If anything, Shifters is graphically well executed. While not as visually impressive as some recent PS2 games, the game is able to hold its own. It was really neat to see that each of the characters had a nice, full, rendered look to them instead of the angular, polygon looking models found in other games. Shifters definitely takes the cake as far as eye candy goes - from the beautiful shadows that dance with flames, to the equally impressive lighting effects, the game really shines.

It would not surprise me one bit if the same guy responsible for the music in Portal Runner composed the score for Shifters - they're nearly identical. It's a bit over the top in some areas, but the music has such a fun, playful feeling that it works with the game.

This is your basic hack-and-slash game only with a few elements thrown in to liven the game up. The most noticeable is the pseudo 'go-anywhere' level design. At the beginning of each level, you are presented with one large area - for example a castle. As you travel from section to section you will be presented with multiple ways of exiting the level. For example, you can choose to venture into the courtyard and work your way into the castle that way. Or, you can choose to go right through the front door - it's completely up to you. This helps to keep the game interesting, but has little effect on the game other than missing out one some scrolls or weapons.

As you fight the seemingly endless swarms of creatures, you can collect weapons and armor. From what I could tell, this was more for cosmetic reasons than anything else. The manual says that each weapon has its own special attributes, however if there was any difference between the weapons it was lost on me.

Judging from the name, it should be obvious that the big 'hook' to the game is the ability to shape shift into different forms. Again, this seemed to be more of a cosmetic thing that an actual play mechanic. I was expecting the shape shifting to play a big role in the game, however this was not the case. In fact, there were times in the game when I forgot I even had the ability. As I played through the game, it just felt that it was there just to be 'cool' rather than 'useful'.

Shifters is about as challenging as cracking a joke at Gary Coleman's expense. I don't know what it is about enemies in games, but even when they outnumber you 20-to-1, they always attack you one at a time. Shifters takes this one step lower; not only do they attack you one at a time, but when you use a health potion they all stop what they are doing, stand back, and let you heal up before attacking you again. Ungh...

Control is laid out rather well in Shifters and except for the loose feel of movement, I found very little not to like. I was happy to see that the attack and action buttons were not the same for once. This makes attacking enemies and picking up dropped potions easy in a frantic battle, however since the battles never get all that hectic, it's a lost cause. Menus and items are also easy to access and use.

Ultimately, Shifters is a below average game. It looks nice, but leaves a lot of be desired in the gameplay department.