the xbox360 celebrated summer with several “games of summer”, even offering 10 bucks to any individual who spent the over 60 bucks on all 5 games (thanks microsoft :p ). the final game of summer to be released was shadow complex, a nod to metroid, castlevania and 2d game lovers everywhere.

first, the controversy. the story for shadow complex, which tells the tale of one man trying to stop a secret organization from taking over the united states is taken from the book empire by orson scott card, an alleged homophobe. despite some people trying to keep this game from being placed in the xbox live arcade, it has managed to sell over 200,000 copies since its release, making it the best selling arcade release to date.

now the game. shadow complex plays like a mix of metroid and castlevania: symphony of the night. your character jason flemming moves through a 2d map, gains levels by exploring and defeating enemies, finds upgrades to his weapons and abilities and takes on incredibly huge bosses. my favorite power upgrade was the speed boost which makes jason run so fast he breaks the speed barrier – and anything else in his way. the first time i saw this i laughed my ass off. my one complaint about the gameplay is the aiming, which you do with the right analog stick. your enemies can move in the environment like it was 3d and jason will automatically target them in a 3d fashion. this creates moments where the people directly in front of you kill you because you were too busy aiming at the guy off in the background. still this isn’t enough to deter from how awesome this game truly is.

the graphics are made courtesy of epic’s unreal 3 engine and set a new bar for graphics in downloadable games. shadow complex is undeniably beautiful from its character models to its lush and colorful backgrounds.
there are some clipping issues when jason goes into air vents but this does nothing to diminish how fun this game is to watch and play.

the sound is very well done. the music score sets a tone of suspense which helps to further immerse you in the world. the effects are fantastic, explosions and gunfire are numerous and various, so you don’t get the same sound out of every gun and the right sounding sound comes out of each different gun. your enemies tend to make a lot of the same sounds when they die so get ready to hear the same scream, much like the movie scream i first heard in indiana jones and the temple of doom that keeps being used in other action movies.

shadow complex is 1200 microsoft points which amounts to 15 bucks, but you get the same amount of playtime and enjoyment that you got when super metroid sold for 60 bucks. despite a few small shortcomings, this instant classic will be on my playlist for years to come, long after i’ve forgotten about gears of war. 4 out of 5 stars.