Shadow Complex Review
Shadow Complex is an XBOX Live Arcade game from the creative mind of Orson Scott Card. You'll be playing the part of a reluctant hero who was out on a hiking adventure with his lady friend when all of a sudden she gets kidnapped. You then are forced through an underground complex in which you will have to use guns, grenades, rockets, and body armor to not only rescue the girl but find out exactly what is going on.
Graphically this game looks beyond polished. There is a true depth of feel throughout the game. Even though the game is a 2D platformer the background, and the enemies draw in the background look amazing. As you play you'll be gaining increasingly more powerful weapons and armor, all of which looks amazing. What can I see the graphics are very well done in this game. It is odd that the human enemies look like they got kicked out of Cobra Command (GI Joe reference right there), but they fit the part. One last thing about the animation when you get to do your 'B' attack, which is when you're right on the enemy, the fluidness of the animation is perfect.
The sounds fit the part. You have explosions that sound about the right size, you have slightly different sounds for different weapons. The best part is the dialog that you get to overhear as you're going through the game. It is an unique way of giving the player the story without the player being directly involved in the conversation.
The controls in this game feel just about right. You're going to be utilizing almost any and every button the controller, but the layout doesn't feel clumsy. I will admit that there are times when I forget what secondary fire I have active, but that's my fault and not the games.
As stated before you're just a poor bystander in what is going on that basically gets to become the mega hero. There will come a time in the game where you might feel grossly over powered, but that just makes the game all that much more fun. You'll also notice that the entire game takes place on just an ever expanding map. So you'll just be exploring the complex, but the amount of rooms and secrets that they hold will keep you glued for hours. The one thing about this game is that you're not going to be able to easily play for a second and then put it down. This game will make time fly by.
This game might have a pricier tag on it then what you're used to, but you're getting what feels like a full game experience, and the pricing ends up being a non-factor if you let yourself get into the game. Yes there are issues with the story and Orson Scott Cards views, but the game is amazing, and its one of those things where you just need to separate the game from the artist. This game gets a 9.2 out of 10.
