Shadow Complex
I've spent a fair bit of money on PSN this past 365 days. And nothing on the 360 game marketplace. I gotta get re-employed cuz I've been missing out. I forgot about Rez HD, I assumed that was going to make its way over to Sony some day, hasn't happened yet. And the 'Splosion Man demo sold me on the game.
And I downloaded those demos because I was already downloading Shadow Complex.
And Shadow Complex is good. It is really good. A great trip back to Metroid-Vania. But it doesn't quite reach the heights of those two series.
It comes close enough though, especially for 15 bucks. And I ain't knocking off any points for lack of innovation. Innovation has its place. Its place? Not in every single damn game. Sometimes you just want more of the same.
This game checks all the boxes you want checked: a giant interconnected world, an easy to control protagonist, backtracking that doesn't annoy because the powerups change how you traverse the levels, enjoyable powerups. The box for epic and fun boss encounters is only half filled in, but that is what sequels are for.
You play as Nathan Drake with a different name. Same voice, same tuck job on the shirt, nearly the same personality. You're out hiking with some chick who picked you up in a bar.
Then shit gets real.
To get her back you got to run, jump, climb, clamber, boost, grapple and shoot your way across hell's half acre and back again. And back again. And then maybe again a couple more times depending on how many missiles and such you want before you face the final boss.
The sense of progression is great. You start off unarmed and end up with one of those cool Minority Report guns, you start off barely being able to spend any time under water to not caring because you're running across said wet. You start off being able to punch people, you end up being able to punch people. OFF THE DAMN SCREEN!
You start the game off with only a flashlight. Which is fine because it is maybe the most useful item in the game. You shine it on your surroundings and it tells you how you can interact with them. Yellow means you need to shoot it, green means grenades, red means missiles. And so on. No need to waste time unloading one of everything you have on a suspicious looking shrubbery. Its like the Metroid Prime scan visor but without all that boring reading.
The graphics are nice enough. But here is the problem. 'Splosion Man looks great. Because it only has to look like 'Splosion Man. Shadow Complex went the realistic route. It went the Unreal Engine route. And it doesn't look as good as the other Unreal powered games that came out this year. It's only a downloadable title, I know but still. The eyes don't care about cost, they care about pretty. And my eyes have seen prettier. Then throw in some clipping problems and some disappearing bits.
The sound is likewise of a fairly high standard. But I cannot remember any music from the game. So there's that. And the unmemorable music oftentimes steps on and smothers the dialogue.
Maybe I don't remember any of the music because I haven't played it for long enough. Only about ten hours. But I've beaten it, and with almost all the items. I'll be replaying it, there are achievements tied into replaying this title (and some non story mode challenge rooms), but this is a game that can be beaten in less than a day.
A very enjoyable day.
And I downloaded those demos because I was already downloading Shadow Complex.
And Shadow Complex is good. It is really good. A great trip back to Metroid-Vania. But it doesn't quite reach the heights of those two series.
It comes close enough though, especially for 15 bucks. And I ain't knocking off any points for lack of innovation. Innovation has its place. Its place? Not in every single damn game. Sometimes you just want more of the same.
This game checks all the boxes you want checked: a giant interconnected world, an easy to control protagonist, backtracking that doesn't annoy because the powerups change how you traverse the levels, enjoyable powerups. The box for epic and fun boss encounters is only half filled in, but that is what sequels are for.
You play as Nathan Drake with a different name. Same voice, same tuck job on the shirt, nearly the same personality. You're out hiking with some chick who picked you up in a bar.
Then shit gets real.
To get her back you got to run, jump, climb, clamber, boost, grapple and shoot your way across hell's half acre and back again. And back again. And then maybe again a couple more times depending on how many missiles and such you want before you face the final boss.
The sense of progression is great. You start off unarmed and end up with one of those cool Minority Report guns, you start off barely being able to spend any time under water to not caring because you're running across said wet. You start off being able to punch people, you end up being able to punch people. OFF THE DAMN SCREEN!
You start the game off with only a flashlight. Which is fine because it is maybe the most useful item in the game. You shine it on your surroundings and it tells you how you can interact with them. Yellow means you need to shoot it, green means grenades, red means missiles. And so on. No need to waste time unloading one of everything you have on a suspicious looking shrubbery. Its like the Metroid Prime scan visor but without all that boring reading.
The graphics are nice enough. But here is the problem. 'Splosion Man looks great. Because it only has to look like 'Splosion Man. Shadow Complex went the realistic route. It went the Unreal Engine route. And it doesn't look as good as the other Unreal powered games that came out this year. It's only a downloadable title, I know but still. The eyes don't care about cost, they care about pretty. And my eyes have seen prettier. Then throw in some clipping problems and some disappearing bits.
The sound is likewise of a fairly high standard. But I cannot remember any music from the game. So there's that. And the unmemorable music oftentimes steps on and smothers the dialogue.
Maybe I don't remember any of the music because I haven't played it for long enough. Only about ten hours. But I've beaten it, and with almost all the items. I'll be replaying it, there are achievements tied into replaying this title (and some non story mode challenge rooms), but this is a game that can be beaten in less than a day.
A very enjoyable day.
posted by Tyler at 12:36 PM
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