Bonus Level Review: Shadow Complex

Go buy it. Steal money or Microsoft Points if you have to. The latter option may be harder, so just concentrate on stealing money.

What can I say that hasn’t already been said ad nauseum on other sites. Shadow Complex is the bee’s knees! The developers over at Chair have gone out of their way to pay tribute to the side-scroller-platformer of yore. I’m looking at you Super Metroid and Castlevania SotN.

The presentation drips with style from the start screen to the final boss. Sure, some of the environments look the same, but you’re in a military complex for most of the game, so what? Wanna fight about it? I just grabbed the Omega Suit, lets go!

I like punching dudes, chaining score multipliers together, rocketing donkeys off ledges, watching their bodies flail in a seizure dance through the air. It’s satisfying. The entire game is very satisfying.

I am not without my gripes however. For the most part, I steamrolled right through the game. Boss battles amounted to nothing more than putting a ton of lead into where ever you could hit it and calling it a day. I may go back and play on a harder difficulty, but Normal was a little soft for someone who knows how Metroid works. That said though, I did feel like I didn’t have to put up with the trial and error frustration of dying over and over that seems to be what Metroid was all about back in the day. Well, at least not until I loaded up the Proving Grounds game mode.

Proving Grounds is a bit trickier, forcing the player to use only a few moves and a little bit of health to get past obstacles. It reminds me a lot of the extra Portal maps, the same trial and error dying. So it may not be for everyone. I however, am an achievement whore, so I’ll play it and beat it and cuss all the way through.

Some people complain about the story segments, but in my opinion, they’re perfect. Short and to the point. Metroid didn’t have long stupid cut scenes and we loved it. Get over it people. I’m not playing this for a story. I like to shoot dudes and collect things.

Having completed the game proper two days ago, with 100% map and 100% items, I can tell you this game delivers for the OCD hoarder in us all. So many things to find, so much to explore. I put about 10 or 11 hours into it, got to level 21 and I never felt like it was too long or too short. It’s the right amount of bang for your buck from an XBLA game.

So, if you’re still reading this, please stop now and go download Shadow Complex. If you’re a fan of the genre, this is the wet dream you’ve been messing your bed about for the last 15-20 years.