I'm a pretty big cheapskate and I wanted to wait until this was 800 points before finally diving into it. Any chance of that happening this year that should make me wait? 

You do realize that the difference between 1200 and 800 points is only about £3.50 right? That's more than being a cheapskate...

And it isn't in the sale that is currently going on, and that ends on the last day of the year, so it ain't gonna 800 points in 2010.

If any XBLA game is worth 1200 points, it's Shadow Complex. It's easily the best XBLA game. There's a reason why it was Giant Bomb's 2009 360 exclusive game of the year. 

Its going on sale on the 12th of June 2011.

" If any XBLA game is worth 1200 points, it's Shadow Complex. "

It goes on sale the 22nd Dec 2012. Are you willing to risk it?

" You do realize that the difference between 1200 and 800 points is only about £3.50 right? That's more than being a cheapskate... And it isn't in the sale that is currently going on, and that ends on the last day of the year, so it ain't gonna 800 points in 2010. "

" If any XBLA game is worth 1200 points, it's Shadow Complex. It's easily the best XBLA game. There's a reason why it was Giant Bomb's 2009 360 exclusive game of the year.  "

How many hours did you sink into it?  "

"While ShadowComplex does a whole lot of things right, there are a few issues that I had with the game, The main issue, sadly, is the length. Partially, this is probably to blame on the many previews and interviews claiming that the game takes between ten and twelve hours to complete. Well, that depends on your definition of complete. Unless I’m a far better gamer than most of the Chair and Epic play test staff, they most likely were talking about fully completing the game by finding every upgrade. As much as it pains me to admit it, while playing on the normal difficulty, I was able to finish the game in just around six hours.
 
I think the most jarring part of this is after all the talk of a ten to twelve hour game, I really expected that I had about another third of the game to go, the plot was getting pretty interesting, and then I saw the credits roll. It was a painful experience, but I firmly believe that going in with realistic expectations concerning Shadow Complex’s length will definitely help your enjoyment of the game.
 
The good news is that ShadowComplex gives you plenty of reasons to go back and get at least that eight to twelve hours of gameplay you were promised, and perhaps even more. Sure enough, when I went back and finished the game again with 100% of the upgrades, the full experience lasted just over 11 hours, and I also got an achievement for a full completion. There’s also a minimalist achievement for playing through the game with less than 13% of the upgrades, and another achievement for leveling-up to level 50. If you’re wondering, I was around level 15 or so when I first finished the game, and around 20 when I completed the game with 100% of the upgrades. Lastly, ShadowComplex has a “new game +” type feature, which allows you to start from the beginning with your leveled-up character, and continue to earn experience. You won’t have your upgrades anymore, but your stats will carry over to your new game. Depending on the items you found, one other unlockable will also carry over, but I won’t spoil that here.
 
Yet another reason to continue playing after finishing the main campaign comes from the proving grounds, which are a series of mini objectives that are much more difficult than completing the main quest’s objectives. There are 21 stages in all, each are timed–meaning you can try to beat your friends times or your own times–and each stage has its own leaderboard."

 How many hours did you sink into it?   

"

 How many hours did you sink into it?   

God, screw you. If you prefer investing in 20 hours of OK over 5 hours of Amazing, then gtfo.  "