Mixx
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
delicious
reddit
MySpace
StumbleUpon
LinkedIn
|
Simply put, Shadow Complex is the best Xbox Live Arcade game out there. Its production values are high enough to rival any AAA boxed title, it’s thoroughly entertaining and offers immense bang for your buck. If you’re still not convinced, read on. Shadow Complex is an un-conventional 2D shooter that often plays around with the 3rd dimension as well. In it you play as Jason Fleming who on a bright sunny afternoon finds his life turned upside down when his lady love gets taken hostage by a deranged organization hell bent on controlling the United States of America. Like any self righteous American hero, he steps up to the challenge to save the day and rescue his fair lady. Yooooooo Joe. No, wait! Like most shooters on the block you start off with nothing but a pistol and a torch but as you progress through the complex you’ll earn newer equipment and upgrade your abilities (health, stamina, etc). This equipment is used not only to navigate certain areas but is used copiously in combat as well. For example, you’ll come across certain doors in the complex that cannot be shot at or blown up with grenades; you need a special foam gun to open them. Once you obtain this foam gun you can even use it to immobilize enemies temporarily while you pump them full of lead. Unlike the few 2D shooters that I’ve played, Shadow Complex even allows you to use stealth to your advantage. Creep up on an enemy and take him out silently with your melee attack without alerting nearby guards. Plus nearly every area has multiple paths of progression, so exploration is essential if you’d like to get a drop on your enemies. Of course if you could go in all guns blazing but I wouldn’t really recommend that. The game employs an auto-targeting system to a certain extent but with the right analogue stick you can manually aim for better precision. While this works for most of the game there are times when it fumbles making you shoot stuff you don’t really want to. Also certain enemies are present in the 3rd dimension, which makes shooting them a tad tricky initially. However as you earn more XP by killing enemies and completing objects you’ll upgrade these abilities leading to better aiming and so on. Navigating through the world of Shadow Complex is pretty simple. You move Jason around with the left analogue stick while the A button makes him jump around like an energizer bunny. Just like the nimble Prince of Persia, you can wall run to a certain height and jump between parallel surfaces to reach greater heights. Platforming is an important part of Shadow Complex but it never feels frustrating or repetitive. Sure there is quite a bit of back tracking present in the game but you’ll always be entering an area with newer power-ups that keep exploration interesting. While most of the game takes place in the steel confines of the underground complex, you’ll have a change of pace in the form of certain outdoor missions that are brought to life thanks to the Unreal 3 engine. Oh that’s right people, Shadow Complex has been made using the Unreal 3 engine and it is one gorgeous game. There are a few frame rate drops and certain texture loading issues but overall, it’s one of those games that make you proud of being a gamer. At 1200 points Shadow Complex is not only a must-buy; it’s a bit of a steal. Sure it doesn’t have multiplayer but you can tackle the game all over again to find every hidden item in the complex (and trust me, it’s not that easy). Plus you’re getting six hours of brilliantly paced intense action, all wrapped up in a gorgeous package. |
Tags: Shadow Complex , Xbox Live , Xbox360
Would you buy it?
RELATED STORIES
No new Xbox announcement in 2012
Marketing director of Microsoft France says Microsoft is not interested in putting out a new console anytime soon.
Ghost Recon Future Soldier delayed
Game of the Year 2011 - Racing
Game of the Year 2011 - RPG (Role Playing Game)
Game of the Year 2011 - First Person Shooter (FPS)
Game of the Year 2011 - Action
Microsoft spreads some holiday cheer with new Xbox Live Update
_011517074205_160x90.jpg "Epson Stylus Photo R3000")
