As I start writing this I am still trying to figure out which part of my brain Shadow Complex appealed so much to. Different games tickle different parts of you, something like Halo caresses the part of you that wants to get some mindless killing done. Whereas something like Braid shows some much needed love to the quiet, thinking part of you. So where do I fit Shadow Complex? The closest I can come to is the part of your head that’s always curious, that wants to know what happens next; the explorer in you that’s always eager to look at new territory, or the kid in you that wants to get his hands on the next cool toy.
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So for the sake of brevity, let’s call Shadow Complex a 2D action-adventure. The story is simple enough – Jason Fleming (seriously, that’s his name) goes out hiking with his girlfriend. Only problem is they accidentally stumble on to an underground military base, where the evil doers, who are out to destroy the USA, capture his girlfriend. Fleming, who is channelling Jack Bauer by the way of Chuck Norris, sets out on a quest to get the girl back and thwart the villains. The story might have worked if they had gone overboard with it like an 80’s action film but as it stands, it is definitely the weak part of an otherwise outstanding game.
The gameplay, though, is where it shines. At its core, it’s a game heavily inspired by the Metroid series (when it was still in its 2D days). You explore a huge underground base and as you get more upgrades, different parts of the base open up for you. For example, doors that can be opened by Foam will remain closed for you until you get the Foam gun. You start off with a handy torch and aside from being a light source in the dark areas of the game, it doubles up as a useful pointer. Shine it on any gate, grate or window and it will tell you which weapon you will need to pass through. For instance, green coloured gates (they only light up green if you point the torch at it) require grenade blasts to open them, yellow ones need a firearm, etc. Combine that with level design that frequently borders on genius and you often get some great bits that require creative thinking and demand exploration.
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Another handy little thing on which you will come to rely a lot alongside your torch is the map. It charts every area you have been to. And any secrets or upgrades (which give you more health, better armour, higher ammo capacity, etc) are shown as a question mark in the relevant areas of the map. Upgrades that you have already found are show up as dots. It’s a nice little add-on for those times when you decide to go item hunting. The map also lists the doors that you can open, your current objective, and the shortest route to the objective. Combined with the torch, this cuts down frustration and needless backtracking to a bare minimum. In fact, that’s the general feeling you will get quite often from the game and it’s a lot like Portal in that way. It might last you 6-8 hours, but it’s distilled down till every single minute of that is memorable.
Aside from the general exploration and some minor puzzles based on how to get from Point A to B, the other major component of the game is the combat. In most situations you have two options to dispatch common grunts – weapons or hand to hand combat. Hand to hand combat is simple and initiated by the press of a button. You can sneak up on an enemy and kill him with a simple button press. Gun-based combat is a lot more fun. You can pull off headshots by aiming with the right stick (aiming does have some issues; more on that later) or you can get creative and come up with some fun ways to do it. For example, foam an enemy and while he is stuck in one place, stick a grenade in the foam and watch him scream. To mix things up, the game even throws up some bits where you control a turret Gears of War style and mow down enemies by the dozen. Combat on the whole feels generally satisfying. Also thrown in the mix are some memorable boss fights. The sheer size and scale of some of them is impressive and some of the bosses will require some imaginative thinking. I would however recommend that you start the game on the difficulty above normal as normal is a bit of a cake walk.
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Outside of the main game, there are challenge rooms that you can try out. Generally objective based, the goal here is to clear the room in the shortest time possible. They are a lot of fun and add up as a welcome distraction, one that you can easily lose a couple of hours into. Also worth mentioning is that while, in general, the controls feel tight and responsive, the game has one control issue that sticks out. Since the game’s movement takes place in strictly two planes (up/down, left/right) and the enemies can spawn and shoot at you from the background, the game can get confused between what is above you and what is in the background while aiming. Personally, this was a minor issue that rarely bothered me, but its worth mentioning anyway.
Graphically, it is unlike anything you have seen on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. It’s absolutely stunning and makes a lot of retail 3D games look bad. I feel for any game that will follow this because the bar is set so high on XBLA that nothing else is going to get close for a long time. The attention to detail is quite stunning; lights flicker realistically, water has a lovely fluid quality about it and explosions scorch and leave charred black marks. Make Fleming run fast and if you come to a sudden stop or do a 180 turn, his body will react to momentum as you would expect it to in reality. Enemy soldiers stand around and gossip and you can eaves drop if you are above them. The little touches really help sell the game’s world as a living, breathing military complex. And with no disc to stream data from, the Unreal Engine no longer has a crippling flaw of texture load delays.
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Sound doesn’t lag behind either. Guns have a nice punchy sound to them, explosions are big and satisfying and the big machines that you run across later in the game sound gargantuan and terrifying. And even though the story won’t win any awards, the voice work is rather excellent. All of this is backed up by some really great music, from a moody violin theme on the main menu to some excellent piano bits later on. The developers could have gone the cheap and easy route and just thrown in some heavy metal and called it a day, but the choice of music again shows the attention to details they lavished on the game. Each piece of music compliments the place you are in perfectly. It’s just a shame that the story isn’t there to exploit all of that to its full potential.
Conclusion
Even with its minor flaws, this is the best XBLA game you will play this year. Actually scratch that, there is a good chance this is the best game you will play this year, period. And as I write this, I actually wish I was playing it. And having already finished the game and sunk about 8 hours into it, that’s always a good sign. So yeah, get it. Like right now.
(+) Deep, immersive gameplay
(+) Tons of room for exploration
(+) Fantastic graphics
(+) Great sound and music
(+) Good length for an XBLA game
(-) Minor aiming issues
(-) Average story
Title: Shadow Complex
Developer/Publisher: Chair Entertainment/Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Shooter
Rating: N/A
Platforms: Xbox 360 – Xbox LIVE Arcade (1,200 Microsoft Points)
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