Shadow Complex

Last year in the Summer of Arcade we got some absolutely brilliant games. Bionic Commando Rearmed, Braid and bringing up the rear, the phenomenal Castle Crashers, my all time favourite XBLA game. This year’s summer of arcade was less good. True we had ‘Splosion men at the start, but the other games were less exciting. I hate Marvel vs. Capcom, Turtles in Time doesn’t interest me and I have already played Trials on PC. So I had little hope resting on Shadow Complex. The E3 footage was a bit meh and the whole metroidvania concept didn’t appeal. However, I then picked up the trial after I got back from Germany and had a little playthrough. Almost immediately, I loved it.

For those of you not in the know, Shadow Complex is a 3d platformer/shooting game that takes place on a 2D plane. Its plot sets you in the role of Jason, an everyman, who goes caving with a girl he picked up the night before in a cave she has been in before. However, it soon appears it has been taking over by a mysterious organisation that captures your girl. Now you must navigate through the base in order to find her and then escape.

First up the plot. It’s a bit of a shame that one of the main boasts of the game is its link to a novel (Empire by Orson Scott Card) when the plot line is so predictable. If you don’t see who your girlfriend really is then you are a moron. It does act as a good backdrop though and the world behind it is quite intriguing though has several massive plot holes.

More important, and thankfully better, is the gameplay. For anyone who has ever played one of the early Metroid or Castlevania games, it plays similarly. You move across various different areas using the right stick to aim and left stick to move. There is a small amount of lock on but this is primarily when enemies are in the background, where it would be tricky to accurately hit them. You can also jump, but you are able to unlock double jump and triple jump later. This can lead to the early areas being exceptionally annoying. Luckily, the grappling hook is unlocked as well later on, making many puzzles really easy.

The main draw of Shadow Complex is the exploration aspect to it. Around the map, there are around 100 items ranging from upgrades to pieces of super powered armour to collect. These aren’t just lying around; instead they are hidden inside various vents or doorways requiring you to use various powerups such as grenades, foam or missiles. Some even require you to run fast enough to crash through enemies and objects. The combat is quite fun, even if you just running around punching everyone. You only carry one weapon at a time, but this is upgraded throughout. There is also a nice variety of enemies. These range from scientists armed with pistols, through assault rifle armed Special Forces, through power armoured battle suits all the way up to shielded mechs.

It’s pretty easy to tell that this game is made by Epic, the makers of the Unreal Engine. It was very obviously designed for UE3. And it really looks good. Despite being only being played on a 2D plane, the 3D backdrops are exquisite. The outside sections are beautiful, especially with the pine trees in the background. The underground areas are also pretty good, especially the cavern. The rest of the graphics are excellent as well, such as the character design. The protagonist is a bit generic, but the bad guys are all very stylistic. The sound is nice and punchy, but the soundtrack is nothing to write home about. Anyone who recognises the voice actor of Jason, that’s because it the voice of Nathan Drake from Uncharted who is picking up all these roles. He actually suits the character of Jason.

The game’s 12 achievements are all achievable, except maybe for the one that requires you to finish the game with only 13% of the items that can be a right pain. After you’ve gained many of the achievements, the game still continues to track the requirements allowing you to compare yourself with your Xbox Live friends. For an example, it tracks the number of times you’ve caused an enemy to scream before they die. After you’ve achieved it, it will compare you to a friend who is closest to you.  This comparing also is part of the other mode in Shadow Complex, the challenges. These all involve careful use of the games tools in order to achieve the aims of the challenge in the quickest times. The leaderboard also tracks your time in the campaign. A friend of the blog, BinaryDragon, managed to complete the game in 36 minutes, so it’s perfect for speed runs.

Everyone should at least try Shadow Complex, as there is a good chance you’ll enjoy it. It’s a truly brilliant game, with plenty of content and opportunities for replay. And replaying it is actual fun, not the chore it normally is. This is pretty close to pushing Castle Crashers off the position of my favourite Xbox Live Arcade game. You’ll be playing with game for ages. And I’m not the only person who loves it. Twitter has been going insane over it, and it rates pretty highly.

I give Shadow Complex 92%, and recommend it to all Xbox 360 users.