Plenty of folks have already cited similarities between Shadow Complex and classics like Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. You're given relatively free run of an open environment, and earn new items over the course of the story, which gradually allow access to advanced areas of the map. But you aren't exploring an eerie alien planet or haunted castle here; rather, it's a modern-day military installation.
The story revolves around hiker and former military-man Jason Fleming, who pursues his kidnapped girlfriend Claire and her mysterious captors. Turns out that said captors -- a loose-cannon paramilitary faction called the Restoration -- believe Claire's got some information vital to their kooky conspiracy, which ultimately involves America entering another civil war. Jason reluctantly delves into the Restoration's dark lair, determined to rescue the girl of his dreams (and, one's gaming radar assumes, squash the conspiracy when all's said and done). The game is set in author Orson Scott Card's Empire universe, with a script by comic book writer Peter David. Fancy, but ultimately just window-dressing for the actual "game" part.
In all honesty, my initial reaction to Shadow Complex was pretty dismissive -- how dare people compare this game to Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night, as if it could ever match the grandeur of those two epics! It didn't take long to win me over, though. Once I got over the gunplay hump, that is: The default difficulty mode is quite a bit more relentless in terms of enemy firepower compared to Shadow Complex's aforementioned influences. While it certainly eases you in to some degree, you have to adapt pretty quickly to survive, as most of your enemies have pretty itchy trigger fingers, and hails of bullets deplete your health mighty fast early on.
Between firefights with shady soldiers, Jason spends most of his time running and climbing through sections of the Restoration's compound, handily recorded via the in-game map. A flashlight enables Jason to navigate dark areas, while other objects strewn about the base empower Jason to access previously inaccessible places and wreak progressively more havoc. One early sequence -- just after finding a stash of grenades -- pits you against a giant mechanized vehicle, which outmatches you in toe-to-toe damage output but is itself weak against your new toys. The mech pretty much steamrolls you if you don't think fast, but once you figure out how to deter its jumping attacks (shoot an easy-to-miss sentry drone up top, unlocking the entrance to the semi-safe side chamber you just took the grenades from), your grenades can give it a one-way ticket to robo-heaven.
Vanquishing evil -- robo-tanks and otherwise -- awards experience points, and earning new levels lets you bump up Jason's various attributes, enhancing his overall durability and gun-fu. Finishing the game allows you to carry your advanced level over into new games, and various level-based milestones incentivize repeat playthroughs. I'm looking forward to finishing this sucker up at least once, if only to see if it clears the very high bar it's set for itself. Whatever the case, the fact that a game like Shadow Complex exists in 2009 is a testament to the importance of Xbox Live Arcade and its various analogs -- you'd never see a game like this at retail stores today.
