Bond
08-17-2009, 07:37 PM
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/9/2009/08/500x_shadow_complex_review.jpg
This Xbox Live Arcade title rolls out in two days for a mere $15.
It's getting very positive reviews so far:
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: Shadow Complex borrows from the best, but stands capably on its own in the "Metroidvania" school. There are direct relationships between some of Shadow Complex's and Metroid's upgrades—Fleming's foam gun and Samus Aran's ice beam, for example—but Chair has brilliantly reinvented some, helping to differentiate the weapons in its Xbox Live Arcade title from the games that influenced it. Shadow Complex actually trumps some of Metroid's power-up staples, offering a triple-jump(!) and eliminating the need for a morph ball to enter confined space. Yes, Fleming can crouch and walk at the same time.
100% Pure Love: There are over a hundred items—from gold bars to armor upgrades to health expansions—to discover and collect in Shadow Complex. The design behind keeping these items well hidden is brilliant, as some are genuinely tricky to find, even when you have a clear marker on the map showing you where a power up is squirreled away. This kind of exploration and studying one's surroundings is the kind of thing that keeps me up until 3 AM, going for "just one more save point." In my first play through, I only managed to find 99% of the items. Three still elude me, something I'll remedy in my second play through.
Source: Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5338307/shadow-complex-review-genre-upgrade?skyline=true&s=x)
And:
Shadow Complex is superb, an intelligent and refreshing mix of action and exploration, far more polished than any other Xbox Arcade title I’ve played. Here we have the realistic graphics and visual effects of a first-person shooter applied to a classic side-scrolling adventure. Thanks to the use of the Unreal Engine, what should look primitive, nostalgic even, looks slick and very modern, taking a classic and sadly over-looked genre in video games and bringing it gloriously into the next generation.
Source: CTV.ca (http://www.krisabel.ctv.ca/post/Review-e28093-Shadow-Complex.aspx)
This Xbox Live Arcade title rolls out in two days for a mere $15.
It's getting very positive reviews so far:
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: Shadow Complex borrows from the best, but stands capably on its own in the "Metroidvania" school. There are direct relationships between some of Shadow Complex's and Metroid's upgrades—Fleming's foam gun and Samus Aran's ice beam, for example—but Chair has brilliantly reinvented some, helping to differentiate the weapons in its Xbox Live Arcade title from the games that influenced it. Shadow Complex actually trumps some of Metroid's power-up staples, offering a triple-jump(!) and eliminating the need for a morph ball to enter confined space. Yes, Fleming can crouch and walk at the same time.
100% Pure Love: There are over a hundred items—from gold bars to armor upgrades to health expansions—to discover and collect in Shadow Complex. The design behind keeping these items well hidden is brilliant, as some are genuinely tricky to find, even when you have a clear marker on the map showing you where a power up is squirreled away. This kind of exploration and studying one's surroundings is the kind of thing that keeps me up until 3 AM, going for "just one more save point." In my first play through, I only managed to find 99% of the items. Three still elude me, something I'll remedy in my second play through.
Source: Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5338307/shadow-complex-review-genre-upgrade?skyline=true&s=x)
And:
Shadow Complex is superb, an intelligent and refreshing mix of action and exploration, far more polished than any other Xbox Arcade title I’ve played. Here we have the realistic graphics and visual effects of a first-person shooter applied to a classic side-scrolling adventure. Thanks to the use of the Unreal Engine, what should look primitive, nostalgic even, looks slick and very modern, taking a classic and sadly over-looked genre in video games and bringing it gloriously into the next generation.
Source: CTV.ca (http://www.krisabel.ctv.ca/post/Review-e28093-Shadow-Complex.aspx)