Shadow Complex Cometh
I have played Shadow Complex. I have conquered Shadow Complex, but I’m nowhere near being done with Shadow Complex.
Beauty aside (the game looks and runs wonderfully), it’s the gameplay that sets this Summer of Arcade’s finale apart from the crowd.
Indeed, if you’ll permit me an anecdote, I spent some time at a press event a few days ago for an unrelated game. Talk turned to Shadow Complex, and the room lit up with the kind of vigorous enthusiasm normally reserved for small children. Bright eyes, words tumbling over one another, and a lot of giddy cross-talk. It takes a special game to cause that kind of reaction in a room full of journalists.
Why the passionate reaction? For my part, Shadow Complex satisfies a hunger in the vastly underserved sidescrolling action/exploration genre.
The game divides itself almost equally among shooting, exploration and platforming. Enemies and platforming puzzles exist largely as entertaining obstacles to your exploration.
It’s worth noting too that because Shadow Complex uses the Unreal 3 Engine, and, consequently, renders the game in 3D even when you’re sidescrolling, you can shoot “into” the level, manually aiming at enemies that are farther back in the environment. It’s a subtle change, but a thankful wrinkle for “2D” combat.
In a way, the base itself is your core nemesis. You must hunt down upgrades such as grenades, missiles, hyperspeed boots and the already famous foam gun.
You then use these upgrades to access previously inaccessible areas in the base. It’s these moments, where you must puzzle out how to navigate the environment that I think Shadow Complex really struts its clever design.
For example, one such puzzle places crates between you and an upgrade canister. The only way to shatter the crate is to use hyperspeed, but there’s not enough room anywhere nearby to build up enough speed.
The solution comes from activating hyperspeed while running through a far-away side-room, then bursting into the main area, double-jumping mid-hyperspeed over some superheated gas, running up an inclined wall and upside down on a ceiling and eventually dropping down right before the series of crates. It’s exhilarating to both discover the puzzle’s secret and executes its solution.
Shadow Complex is that rare game made by people (Chair Entertainment) who are obviously in love with their subject matter. You can download it on Xbox LIVE Arcade Wednesday, August 18th.
Now, to start my second play-through!
