What exactly is meant by the term “shadow complex”? If this were a college psychiatry lecture, it would probably be a synonym for the fear of the night, noctiphobia. Or it may be the exact opposite and attribute to one’s adoration to the love of night life in general. Whatever the case may be, it’s fairly certain that after gamers play Chair Entertainment and Epic Games’ Shadow Complex, they will run out and profess their love of all things dark to anyone that will listen. That’s right; Shadow Complex is the must-have Xbox Live Arcade title of the year that caps-off the brilliant Summer of Arcade promotion sponsored by Microsoft. The developers merged next-generation graphics and storytelling with classic side-scrolling gameplay to create one of the best downloadable video game's we have ever had the joy of playing through. For those gamers coming in blind to the world of Shadow Complex and know not a single thing about the fantastic side-scroller, here is a short run-down of what the title is all-about.
First of all, Shadow Complex is based off of the Orson Scott Card novel, Empire. The storyline is fairly simple in structure with pitting its protagonist, Jason Fleming, into an unlikely scenario where he stumbles upon a secret military group hellbent on the destruction of the U.S. government. Uncovering the truth behind the organization and ready to put his body on the line to save the woman that brought him to the ultra-secret location, Shadow Complex is truly a riot. If gamers can’t laugh at the subtle humor and enjoy the hijinks that occur, then they truthfully aren’t cut out for the video game medium’s equivalent of say Lethal Weapon meets Robocop. The longevity of Shadow Complex is somewhere in-between the lifespan of an instant classic and, say, a game that never grows old.
The single-player campaign only took four hours and 45 minutes for my first run through, but that isn’t to say that the gameplay isn’t extravagantly daring for continuous sessions. Allowing players to upgrade their armor, health, weapons and collect countless items, Shadow Complex provides intriguing options to revisit the single-player over and over again. If gamers are into showcasing their true skills of being the best amongst their friends, then they’ll be charmed to know that the online leaderboards are going to be outrageously competitive as everyone is bound to try and one-up their friends to complete the campaign in record time. Many individuals in the press have already narrowed their completion time close to the one hour mark, so it’s fair to say that Shadow Complex is a title that warrants multiple visits – especially with high amount of collectibles and several difficulties to tinker with.
Please click below to continue reading this featured review on the next page.
