Shadow Complex – Crush! Frag! Review!

“A spiritual successor, sometimes called a spiritual sequel or a companion piece, is a successor to a work of fiction which does not directly build upon the storyline established by a previous work as do most traditional prequels or sequels, but nevertheless features many of the same elements, themes, and styles as its source material.” – Wikipedia

Best to get this out of the way first; Shadow Complex borrows more than a great deal from a certain franchise involving an intergalactic bounty hunter, giant flying jellyfish and a huge brain in a jar. The exploration, power-ups, perspective, and even the map all share many similarities with one of Nintendo’s most popular series.

Obvious inspirations aside (the developers cited Super Metroid as a big influence many, many times), a game would have to do more than just copy a beloved (and arguably transcendent) favorite in order to be considered anything more than a knock-off. It would have to build upon that foundation, find ways to improve that which seemed perfected, and ultimately create something that is both an homage and a step forward. In short, it would have to be… well, Shadow Complex.

After a hiking trip comes to an abrupt end when his new girlfriend is captured by masked soldiers, Jason Flemming finds himself up to his neck in trouble. Armed with the clothes on his back and an excuse for some 2D platforming and exploration, he takes his first steps into a mysterious hidden base and the adventure begins. It’s not exactly an epic story, but it gets the job done.

Mechanically, Shadow Complex will feel very familiar to fans of 2D action/adventure games; there’s a lot of jumping, climbing, and acquisition of new gear to allow access to previously unreachable areas. However, Chair Entertainment has also added a bunch of new tricks to the formula that freshen things up a bit. Perhaps the most outwardly apparent would be Jason’s ability to melee enemies. Provided you can get close enough to an enemy without getting shot to pieces, you simply press a button and watch Jason bust some heads as the camera swings around to a more cinematic angle. It’s not exactly revolutionary, but it also never gets old. In many cases a melee attack might even be preferable, and in those instances it’s usually possible to sneak up (i.e. crouch-walk) behind your chosen target and take them out before they know what’s hit them. While this “stealth” aspect is never really a necessary part of the gameplay, it’s actually a pretty effective (and cool) way to get through many of the tougher areas.

A couple more tweaks come in the form of the guns Jason will find throughout his excursion. As these are (mostly) actual firearms and not “X-Beams,” they will require reloading. They each have infinite ammo, but their clip sizes are limited which can leave you in a tough spot if you aren’t careful. The second interesting aspect to the gunplay is the fact that while players can aim in roughly 360-degrees around Jason, they can also aim into the background. This adds an extra dimension (*Ba-du-Bum-PSSSSHHHH*) to many of the shootouts as enemies won’t just be pouring in from the sides of the screen.

Of course Jason will find several more gadgets and weapons along the way, including a jetpack that allows for double-jumps, grenades, and the ever popular grappling hook. They’re all satisfying to use and have their own purposes when it comes to combat and traversal of the various obstacles you’ll face, however they all pale in comparison to the Foam Gun. With the Foam Gun Jason can create his own platforms and bridges, enemies can be temporarily frozen in place, and grenades can be stuck to just about anything.

What all of these weapons and gizmos eventually equate to is the very reason that makes this makes a brilliant “next step” in 2D platformers; player choice. Oh sure, in Castlevania you could choose to use the Holy Water or the whip, but the results were always the same. The same goes for Super Metroid. Super Bombs were cool and all, but they were really only useful for finding secrets. What Shadow Complex does is allow players to decide how they want to handle their exploration and their combat. Large gaps can be crossed by way of foam bridges, careful use of a jetpack and a grappling hook, or using the Friction Dampener to run up the walls and across the ceiling. Enemies with large shields can be killed by bouncing a grenade behind them, sticking the shield to the ground with foam and attacking their squishy side while they’re stuck, or just pulling the shield out of their hand with the grappling hook. The possibilities aren’t endless, but there are a heck of a lot more in Shadow Complex than I’ve seen in any other 2D action/adventure game in recent memory.

That’s not to say that Shadow Complex is perfect, of course. For starters, the enemy AI is missing the “I” (see what I did there?). I was also rather disappointed by the boss fights. Oh sure, the spider-mech-thing was cool the first time, but having to fight three more felt kind of like a cheap cop-out. Don’t misunderstand me, each of the boss fights were interesting, but I just would have liked to see a bit more variety. Also the “twist” at the end was lame, to put it bluntly.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Complex. I also enjoyed it just as much on my second, third and now my fourth playthrough. I’ll never get tired of finding new uses for Jason’s gear in combat situations. But to me, the enjoyment I get from playing it is only the icing on the cake. The thing about Shadow Complex that really excites me isn’t so much what it is, but rather what it means: 2D games aren’t going anywhere but up. It’s become much more obvious that with the use of the industry’s current technology they can become something even more amazing those childhood memories we keep locked away next to “Learning to Ride a Bike” and “My First Puppy.”

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Things We Liked: A+ presentation for a 2D game. Lots of options for killin’ stuff. Kicking little spider-bots. Staying up all night to find that last upgrade and get 100% completion.

Things We Disliked: Enemies are pretty stupid. Lack of enemy (especially boss) variety. A rather predictable story.

Target Audience: Classic 2D adventure/platforming fans. Those who love a good spelunking.

(Shadow Complex – Developers: Chair Entertainment, Epic Games. Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios. Available on Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. Buy it Now at Amazon.com. New to CFD!’s reviews? Read our explanation here.)

Tags: Action Adventure Chair Entertainment Epic Games Microsoft Game Studios Platforming review Shadow Complex XBLA Xbox 360 Xbox Live Arcade