Environment Objects^[1] refers to a set of weapons in Shadow the Hedgehog, composed of long objects that can be picked up and used for wide-ranged melee attacks against enemies. Most stages have a type of Environment Object associated with them that will be dropped by destroying certain objects in the level's environment.

By default, each environment object contains 4 "hits" that are used up when the player damages an object or enemy with it. Once all hits are used up, the object breaks, although picking up additional environment objects while already holding one will increase the available hits by 4 each time. No hits are used up if the player swings the object without damaging an object or enemy, or if the player is currently transformed as Dark Shadow or Hero Shadow. Some enemies struck may cause more than one point of ammunition to be used up with one swing.

To swing an Environment Object, the player must press //. Pressing the button three times in quick succession performs a 3-swipe combo: The weapon is swung left-right, the weapon is swung right-left, and the weapon is finally swung in a circle around the player. When jumping, pressing the attack button will cause Shadow to swing in a full circle, hovering in place until he finishes swinging; attacking in mid-air will automatically stop Shadow's ascension and when the circle swing concludes, Shadow will be affected by gravity, falling to the ground as normal (he cannot perform a Homing Attack or swing again until he touches the ground. He can discard the weapon in mid-air both before and after the attack however).

Although they appear different, all 12 types of Environment Objects are functionally identical, except for the Egg Torch, which deals less damage, and features the additional ability to light the lanterns found in Cryptic Castle, an action that is mandatory to progress through the stage. Lethal Highway, Mad Matrix, The ARK, Black Comet, and Lava Shelter are the only stages in Shadow the Hedgehog without obtainable Environment Objects.

Types

Name/Description	Stage(s)	Image
Speed Limit Sign[2]	Westopolis
Laser pole	Digital Circuit
Big stick	Glyphic Canyon, Sky Troops
Egg Torch[2]	Cryptic Castle
Tree branch	Prison Island, Death Ruins
Eggman sign	Circus Park
Stop Sign[2]	Central City
Light pole	The Doom, Lost Impact
Signal light	Air Fleet, GUN Fortress
Construction beam	Iron Jungle
ARK lamp	Space Gadget, Cosmic Fall
Black Comet pillar	Final Haunt, The Last Way

Trivia

• In Shadow the Hedgehog Strongest Strategy Guide the "Speed Limit Sign", "Stop Sign", and "Egg Torch" Environment Objects are listed individually in the weapons index, despite every other Environment Object in the game being curiously absent.^[2]
• While swinging on the ground, if one looks closely at Shadow, his left arm will be largely outstretched during ground attacks.

References