You play as Kirt, a guy who (very) suddenly finds out that he is a shape-shifter from another dimension who must defeat Malkor, an evil outcast god.

As a shape-shifter, Kirt will learn to assume various forms during his adventures. He begins only with the Maorin form – a huge werewolf with four arms. In this form you're stronger, tougher, faster and can see invisible traps, but drown in water.

Later on, Kirk will also learn to transform into Caun, – a small and fragile spellcaster that can sneak around; Opsis, a floating eyeball that can scout the map and scare enemies; Kahpa, a frog-like creature that can breath underwater and perform elemental attacks; Ssair, a red salamander that can breath fire; and Grost, a nearly invincible stone giant that can punch through walls and cause earthquakes.

However, taking the form of a creature and using its abilities drains Kirk's magical power. Once it runs out, he'll revert to his human form, which naturally regenerates magic power but is much weaker.

While exploring the dungeons you'll come across (very) simple puzzles, weapons, armour, potions, keys and magic items you can collect, plus gain XP and eventually level up (thought all stats are hidden).

While all this sounds cool, ShadowCaster never lives up to its potential. Kirk has all these interesting abilities, yet they are used sparingly and in predictable ways. Combat is the real focus, but it's dull and slow (especially for a Doom-like), with small, crude maps, weak enemy design and over-reliance on melee.

A real-time blobber inside an (early) Doom engine, ShadowCaster was a promising concept powered by an impressive technology, but its parts never clicked together. It's not surprising that Raven Software would next create Heretic, streamlining the RPG elements to deliver a Doom-like fast-paced FPS.