The Ashes and Madden NFL are taking up some of my gaming time – the latter really is a massive improvement on '09, although beginners may struggle with the increased difficulty that ends the era of throw and hope – but Shadow Complex is the real winner. Available to download today from Xbox Live Arcade, Shadow Complex is an old-school side-scrolling 2-D adventure/platform game – think Castlevania, Super Metroid etc – with enough graphical beauty to fend off any retro accusations.
I'm a few hours in and thoroughly enjoying it. Maybe it's an age thing but crawling through ventilation shafts, finding secret areas and blasting increasingly tough enemies feels almost timeless. The use of the torch to find hidden sections is a nice touch too, although Super Metroid veterans may find it a little too signposted. There's plenty of combat too - unlike movement which is strictly 2D, guns can actually be shot into the screen – but the real fun here is seeing what's next.
Shadow Complex would feel right at home on something like the PSP but don't let that put you off playing it on the big screen.
But it's not just the on-screen action that is important. Weighing in at 800 MB, Shadow Complex is a long way from the early days of Xbox Live Arcade where 50 MB size limits were imposed. In comparison an average retail game is normally sized at several GB. Shadow Complex sits firmly in the middle ground for both size and content – far bigger than most casual games but not enough meat for a full price retail release. Could this be a new trend, potentially cashing in on gamers who want a deeper gaming experience but don't have the time for 10-20 hours of a Call of Duty or Gears of War? Will Shadow Complex be the only such "midcore" title? Or will there be a host of similarly sized download games that offer greater depth than the average casual puzzle game but lack the longevity to warrant a full retail release?
And then there is the gameplay. Could Shadow Complex herald a return to the Metroidvania retro action of the 90s? Or will it be a summer blip, forgotten about when then blockbusters return this Autumn?
Shadow Complex then? Bought already? And if so was it worth the download?
