Shadow Complex, when first announced, was met with a lot of hype. Gamers and journalists alike were claiming the game would be graphically equal to a full priced Xbox 360 game. The game was being made by Epic, known for their largely popular Gears of War series, and to a lesser extent, Unreal Tournament.
While I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's a $15 game worth $60, it's definitely a huge bargain.
Visually, it is very impressive for a Xbox Live Arcade game, but it's no Gears of War either. Some of the animations get a little funky in places, but I didn't see anything wrong in the textures department. For $15, this is a very pretty game.
I expected a bit more than I got out of the story. It's pretty cut and dry, but it doesn't detract from the experience. Apparently it's based on a book by Orson Scott Card, but I'm not going to pretend I know what that means, as I haven't read it. You play as Jason Flemming, a regular guy from a military family. Basically, he comes off as a regular guy, but in reality he learned a lot from his father, and is very capable of defending himself. He's out on a date with a girl, supposedly going caving. The girl gets ahead of him, and finds that he's stumbled across a secret base ran by a bunch of evil guys trying to destroy San Francisco. She gets captured, and he goes to rescue her. You can almost figure out what's going to happen from here on your own.
Where this game really shines is it's gameplay. I had an absolute blast playing this game. It has the upgrade system of Super Metroid, the leveling system of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and the map system of both of these games. To put it another way, the game plays like a combination of two of the best games ever made. It's not without it's own flavor, though. The side scrolling levels are tinged with background enemies that you can turn and shoot at. The weapons and upgrades are all amazingly fun, and the boss battles are challenging and epic.
Though this games falls short of perfection, it shines hardest in the most important place: it's a really fun game. Even if this isn't the best looking game you've played this year and the story is nothing special, you'll certainly get tons of pure enjoyment out of this one. In the end, does anything else matter?
Score: 86/100
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