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Shadow Complex, XBLA's new 'Controid' came out today and I got a chance to play through the first bits of it, enough to get a good feel for the game. Overall, the game is kind of what you would expect from combining Metroid with a run-n-gun: guns 'n exploration, which makes for a pretty interesting combination. In Shadow Complex, you take the roll of some guy who gives you no reason to remember his name (Jason Flemming) as he gets sucked into a vast conspiracy by a shadow army that plans to take over the United States. You begin armed only with a flashlight and sneak your way through the base to find more weapons and gear.

The game uses a dual analog control scheme with the left for movement and the right for aiming, so it feels a bit like another Metroid-esque game called Abuse (a nifty 2D Doom-type created by Bungie in the mid-90s). You effectively get 360 degree aiming, but with hitboxes for enemies (I wonder if this will be implemented in Other M). Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to shoot enemies in the background because it tries to aim on the 2D plane most of the time. There is a LOT of shooting and use of cover and the environment to defeat enemies, but also spaces free of enemies, making for good pacing. You can take them out by brute force or you can lob grenades or find exploding robots and barrels, which is a sign of good level design. The enemies seem a little bit smarter than the fare from Contra and Metal Slug, but they seem to be a little stupid at realizing there is someone else in the room (and enemy line of sight isn't as clear as it is in Metal Gear Solid). It's rounded off with some sneaking elements like Metal Gear.

Shadow Complex does use an upgrade system that allows players to access new areas after they've received a new powerup, and there are tons of hidden passages. You have a flashlight with rechargeable batteries that can illuminate objects in different colors (yellow, green, red, blue), and the different special weapons you collect will be used to unlock these. Your main weapon (a pistol) also gradually gets upgrades in firepower and accuracy. There is also an experience system, but it's kind of hard to figure out why I keep getting level ups and how to do that.

Unfortunately, the game is very linear so far, though I hear there are plenty of opportunities to sequence break. Kind of like Metroid Fusion, each section of the game has an objective, and it's your job to navigate the path to the target. There don't seem to be any obvious branches so far, but I have seen plenty of places I can't access, so it's likely you get to do a little backtracking after you collect all the powerups. I'm hoping the sequence breaking will become obvious by the time I beat the game, as this could give plenty of opportunity for replay.

The game also doesn't feel terribly memorable, and part of this has to do with an overall lack of variation in the background design - it's all in a cave, and so your locations seem limited to caverns, base, mineshaft, and forest, with little that really stands out for me in any of these locations (the tank battle and the helicopter fight in the lake being two exceptions). With a more fantastic game like Metroid or Castlevania, you can have all kinds of strange worlds underground, but you have to use different techniques with a game based on Earth. The variety of enemies also seems to be a bit lacking as well, more in line with an FPS than an adventure game. I would say another factor to this is the lack of background music - most of the audio is atmospheric with the exceptions of battles. This can be ok, but thinking back to Super Metroid, the two things that made this game very memorable were strong level concepts and excellent background music.

Overall, Shadow Complex is an interesting game, but its muted tone and lack of memorable level design and a somewhat linear layout makes me wonder how well it will stand up. I am compelled to continue playing (and the game's six hours is turning out to be pretty beefy), and don't regret the purchase, but despite all the gunfire, Shadow Complex just doesn't seem very explosive in its execution. If anything, it's a great title to play while you wait for the Metroid Prime Trilogy, so I suggest you at least check out the demo.

Until next time...
Captain Commando