E3 09: Shadow Complex
One of my sit-down meetings with the Microsoft folks included a look at some upcoming titles for version 2 of Xbox 360's Summer Arcade - and far and away the best XBLA title was Shadow Complex, a game inspired directly by Super Metroid and the Castlevania games but which uses the Unreal Engine 3 to bring incremental upgrades and exploration into the 21st century.
Peaceful ex-assassin Jason Fleming is enjoying a walk in the park with his girlfriend when she's captured and he discovers a secret high-tech paramilitary base where bad guys are planning to overthrow the government. Just another Saturday night, right?
During his adventure, Jason will add gear Samus-style until he's no longer some shlub in the park, but a badass armored righteous dood. The game puts an emphasis on exploration "punctuated by moments of intense combat," but its the game's 120 unique parts and upgrades that will likely pull players along. The character progression looks sweet: you begin the game with the ability to jump and little else, but once you find your girlfriend's abandoned climbing gear you can hold on to ledges and pull yourself up - and that's just upgrade number one. It's this kind of marginal increase in abilities that Super Metroid fans will likely adore.
The map is straight out of the more recent Castlevania games, and the devs took to referring to the gameplay as "Metroidvania," a potentially exciting description.
Shadow Complex wants to be the most complete, advanced XBLA title to date - an ambition we've heard before - but the folks at Epic are equipped to make it happen. 10-14 hours of gameplay await you when Shadow Complex goes live on XBLA later this summer.
tiny dancer
Posted to E3, Hot Stuff, Video Games, Videos on 7 June 2009
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You didn't mention that this game is based off an Orson Scott Card property. The game looks amazing, and I desperately want to play it, but if it puts money into that homophobe's hands (and I'm not sure if it does), then I will have to bow out.