Shadow Complex

This is probably the best XBOX Live Arcade title ever released.

Shadow Complex is clearly inspired by the classic 2D side-scrolling arcade adventures of the Super Nintendo generation (the first Golden Age of Videogames).

The game contains tropes from both Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but in motion it feels much closer to the former than the latter. The developers, Chair have made no bones about their inspiration for the game which has lifted the Metroid template wholesales and brought it bang up to date. During the development process the team spent hours playing Super Metroid and destructing it to discover what made the game work so well.  This research has paid off handsomely in the final product.

The story is basic but refreshingly simple. You play as Jason Flemming (voiced by Nolan North of Uncharted fame) you’re on a hiking trip with your lady friend, Clare. She then discovers a cave she seems to remember from her childhood. She climbs down to investigate further but then disappears. Being the heroic sort you head into the gloom to try to locate her, but instead of finding her you uncover a large underground base complete with baddies hell-bent on destroying the good old U S of A.

The eponymous Shadow Complex goes deep underground and contains an elaborate network of connected rooms and corridors. It’s all the work of some clandestine evil private army that are looking to restore America to its former glory by imposing a right wing military dictatorship. Sure, they might get crime under control but it does rather extreme and hence must be stopped at all costs. Luckily for America, Jason is a bloke that doesn’t shy away from a challenge. He sets out to get the girl and bring down the evil doers.

Before long you get tooled up with a backpack (which allows you to climb), a torch and a basic pistol. The standard issue pistol feels great to fire, which is a good thing as you’ll be using it a lot and for large part of the early game.

Another gold star for Chair for adding unlimited ammo for your basic sidearm which means you’ve always got something to fight with and always stand a chance even when out number and out gunned.

Apart from the basic side arm you also obtain special weapons which are limited in ammo.  These include a grenade launcher, missile, foam gun (which can be used to freeze platforms like the ice missile in Metroid) and hook shot (like the grappling gun in Metroid).  You also get access to futuristic armour which allows you to perform double jumps and run super fast to smash through certain walls.

These items are dotted around the 2D map. Not only do they make you stronger but they also allow access to areas that were previously off limits. Unlike Metroid you can tell which weapon will open a specific door by shining your torch on it which will make the door glow a certain colour. This denotes which weapon will open the door: For example, the Orange door is opened by gun fire, green by grenade and red by missile etc. This means you never waste ammo trying to open a door with the wrong weapon, plus you always know some sections are off limits until you have found the necessary weapon.

The map is accessed from the select button and shows all areas you have visited plus the locations of hidden upgrade items (marked with a question mark). Just because you know where an item is doesn’t mean it will be easy to get to.

Sometimes you need to use double jumps and other power-ups to reach especially hard to get to upgrades. It’s usually worth it as you can upgrade your armour and the capacity of your special weapons which comes in handy when faces the games numerous bosses.

The 2.5D environments look amazing. The game is based on the Unreal 3 engine and it’s put to great use to render the base in pseudo 3D… unlike your enemies you can never walk into the screen but the excellent targeting system means you can shoot  people and objects that are not on the same 2D plane.

The aiming is aided by a laser sight but still takes some getting used to but works phenomenally well once it clicks. The combat in this game is really well done – the controls feel responsive and shooting enemies never gets dull due to the exploding oil barrels and their rag doll physics when falling from high platforms etc.

Hand to hand combat is very well executed. When close enough to an enemy press the red button and the camera switches to a close up as Jason dishes out a gut buster or haymaker punch to the unlucky goon. You don’t get to choose which move is performed but it keeps the system simple and means it looks spectacular and is a very satisfying addition to the combat.

There are several enemy types ranging from the standard issue solider to bigger dudes with chain guns and shields. Some enemies also cling to the ceiling and the complex also has cameras which can be shot and spider like century droids which can also be dispensed with enough bullets.

The actual complex the game takes place in is huge – with some cool cavern areas, underwater sections. Parts of the game take place on the surface as well. There are different areas which are coloured differently on the map but these all feel like part of the same whole. It would be nice to explore some other styles of environment in any sequels though.

The game has several nice touches which elevates it from merely a very good game to an excellent one. The boss battles are great, and can be beaten by learning the bosses attack patterns or my preferred method; brute force. They aren’t too difficult which maintains the game’s low frustration factor (something I’m all in favour of) without being a complete walkover.

Shadow Complex also features some very light RPG elements. You can level up accuracy but it’s to difficult to see any difference this makes in the game. So it doesn’t add much but takes nothing away either. Another great touch is the achievements and the way their progress is tracked in the game and compared to any friends you have playing.

There are also some mounted turret sections where you face into the screen and unleash hell on the bad guys. I also love crawling under walkway unbeknown to the soldiers above, you catch snippets of conversations usually they’ll make reference to your capture or their evil plans.

I finished the game in two main sittings about 3 months apart. I would estimate there is about ten hours of game to get through to the end credits. The reason I stopped the first time was due to getting stuck, one of the games slight frustrations is the map is sometimes tricky to read when trying to get from side  to another. It appears there’s no way through… but this was soon resolved with some help from kids and a dose of patience.

What I love about this game is it takes everything that was great about Super Metroid and makes it contemporary. Kudos to Chair for taking a game style that seemed consigned to the museum of games and making it feel fresh and interesting. This game also reminds me of how much fun 2D side scrollers are to play.

In summary: get this game – nothing is more demanding of your attention on XBL Arcade.