Playrooms

“What further horrors shall I find within this terrible place?

Wherein a time before these catastrophic events, I would have willingly accepted pallid imitations of such horrors.

I now have come so far my sensibilities lie benumbed by all I see.

I do not embrace this horror, but rather stand immobile beneath its self-indulgent gaze.

Confusion reigns and I fear the God within the machine is no longer there.”

-Shadow Man, at the entrance to the Playrooms

The Playrooms are an area located within the Asylum in the video game Shadow Man.

This area consists of blood flowing through pipes, cell-like blood stained operating table rooms, Dark Soul machines instead ofGovi's & an even darker atmosphere than other parts of the Asylum. All the Asylum enemies in the Playrooms are in some sort of permanent state of suffering and most of the new enemies can be found here. Shadow Man will first come across the Dogman which looks like a humanoid person walking on all fours wearing a blue latex suit which growls and whimpers. In addition, the place is littered with Surgeons as this is their primary purpose to butcher & sew up the harvested flesh in their operating table rooms. There is an area where the first Trueform encountered in the game will be released out of its cell box but is still trapped within a cage until it can be reached later in the game upon finding the Marcher Gads. The Trueform will scream and run around but it's harmless... for now. The Playrooms gets its name from the Playrooms found later on in the level. Rooms with white tile floors, walls, and celings that all seem to serve unknown purposes or obvious torture. One room contains severed goat heads smeared across the walls in a symmetrical pattern & in blood writes “Analyze this”. Another noticeable playroom is one that is a brightly colored children's room with large 'ABC' blocks and a Hookman in a playpen. The sheer insanity of Legion and Jack the Ripper's madness is limitless within this part of the Asylum. Shadow Man has only begun his journey taking in what “...lies benumbed by all I see...” .

Info[]

Another Retractor Key can be found in the Playrooms to unlock another corpse of The Five in the Cathedral of Pain.
10 Dark Souls are to be collected from this area.
Another 'Cheat Activated' can be found in this level.

Trivia[]

The music in this level is one of the most memorable parts of the Shadow Man series. It's an eerie music box

Brahms Waltz in A-Flat Major, Op. 39 No. 15 - Evgeny Kissin

theme being played over the sounds of chainsaws, squeaky toys, and children laughing or crying. The music box song is actually the Waltz in A flat major, no. 15 by Johannes Brahms. All the other sound effects and music in this level were done by Tim Haywood.
In the N64 version of the game, the Playrooms are severely compressed (as is most of the N64 version)

Shadow Man Soundtrack - Asylum Playrooms

Playrooms theme PC version

and are lacking almost all of the objects or textures the PC and Dreamcast version include. Also, the Playrooms main theme music intro has been cut and all the individual music that is playing in the background of each playroom cell is ommitted.
Near the teddy bear warp area when Shadow Man starts out, he's in a glass tunnel with blood on the outside similar to a walkthrough aquarium. When above the tunnel on the bridge if he jumps into the blood there is a secret easter egg, which looks like a fish with seaweed next to it, near the flesh that can be shot to dive down through another pipe with spinning blades. This is not mentioned in any game guide.

Gallery[]

Embrace Darkshade (talk) 20:31, July 27, 2013 (UTC)