ITSP Is Familiar Yet Also Incredible
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet does not reinvent the wheel but it manages to bring some familiar concepts into a new setting in a way that ends up being quite good.
If you have played Metroid or any of the more recent Metroid inspired titles (ie: Shadow Complex) you will instantly feel at home here. The whole world is designed to be revisited once you pick up a new ability that allows you to open a previously inoperable door. The difference here between a Metroid game and Shadow Planet is that you control a UFO with the left thumbstick and aim your abilities with the right thumbstick in a manner fitting of a dual joystick shooter.
As you work your way through the Shadow Planet you will face enemies, bosses, and puzzles as you would probably expect from a Metroid game. What you would not expect though is that this game is not hard. Everything about this game seems to encourage a relaxing environment, almost to a fault. I had a hard time committing to anything longer than playing an hour or two at a time. Even though the mechanics were fun, the atmosphere just seemed hell bent on putting me to sleep. I defiantly do not mind a breezy experience but I feel as though the developers may have gone a bit too far here. It seems to me that a decently upbeat musical score would have really benefited the whole experience. Who is to say what the development team had in mind though? Perhaps they intended this game to be consumed in smaller chunks. Either way, this small complaint in no way ruins overall gameplay experience.
If you stick with the game you will be rewarded in a big way with an amazing art style. Everything in the world has a shadowy look to it (shocking I know) with color infused in some really striking ways. The game is split into several smaller areas that break off from the main area. These new areas such as an ice area, a water area, and even a pitch black electricity infused area really help bring variety to the art style. Each area even has its own manner of puzzles that naturally require your newly acquired item, almost like a Legend of Zelda dungeon.
So what about the story? You are a UFO that is tasked with… you know what? I have no idea what the story was in this game. That’s ok though because that really doesn’t seem to be the point. Everything seems to be focused on the art style, gameplay, and the relaxing environment. Which is fine because ultimately Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is not the type of game that really needs an engaging story line. The game in no way suffers from it.
In addition to the single player campaign, you can jump into the multiplayer mode were players must race away from a screen consuming enemy while holding on their lantern using the hook ability. If you lose your lantern you can than assist your team mates in keeping theirs by clearing out obstacles. Players who end up dying will be respawned as the nearest checkpoint as long as there is at least one player left alive to hit said checkpoint. This mode, called lantern run, becomes difficult very quickly and is quite intense which is surprising given how laid back the single player campaign seems to be. Never the less, I had quite a bit of fun with this mode even though I never reached the end.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is blend of several different games that you probably have seen before but I still had a blast with it. And the art style simply should not be overlooked.
