomerang, Mikey turns his nunchucks into a kusarigama, Donnie uses the power of the gravity gauntlet from the IDW comics to levitate and slam opponents with anti-gravity, and Raph dons "Iron Fists" that add extra damage to his attacks.

Each special ability can be equipped and unequipped using the second left trigger/bumper. However these special abilities are accessed through a utility feature which also holds each Turtles throwing stars, energy drinks which can be consumed to max out their special attack bar, explosive and EMP grenades (which only effect robotic enemies such as Mousers) and most importantly, up to five pizza "Health Packs" which the player must consume to refill a dangerously low health bar or wave in front of a downed Turtle so they can recover. Leo also gains an upgrade ability which allows him to revive his brothers even if he does not have a health pack himself but the recovering Turtle gains very little health from this. All these items can be collected in a level along with concept art though some are hidden behind security doors which can be opened through a hacking mini-game. The player must connect symbols of ninja weapons, without cutting off another symbol's path, before a timer runs out. Naturally Donnie can be upgraded where the game is either insanely simple for him or the simpler locks are auto-hacked.

While the game places more of an emphasis on Arkham Asylum style combat there is a basic stealth system. By pressing down on the left stick the Turtles will crouch down and move slowly and quietly, though the player can still move quickly by using the sprint button. The other turtles follow the instructions of your lead Turtle, either to wait in place or to follow you, entered by holding down their D-pad button. Players can sneak up behind unaware enemies and pres the attack button to stealth KO them, though there weapons must be sheathed to avoid attacking and alerting them. Similarly the other three Turtles (and obviously the player) must stay out of sight of the enemy to avoid being detected.

The games levels are accessed and unlocked through a story campaign where players must make it to the end of a map to confront a final boss. These are broken into combat, traversal and stealth sections. During these the player is given Special Objectives, optional missions to fulfil a certain number of stealth KOs, special attacks or counters, for additional XP. Completing a level also unlocks it as a Combat Challenge, where players can use one of the Turtles to fight four waves of enemies, or Survival Mode where all four Turtles must survive 20 rounds spread across the six game levels, facing waves of enemies and eventually bosses, and complete Special Objectives to earn pizzas for survival in the next level.

Story[]

April O'Neil comes to in a wrecked warehouse. Eager to resume her mission with the Turtles she recalls her training under Master Splinter and runs and climbs her way through a warren of cargo crates, even as the warehouse is ravaged from the outside by something firing laser beams and strong enough to hurl a truck through the wall. She finally makes it outside into the pouring rain, sensing an unseen enemy is following her. She tries to call in the Turtles for back up using her T-phone but only gets Donatello's voice mail. She quickly makes her way towards the lights of responding police cars...but Karai grabs her before she can reach them! Donatello finally responds, but all that's left of April is her phone.

Earlier that day; the other three Turtles daily training session is interrupted by Donnie and April presenting his latest invention: a series of tiny transponders built into one of April's boots to keep track of her movements through the city, which, given her adventures with the boys, means she gets practically everywhere and will allow the Turtles to map bad guy activity all over the island. Leonardo is impressed. Raphael isn't. April is pleased to have a way to keep track of her daily mileage, which Raph admits is pretty cool. Checking the boot's map against a police scanner the gang notice that a wave of robberies have been taking place at labs all across Manhattan, some by the Purple Dragons. Suspicious that a street gang would be interested in high-tech, the Turtles decide to investigate.

Sunset; Tracking the latest heist back to a tattoo parlour the Turtles confront the gang and overhear the location of their next heist from an unconscious gang members walkie talkie. Sneaking through a pizza parlour they confront another squad of Purple Dragons in an alley and head for the rooftops, discovering the Dragons next target is one of the Kraang's TCRI facilities. A fire fight between the Kraang and the Dragons breaks out with the Turtles caught in the middle. As the police arrive one of the gang tries to bolt with a truck full of stolen Krang tech but Leo takes out it's tires with a shuriken. The Turtles chase the fleeing driver into the subway, where, after clearing out other squads, they discover Foot Clan markings on the walls of a disused subway system that the Foot and the Purple Dragons are using to transport stolen goods. Climbing aboard the roof of one of these trains, they're confronted by Karai and several Foot ninja. Before they can take her down the kunoichi unleashes strange glowing green explosives, demolishing the train and leaving the brothers to eat her dust.

Nightfall; The Turtles decide to "misinterpret" Splinter's orders to come home by hunting down more Purple Dragons on the way back. Raph interrogates the only conscious member of the squad they surprise but is unable to learn anything about the secret subway, or what it's transporting. Leo decides the night is a bust and phones April to let them know they're on their way home.

Karai returns to Shredder's lair and warns him that the Turtles now know about the subway. Shredder is unconcerned as the tech project will soon be complete and asks for an update on Baxter Stockman's progress. The genius only needs a few more components to complete his master's ultimate weapon and is ordered to slow the Turtles down.

Leo elects to take the sewers back home to avoid any surface sentries but the boys discover Purple Dragons exploring the tunnels. Just as they're mopping up a horde of Stockman's Mousers burst through a wall. Taking all enemies out the Turtles head deeper into the tunnels with the suspicion their enemies (including a new explosive breed of Mouser) are deliberately herding them. After taking out a Foot ambush they find themselves facing a new Stockman invention: a Mouser unit mounted on a humaniod robotic body which Mikey nicknames "Mancers". Retracing the new enemies steps leads them to a Mouser relay station overseen by Foot soldiers, some of whom now pack Karai's new Kraang explosives. After defeating them Donnie gets the bright idea to coordinate with April and locate the Mouser's control signal (and Baxter's base) by tampering with the relay and one of Raph's damaged Mouser heads. By initiating a system reset he's able to let April trace the control signal back it's source...but also accidentally recalls the entire Mouser army back to the relay station.

As the Turtles run for it they find themselves facing a tidalwave of Mousers. Don assures them his new EMP grenade will take care of it but is unable to prime it as an overeager Mikey snatches it and tosses it into the swarm of robot death. Leo orders a hasty retreat and the Turtles haul shell, just managing to make it to the other side of a reinforced tunnel door. Following the signal they reach a dockside shipping yard full of Foot soldiers and a waiting April. Though they have reservations about letting her friend follow them into the lion's den they agree her tagging along. After taking out the Foot and Mancers they hack the lock on a warehouse and discover Baxter's ingenious automated production lab where he converts scarp into his Mouser army. Unfortunately Baxter spots the gang using a wooden walkway and shatters it with a swinging waldo, separating the Turtles and April. Angered when they take out all his forces Stockman unleashes his new invention, the Cerberus Mouser, a large three headed Mouser unit! Despite it's size the Turtles are able to damage the robot tot he point of destroying one of it's heads, prompting Stockman to take the fight outside where the Turtles finish the job. Unfortunately he escapes on a jet pack and the Turtles are unable to locate the missing April before having to escape the police.

Now: Back at the lair the downhearted Turtles seek Splinter's advice. The sensei advises they consider their next steps carefully, prompting Donnie to remember the transistors he installed in April's boot. They follow the signal back to Shredder's lair, the streets around it guarded by an army of Purple Dragons. To avoid detection Leo decides to use the crane of a near by construction site to swing in through Shredder's roof and the boys fight their way through a parking garage to the rooftops where they encounter the Foot Elite. Finally making it to the construction site they must face Karai again. Though they overwhelm her and her Foot army, Leo offers her a hand up and the chance to renounce Shredder. Karai refuses, announcing her father will finish the brothers before letting go of the scaffolding she's hanging from. Before she hits the ground a smoke bomb erupts and she is gone.

The Turtles smash in through the skylight on the crane, facing more Foot Elite and the Shredder himself. Though Shredder auto-dodges most of their attacks and is unblockable the Turtles are able to damage him using their special attacks. Stockman calls the Shredder on his helmet radio to let him know his special project is almost done and the evil ninja takes off, leaving the Foot to deal with his enemies. The Turtles take an elevator into the lower levels of the complex and discover April alive and well in a computer locked glass case. After releasing her she explains Shredder has been coordinating the thefts to build some kind of weapon and that the Foot have used Mousers to dig a tunnel directly into TCRI. The Turtles follow.

Fighting their way up through the tunnel and into the Kraang's base, they hack the alien's network to discover Shredder in a lower level lab with an unknown device, which turns out to be a portal to Dimension X teleportation in an army of Kraang. The Turtles focus on taking the portal out first so they don't become overwhelmed by one enemy while fighting another. They finally confront Shredder, who removes his helmet for some reason. It turns out he was simply keeping the Turtles at bay while Stockman finished their project, a new Shredder helmet made from Kraang tech. Dawning the new weapon the Shredder gains telekinetic powers, able to fly and pull and hurl giant boulders from the floor and ceiling with a simple gesture. Using EMP grenades to temporarily short out the helmet and pouring on special attacks the Turtles are finally able to Shellshock their opponent into unconsciousness and destroy his weapon.

They head back to the lair and recount their victory to April and Splinter over pizza. The sensei is pleased with his sons but cautions them the battle is not over. Indeed, back at his lair Shredder rants and raves that the Turtles have besmirched his honour for the last time, and at TCRI the Kraang decide the Turtles recent escapades means they must be dealt with before they become a threat to the aliens plans...

Cast[]

Trivia[]

  • There is a cheat code which allows you to unlock red bandanas for the Turtles.
    • For the PC version, hold ALT and type yabbayabba, then go to the select screen and press the kick button and it will change bandanas.
  • This game uses three versions of the "Turtle Power" song. A remixed version for the title screen, an instrumental version for the arcade cabinet in the Turtle Lair and the original as the end credits theme.
  • The Turtles were going to have tails in the game, but due to, "the tail stopped looking like a tail...and started looking like something else!" it was cut from the game.[2]
  • During the game, sometimes Raphael will ask "How would you take over Shredder's organization if you had to?". After him, Leo and Donnie finish talking about it. Donatello will finish it with "Then you are a turtle running the Foot, that's how." This is a reference to when Raphael took on the identity of the Shredder in the Image Comics series of TMNT.
  • April isn't playable other than in the prologue.
  • In this game, the Turtles have similar traits to their 2003 and 2012 counterparts. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo have white films over their eyes during combat like their 2003 counterparts. Leonardo has his katana holders over his right shoulder, Donatello has the gap between his middle top teeth, Raphael has the lightning scar over the left side of his chest and Michelangelo nearly fully resembles his 2012 counterpart.
  • The three headed mouser robot during chapter two is called the Ceberus Mouser. The name is a reference to the Greek mythology three headed dog, Ceberus who guarded the entrance of Hades and kept the living from entering the world of the dead.

See Also[]

References[]

External links[]

  Video games [view]
Konami Era 1
1989 home game · Arcade Game · Fall of the Foot Clan · Manhattan Missions · The Manhattan Project · Back from the Sewers · Turtles in Time · The Hyperstone Heist · Radical Rescue · Tournament Fighters (NES, Super NES, Genesis) · The Cowabunga Collection
Konami Era 2
2003 game · 2003 (GBA) · Battle Nexus · Battle Nexus (GBA) · Mutant Melee · Mutant Nightmare
Ubisoft
TMNT (console) · TMNT (handheld) · TMNT (GBA) · Turtles in Time Re-Shelled · Smash-Up · Arcade Attack
Activision
Out of the Shadows · 2013 game · 2014 game · Danger of the Ooze · Mutants in Manhattan
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