Review: Shadow Complex (360)

Based around the book “Empire” by Orson Scott Card the views of said author have become more prominent than the actual content of the game. Card himself being rather crazy, going as far as to say that gay marriage marks the end for democracy in America. Despite the insanity on show, we can’t hold this against Shadow Complex (something others have chosen to do), because we found this Castlevania/Metroid like experience one of the most engrossing we’ve experienced on the XBLA.

The story revolves around Jason Fleming and his girlfriend Claire who, on a nice backpacking adventure, soon come across a hidden base, where an army is being created. Soldiers, mechs and helicopters abound and naturally it’s up to you to stop the incoming war. It’s not going to be easy though. As you’d expect from this type of 2.5D adventure, you’ll need a good head for exploration, as the map is quite huge with plenty of nooks and crannies hiding away upgrades and new weaponry. Some aren’t necessary to completion (just giving you extra grenade ammo or health for instance) others are required, such as the new weapons. The way it does this is quite clever. From the start you have a torch and if you shine this on certain walls and doors it’ll glow a certain colour. Red, for example, means a rocket will destroy it, while orange means it can be destroyed with a simple bullet. It means if you want to uncover every last item then you’ll need to do some backtracking when you've found the necessary equipment. Something that’s not as tiring as you might think.

The world really reminds us of Metal Gear Solid; something which could very well turn out to be just your generic underground base turns into something else when each area has a distinct personality. Some areas are where machines are built, others are housing areas for the troops, and if you tire of being underground then you could also explore along the green landscape of the surface. It also helps that the 2.5D presentation looks lovely. Playing on a 2D plain it occasionally steps into 3D during the cut scenes and the brilliant looking melee attacks. The 3D also comes into effect when enemies are coming toward the screen. While you can aim with the right stick it will lock onto enemies that are coming into the screen, so you needn’t worry about fiddling around with the aiming too much.

While the Shadow Complex main story won’t take up too much of your time (around six hours if you know where you’re going and are rushing through), the real longevity comes from finding every single thing. It’s both a blessing and a curse. There seems to be an infuriating design issue, where if you reach a certain part of the game then items will become blocked off, meaning you’ll have to start a new game if you want to go for a 100% run through. This isn’t the only bug/game design issue with Shadow Complex. It seems like the developers really need to invest in some QA support. It’s possible to skip a portion of the game, missing some neat weaponry along the way, but the most hilarious of issues with the game is the one which allowed you to play Shadow Complex in its entirety without paying for it. It was a bug with the trial where you can pretty much keep playing for as long as you want, albeit the save game function is disabled and the achievements are non-existent. We hear it’s been patched now, but it’s nevertheless quite an embarrassing problem for such a high profile release.

It’s really quite amazing the amount of content you get for 1200 points. While Shadow Complex could have done with some more time in the testing department, there’s no denying that this is the sort of game we’d like to see more of on the XBLA. A sequel perhaps?

Rating: 8 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver