Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Ring any bells? Chances are that these classics rank high on many of your favourite games lists. From its announcement, the developers of Shadow Complex admitted to taking a heavy influence from these titles while working on the Xbox Live Arcade release. Some people may have been skeptical whether or not the studio behind Gears of War could create a game in the vain of Super Metroid and Castlevania: SotN, but after playing Shadow Complex they will realise that it is not only worthy of being compared to these games, but that it should be talked about with the same reverence as these classic titles.

After a Metroid-style power-up stealing, Shadow Complex starts you off as Jason Flemming. Jason is just a normal guy on a normal date in the woods with his normal girlfriend - that is until they decide to explore a nearby cave and Jason's girlfriend gets captured by a technologically advanced army called "The Restoration". Jason goes after his girlfriend and soon finds himself in the middle of a huge complex (a shadow complex, if you will), navigating his way around to find a way to get him and his love to safety. Although based on the universe of Orson Scott Card's novel, Empire, and written by comic book writer Peter David, the story in Shadow Complex soon takes a backseat to the action and exploration aspects of the game.

Shadow Complex is the first game that I feel truly earns the title of 2.5-D. The game only allows the player to move on a 2-D plane, and yet enemies appear, not only in front and behind you, but also in the foreground and background. This is an innovative addition to the game, but it usually makes for some frustrating points when aiming at enemies on different planes, and when trying to determine whether you are able to land on a certain platform or whether it is in the background.

When starting Shadow Complex, you will be armed with nothing by a t-shirt and a torch, but it doesn't take long for Jason to be able to hold his own against the games enemies. Promptly finding a pistol and grenades, you are able to take out green-coloured doors, but as the amount of other coloured doors in the base show, this is just the beginning. From missiles to a grappling hook, the power-ups in Shadow Complex are extremely satisfying and you will find yourself constantly itching to get your hands on the next one. A personal favorite of mine probably the most original power-up in the game; the foam gun. It's exactly what it sounds like too, a gun that shoots quick-hardening foam to be used however the player sees fit. There were a few too many power-ups that feel like they were taken straight out of Metroid, but Epic Games did a good job of making these items feel fresh.

The giant military base, of which the game is named after, is an absolute joy to explore. Although you're limited to only the large base and the wooded area surrounding it, there is enough varation to make the backtracking feel not only bearable, but fun. With the game constantly giving you new items, you will usually find something new every time you are required to go to a certain area. Looking at the map screen may be a little daunting to some players, but Shadow Complex gives the player an option of having a blue line on the map screen giving a specific path to the next object. Sticking to the path is not always the best strategy though, as off the trail is where you will find most of the hidden weapon upgrades (more missiles, health, etc.).

The controls are especially good. Jumping, grappling, and climbing the architecture is a breeze. The game falls short when aiming, however. Controlled by the right analogue stick, the overly sensitive aiming can be a problem in parts of the game where accuracy is required. This causes most of the encounters in the game to be most easily solved by wiggling the stick in the general direction of the enemy until enough bullets make contact. A little more auto-aim help could have easily avoided this problem. The aiming can be a huge frustration, as it is usually the reason for unnecessary deaths and soaking up more damage than you should have.

The graphics in Shadow Complex are gorgeous, especially considering that it is a downloadable game. Using the Unreal Engine 3 - the same engine used in such graphically impressive games as Gears of War 2 - the graphics impress. Up close, the character models are not especially pretty, but from the game's intended 2-D perspective, the environments and characters are all quite impressive. However, I also found many instances where parts of my character would clip though a wall, which could be off-putting and often pulled me out of the experience.

Although it is a single-player only game, Shadow Complex does have a mode called "Training Grounds". This mode challenges players to complete specific tasks using a limited amount of resources. The player is rated based on the time of completion and is ranked on an online leaderboard. These challenges are fun, and are a good incentive to keep players coming back.

Shadow Complex is awesome. Its minor flaws in the aiming and graphical glitches are no match for the games strong points. Exploring the world and finding new power-ups is a great way to spend an hour or two, and players will quickly find themselves losing track of time while playing. Shadow Complex can easily be called one of the best downloadable games to date, and could be considered one of the years best games, downloadable or disc-based. If you're a fan of the games that Shadow Complex draws its influence from, or if you've always wanted to check out Super Metroid or Castlevania, it is an easy recommendation. For only 1200 Microsoft Points, Shadow Complex is tremendous value, and is a game that no Xbox 360 owner should be without.

9/10

Tyson

Labels: 360, Epic Games, Shadow Complex, Tyson, Tyson Breen

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