Shadow Complex Epic games

T

Tap In

Legend
this is an XBL ARCADE title and it looks really pretty cool

reminds me a bit of Flashback.

Uses UE3 and has elements of power up hunting, hacking and 2D (and some 3D) shooting, platforming.

vids
 
Damned I completely forgot about this game announcement, that looks good and it looks like a pretty bunch of old school fun. I'm sold.
 
OK that looks abso-freaking-lutely awesome.

Pure 2D sidescroller platform game. Oh man, that just made my 2nd or 3rd most exciting game from this E3...

ME WANT NOW...

Regarrds,
SB
 
Looks great, a hidden gem of the MS conference.

I cant help but think of Carmacks lamenting how production values/costs keep rising though, even on Cell phone games and the like. This has easily got to be the most expensive XBLA game yet, and will make it harder for little guys to compete.
 
Kotaku has an article about the game, I mustadmit that I'm pretty interested in the thing I will most likely buy this summer :)
 
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=221302 9

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/shadow-complex-review 9

The result is nothing short of one the best games of this generation.


At well over 800MB, we're a far cry from Microsoft's original vision of sub-50MB entertainment snacks on Xbox Live Arcade. But despite this substantial bulk, Shadow Complex would never have been made were it not for the evolution of the download service and the growth of its limits. It's too slim and risky a prospect for a contemporary boxed release, yet too broad and ambitious for a quick fix.
The result is a glorious 3D reimagining of the Metroidvania style of game, at once reverent of its references, yet also eager to better their achievements. In some areas it meets this tall order, in others it falls a little short. Nevertheless, it's a game that will delight gamers old enough to recognise the classics it celebrates, while captivating those oblivious to its inspirations. Its inevitable success in the coming weeks and months could even kick-start the genre. Drop a stone into this game and the splash may never echo back. Its significance might just be unfathomable.
Click to expand...
 
Another winner for Xbox Live. Great game. The controls are done very well, though jumping feels a bit weird for some reason. The "2.5D" shooting is pretty cool. Melee attacks are fun. Bosses are good from what I've seen so far. There are some pretty nice visuals, though sometimes some crappy looking textures. The game is less than a gig, so that isn't a surprise. There is one sequence of dark rooms, where the background is lit with red light. The silhouette view is very dramatic. Overall the lighting seems pretty cool. The flashlight is well done.

I'd say this is a must buy for fans of castlevania/metroid style platformers. It isn't an action title like contra. It's slower paced. You can sneak a little bit, and you can use cover.

Played it for maybe three hours. Eventually I hit a room with a door I could figure out how to open, so I started backtracking to check out some map tiles I never investigated.
 
This game is bad ass, reminds of Zillion in some ways. It's better than many full priced games, definitely a bargain at this price. Nicely done Epic!
 
I'm actually stuck. I got to a door I couldn't open, and was wondering if I'd missed something and progressed too far through the map. So I started backtracking, trying to get to some question marks that were shown on my map, but there was a certain spot I'd fallen down that I'm unable to climb up. Not sure what to do. If I start a new game, do I lose all of my experience and everything? Not that it wouldn't be enjoyable to play through again. I think I could get to where I was fairly quickly.
 
Scott_Arm said:
I'm actually stuck. I got to a door I couldn't open, and was wondering if I'd missed something and progressed too far through the map. So I started backtracking, trying to get to some question marks that were shown on my map, but there was a certain spot I'd fallen down that I'm unable to climb up. Not sure what to do. If I start a new game, do I lose all of my experience and everything? Not that it wouldn't be enjoyable to play through again. I think I could get to where I was fairly quickly.
Click to expand...

Where are you exactly at?
edit: there have been few places where it took a while for me to get trough, so maybe you have missed something.
 
Edge gave a seven to the game. I clearly will buy the game the demo sold me, I replayed it already about ten times... (currently in search for cheap Ms points :( ).
 
liolio said:
Edge gave a seven to the game. I clearly will buy the game the demo sold me, I replayed it already about ten times... (currently in search for cheap Ms points :( ).
Click to expand...

To clarify this, this would be a 7 out of 8, as 8 is the maximum score for a perfect game that doesn't significantly innovate. It's summary echoes most other reviews:

Gentle challenge and endless fun make a great and familiar couple in this game, betraying the involvement of Epic Games, whose grasp of modern playing habits is improving all the time. Proportionally, far more casual players will finish this than ever finished Super Metroid or Contra III, and their enjoyment might even compare. Sat nobly between emulated coin-ops and overpriced turkeys on high street shelves, Shadow Complex is something of a Live Arcade landmark. [7]
Click to expand...

I'm not saying this because I want to defend the game. I'll try it some more later, but so far I don't like it at all. The presentation and story is a complete mess, the gameplay is boring me to tears, and the art and sound are a letdown so far too. I'm guessing things will pick up, but so far, this is not for me. Now mind you, I think that I just don't like Metroidvania style games in the first-place. The closest to something like that I actually liked was much closer to a platformer, like Gods on the Atari ST.
 
Arwin said:
I'm not saying this because I want to defend the game. I'll try it some more later, but so far I don't like it at all. The presentation and story is a complete mess, the gameplay is boring me to tears, and the art and sound are a letdown so far too. I'm guessing things will pick up, but so far, this is not for me. Now mind you, I think that I just don't like Metroidvania style games in the first-place. The closest to something like that I actually liked was much closer to a platformer, like Gods on the Atari ST.
Click to expand...

The sound effects and music are awesome imo especially for a XBLA game. Anyway this games is kinda like a 2D mixture of MGS, Uncharted, Metroid, and Contra...just awesome. I played the demo, then immediately bought it...that doesn't happen very often.
 
I'm done with my first run through the game now (with 100% items) and while I certainly enjoyed it a lot I also think it suffers from some pretty severe flaws: the layout of the whole map is insanely confusing and almost seems random. Metroid and the Castlevania games always fitted big chunks of their labyrinthean levels with very distinctive visual themes (Library, Clock Tower, Phazon Mines etc.). Not only did it make them memorable, it also helped a great deal with orientation as you always had a good idea where you actually were at any given time. SC sadly doesn't have any of that, and it makes late game navigation a real pain in the rear because you have to pop up the map screen once every 3 quadrants. Unlike in CV there aren't any warp points and very few shortcuts either. If you missed something at the beginning you basically have to backtrack through every single location you already visited.
Boss battles are piss-easy by the way (just hide behind a crate and hold down the fire button) and you fight the same three mech variants multiple times all the way to the finish line.
My biggest gripe is with the controls. Aiming is extremely finicky and whether advanced maneuvers like the wall jump work properly or not seems more based on chance than player skill. Sometimes the guy will jump from the wall and another time he'll just slide to his death for no apparent reason. Compared to the tight 60 fps gameplay of Castlevania, Metroid or Bionic Commando Rearmed, Shadow Complexes 30 fps gameplay (which actually suffers from quite a few hick-ups as well, probably due to streaming) also feels downright sluggish: I have fallen to my death a lot of times simply because button presses didn't register at all.

The game is still a lot of fun, especially thanks to it's neat armor upgrades, but it lacks the depth, finesse and great level and art design of the classics it draws it's inspiration from. For 15 bucks it's quite a steal regardless.

Bionic Commando Rearmed remains my favorite downloadable side scroller for now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm enjoying the game a lot. I find using the right stick to aim into the background can be a bit of a pain. Sometimes it's just easier to press fire and let the guy do it himself. But I try for a lot of headshots. I'm a melee machine. I have 80 melee kills already, and I've only uncovered 34% of the map. So far I've had a few spots where I should have used the blue line on the map and ended up back tracking past the point I was supposed to go. I've been very happy with the game so far. It seems to be a good length for a $15 game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I
The first Evil Within still has remarkably sophisticated lighting
Replies
2
Views
463
Phantom88
P
G
Tech Differences between Switch and 7th Gen (PS3/360) Games
2
Replies
21
Views
6K
GuardHei
G
P
Portable console for all PC games - PGS
2
Replies
30
Views
12K
StakanPortveina
S
R
Retro VGS coming: 100% offline retro ARM based console in Atari Jaguar shell
Replies
5
Views
2K
Rangers
R
A
Dynamic framebuffer resolution
2 3
Replies
42
Views
16K
chris1515
C
Back
Top