When Microsoft started off their “Summer of Arcade” with Twisted Pixel’s ‘Splosion Man, they set a high bar. From where I sit however, there couldn’t have been a better game to cap everything off with than Shadow Complex from Chair Entertainment. To say that the game evokes fond memories of Super Metroid on SNES would be a vast understatement. However, Shadow Complex provides more than enough defining points to stand on its own two legs.
You play as an “every man” named Jason who is seemingly a recent graduate of the Nathan Drake school of grooming, who is out for a little cave exploration with Claire, a girl he just met. It doesn’t take a spoiler warning for me to say that this game isn’t about spelunking, as Jason quickly realizes that the cave is actually the secret base of a shady military style outfit who have taken Claire hostage. What is the every man to do? Become a one man army and take down the whole organization himself, of course.
Once Jason enters the base, he discovers that the organization, known as The Restoration, is attempting to start a new civil war in the
What makes this game most enjoyable are not the shoot-and-cover action sequences which I will get to in just a bit, but the time you spend exploring the game’s varied environments. The sheer size of the map was slightly daunting at first, but exploring it was, for the most part, more pleasure than chore. In order to fill out a large portion of the deeper areas, there is a fair amount of swimming involved, which is typically a low point for other games. However, in Shadow Complex, I actually had some of the most enjoyable moments while exploring the flooded areas. Details of back-story are also presented in a unique way, as you will overhear conversations and radio transmissions as you sneak above and below the unknowing soldiers.
As you progress through the base and slowly transform into what amounts to a super-soldier, The Restoration will begin to notice your presence more and more. This means that new types of enemies will be sent to intercept you; aside from the mindless soldiers who might as well be wearing ear plugs. Add to this the fairly tight aiming controls and a laser site on all of your guns, and you can often times take out many of your enemies before they even know you are there. In the spirit of its forefathers, Shadow Complex features some fairly intense boss encounters as well as some other sequences that break out of the mostly 2-d side scrolling style. One such encounter sticks out to me which, without going into too much detail, has you manipulating the environment around you instead of taking the enemy head on. New weapons and equipment also add options to later fights which can be tackled in a number of different ways with tools such as rocket launchers, foam guns, and a grappling hook.
This, of course, is not to say that there are no issues with the game at all. There were several points that seemed to glitch up on me when I attempted to interact with the environment which either took me several attempts to get passed or caused me to take another route entirely. Thankfully, these were few and far between. Also, there were a couple of boss battles where it seemed the AI was worse than usual, as I simply stood slightly off screen and shot them over and over while they apparently made attempts to find me.
Overall though, I feel confident in saying that Shadow Complex is easily one of the best games to be released on Xbox Live Arcade thus far and worth the 1200 point price tag. My first run-through of the game clocked in at around six hours, and that was with less than 60% of items completed. The game also includes a special challenge mode which drops you into a training room situation with a sub-set of tools in a timed race to the finish. In addition, leaderboards are included so you can see how you match up against your friends in a variety of categories. So, in short, buy it.
Pros: Exploration is enjoyable, Good variety of items, Lots of replayability
Cons: Negligible story, some minor glitches
(This game was purchased by the reviewer)
Darke
said:
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Cool, I have always like Metroidvania style games. But have always wanted that next gen shine to them, this looks to be it. |
arcus_angelus
said:
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This is Metroid without having to be Metroid. . .and that's not neccesarily a bad thing. ^.^ |
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