bad robot brain

I’ve been playing Shadow Complex for a few hours now, and I’ve got to say that I totally dig it. For what it is—a $15 side-scroller that pays homage to Metroid and Castlevania—I couldn’t be happier with Shadow Complex.

Shadow Complex is fairly well balanced between exploration, stealth and fast paced combat. There’s enough run and gunning to keep my interest, and once I figured out that the AI isn’t the brightest, that you can sneak into a room and plan out a reasonable strategy for taking them out as quickly as possible, I died considerably less often. This subtle puzzle solving aspect of the game has created a richer experience for me. Instead of running into a room guns a’blazing, I have begun to change up my strategy depending on the situation. Sometimes you need to lob a grenade into a gathering of dupes, other times it is more efficient to sneak up from behind and snap a few necks before you take on the rest of the room. Like most games, Shadow Complex will reward you for varying your style with XP multipliers and a handful of achievements. Plus, the Gears of War style achievement ticker gives you something to look forward to—I’m halfway to unlocking the Make ‘Em Scream achievement.

While I do enjoy the combat, my favorite part of Shadow Complex is the exploration. Even though it wasn’t apparent at first, I’ve come to realize that this game map is huge. The designers have generously sprinkled power ups and other treasures throughout the game, if you are anything like me you will want them all. Be prepared to venture off the beaten path if you want them—or at least to stray from the little blue line that tells you where to go to reach your next objective. There’s stuff hiding in ventilation shafts, under the floor boards, in cramped tunnels, and underwater caves. While it isn’t vital—not that I’ve noticed so far—to hunt down all of the goodies, they do give you an extra boost in your abilities. Exploration also adds to the time/value of the game which is always a plus for gamers who want to squeeze every last penny out of their investment.

Prior to Shadow Complex’s release there was a lot of oohing and awing over the snazzy graphics powered by the Unreal Engine, and I’ve gotta say, that this game has lived up to the hype. The character models and environments look spectacular, the physics is nearly spot on, and the textures coupled with the dynamic lighting perfectly matches the game’s tone. My only complaint would be that at times aiming at the enemies standing within the 3D plain is tricky. There is a bit of target assist built into the game to give you a hand, so I can’t complain too loudly.

For years I have been waiting for a side-scroller that takes advantage of the 3D technology that has become the standard for the rest of the computer game industry. Don’t get me wrong I still get a kick out of the sprite-based animation I get from pushing Alucard up and down Castlevania, but as a visual person I have always dreamt of seeing my favorite titles spit-shined and glossy in 3D, that way the game would look even better than the box art. Even though Shadow Complex isn’t the first game to do this, they have done it best.

To address all of the reviewers out there who have been grousing over the shallow plot and Bourne-esque main character, I’ve got one thing to say, “boo-hoo.” Complaining about weak stories and shallow characters in a game like this is like complaining about the predictable ending of a Scooby Do cartoon. It’s a $15 arcade game, who cares. Shadow Complex is fun, it takes you back to the day of 16bit side-scrollers with a modern flair, all without giving you the complete and utter headache that came from trying to beat most of those games. Shadow Complex is a win through and through. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, do it now.

Update

So, I’ve finished playing through Shadow Complex once, and was ultimately very satisfied with the overall experience. The ending was challenging enough. While not as epic as it could’ve been, it was still pretty good. Good enough that I started playing again—from my last save point—immediately after finishing off the final boss, so I could get a little closer to 100% completion. In fact I’m already itching for a followup.