#14 – Shadow Complex (XBLA)
Note: There's some controversy surrounding this game. I'm not addressing the politics of it in this review but I'll post my thoughts in the comments.
When Shadow Complex was announced a couple months ago, I was somewhat torn by it. It was described as a metroidvania style game, which I like. It's developed by Chair, who made Undertow, which sucked. But the lead designer at Chair also made Advent Rising, which I liked! But Advent Rising and Shadow Complex are based on properties Orson Scott Card is involved in, whom I do not like. The hype coming out of E3 was strong though, and then they released the trailer and I was sold. When was the last time I played a good metroidvania anyway? (Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin)
To put it simply, Shadow Complex sets a new standard for $15 XBLA games. It's a great game. It's clearly more Metroid than Vania, with no currency and a small number of weapons and bosses. It's map and method of impeding progress (doors and what not that require certain weapons to get past) are straight out of Super Metroid while it adds in enemies that you can fight in the background, and a couple of fully 3D turret sequences. The in-game cutscenes are relatively bad because the faces of the characters suffer from Unreal 3 engine syndrome but they're all skippable. The sounds are all spot on and the soundtrack fits great while you're progressing through the early game but towards the end when you're filling up on collectibles it feels a little out of place or it's completely absent.
The amount of detail in the gameworld is staggering for a game that costs so little. If they had given me a solid geometry map with unanimated models I would've been happy so long as the gameplay were the same, but this game is as beautiful as it's gameplay. The controls are very close to Metroid's with the exception of the shooting. It uses the second analog stick for precise aiming, which means taking a thumb off of the jump button. It took just a little to get used to but later I came to appreciate the level of precision I could get using the aiming stick.
I've played through the game once, with 100% map and item completion. I got to probably 90% on my own before resorting to youtube videos on how to get some of the trickier items. There's items in some really sticky areas but never so badly that you feel the designers were being cheap. The ending is wide open for a sequel (or rumored DLC) but doesn't really live up to the build up. After finding all 100% of the items, the final battle was rather simple. I guess that's my reward for persistence. I finished in a little over 8 hours, which is probably more time than I spent playing through the single player campaign of Gears of War 2, and Gears of War 2 isn't nearly as replayable.
Should you buy Shadow Complex? Yes. Double yes. It's a fantastic single player game.
August 23rd, 2009 - 19:29
So here’s the politics behind the game. Orson Scott Card is a homophobe, a bigot, and a shitty writer. Donald Mustard, co-founder of Chair Entertainment, may also be a shitty person and seems to be hellbent on making Orson Scott Card a big name in video games as he’s the one who brought OSC in on Advent Rising and he’s the one who approached OSC about writing the fiction behind Shadow Complex, which resulted in the (apparently) shitty book Empire. This has caused some people to boycott Shadow Complex, and even Epic Games who sold Chair Entertainment the rights to use the Unreal 3 engine in their last two games. They’re voting with their dollars and refusing to support the people at the top of Chair and OSC and I won’t fault them for that.
But if you scrutinize the politics of every person involved in every game you play or every industry you spend your money in, you won’t be able to buy anything. There’s always some shithead who’s a racist or a homophobe or a wife beater, in every organization larger than your immediate group of friends (some of whom may also have those traits!) and the world will never be rid of them soon enough. If you get a guilty conscience for playing Shadow Complex, donate $15 to your favorite gay-friendly charity. I guarantee you Orson Scott Card is not seeing all $15 from each sale of Shadow Complex and the organization you support can use that money to help organize others against the loudmouthed idiots like Orson Scott Card.
If you’re interested in Shadow Complex, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. It’s a great game and the people who actually made it deserve the success it should bring.
And here’s a couple of articles that have written about this more eloquently and more informed than I have:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24627
http://gaygamer.net/2009/08/the_shadow_complex_conundrum.html
August 23rd, 2009 - 19:36
Oh and also the main antagonist in Shadow Complex is a group called the Progressive Restoration. In OSC’s “Empire” they’re a radical leftist group who arms themselves and incites a blue state vs. red state civil war. Shadow Complex (thankfully) ditches the politics behind the plot but can you imagine this Rush Limbaugh wet dream if they hadn’t? A lone conservative Christian male single-handedly brings down an entire godless liberal army bent on tearing the country apart.
Come on, Card. The liberals take up weapons and rise up? It’s up to the right to save the nation from total destruction? Please.