Chair Entertainment, the developers responsible for bringing us the submerged Undertow Xbox Live Arcade game have teamed up with Epic Games and utilized their Unreal Engine 3 technology to deliver a nostalgic, yet fresh take on the much loved 2D side-scrollers of old. The story isn't likely to make much sense. All that we know is that it relates to a book by Orson Scott Card, and the game Shadow Complex fits in between the first and second book, named respectively Empire and Hidden Empire.

Does the power of Unreal Engine 3 and the talent of Chair Entertainment prove to be a solid gaming combination in the 2 (and a half) D space for Shadow Complex?

Gameplay:

Shadow Complex kicks off on a high note with a sort of tutorial tease which gives you a glimpse of the action you can expect throughout the game. Then, it rips all that away and has you starting out entering a cave with your girlfriend Claire. You play as Jason, and start out with just a flashlight, upon exploring you find that Claire has been kidnapped and that there's a lot more down here than originally anticipated. A faction, or essentially an army who call themselves the “Restoration” have set up camp down here and plan to do harm to the United States with their state of the art weaponry and handy armoured suit. Jason, our unlikely hero, must traverse this large environment picking up anything from a pistol, to the many collectibles and upgrades to ultimately pieces of a power armoured suit – which will make Jason's job ultimately all the more easier, and much more fun, for us anyway.

The map is large, especially for an Arcade title, and more importantly offers up plenty of exploration as it is completely open, to a degree anyway. Some areas will require certain actions to get past, for example shining your flashlight on a vent or some rocks blocking your path will reveal a specific colour. Many of these areas won't be accessible until you get the required weapon upgrade for your fancy armoured suit, the displayed colour ties into your obtained weapons so planting or throwing a grenade to make an opening for yourself on areas marked in green, the same can be said for the other obtainable weapons too, such as the Rocket Launcher, which will assist in getting you through reinforced steel doors. As vital as these weapons are for taking short-cuts and finding otherwise inaccessible paths they also prove rather entertaining to fire off at a bunch of enemies, naturally. Let's just say the game's physics handles the explosions from rockets and grenades to large groups of enemies rather splendidly.

Shadow Complex might play like those typical (and rather excellent) 2D side-scrollers that you remember from years gone by, but rest assured this is a 2D game within a 3D world. Naturally Epic's Unreal Engine 3 might not seem like the most obvious choice for a 2D side-scroller compared to its first and third person shooter roots, but it does bring some interesting perks to the complex table. The game has some moments of switching between 2D and 3D, for example running upto an enemy and melleing him will move the camera in closer as you deliver a finishing blow to your enemy, a similar set up to the finishing moves in Gears of War 2, then. Many enemies are not on the same path as Jason on some occasions, and the gun's aim will assist but it's not always plain sailing trying to dispose of enemies that are not on the same 2D path that you're on. Although whilst on that 2D space, it's all the more easier and satisfying to take that second or two longer and line up a perfect headshot with a simple nudge of the analogue stick in the right direction – naturally you'll have a handy laser from the weapon to show where you're bullet is going to hit. Speaking of Gears of War, another 3D aspect to Shadow Complex is no more apparent than in the use of turrets. Essentially once you mount a turret you're back in shooter mode and able to freely aim and take out enemies with ease. It's an interesting contrast between 2D and 3D play that just works so well, and there's very few of these 3D-esque moments as most of the emphasis is on the exploration of the environment.

Graphics:

Not only is the gameplay incredibly addictive, but perhaps the biggest shining example of UE3 in Shadow Complex, is of course the visuals. Now, compared to quality retail games the textures are not as detailed as some other titles, but certainly they still hold up very well, it's certainly the best looking Xbox Live Arcade title of the moment, and will give some other retail games a run for their money in the visuals department, too.

Things that stand out particularly well is the lighting first and foremost, even more so when you're navigating darkened vents which are lit up only by the beam of your trusty flashlight. Effects, from the massive explosions of blowing up some of the larger mechanical bosses to a simple grenade or rocket spam of enemies, the explosions in particular certainly impress, and you'll no doubt be wanting to make things go boom on a regular basis.

Sound:

The game's audio is of a high calibre, the only disheartening thing that springs to my mind is the lack of in-game music. The voice-acting and sound effects though are all well executed and performed. Getting a shot on a guard that leads to them falling to their death, or chucking in some grenades to send enemies flying, and more importantly screaming to their deaths, there's just something disturbingly satisfying about little quirks like that.

Longevity:

Shadow Complex is not a particularly lengthy game, it can be completed in about 5 hours or so for the average player. Although there's a lot of incentive to return to it, especially if you're at the end and you've just recently acquired all your upgrades, there's plenty of incentive to backtrack and just inflict more punishment on your foes, or go for a speed-run across the lake in your newly upgraded suit, perhaps running along the ceiling is more your thing? Regardless of which, there's a rather handy XP levelling-up system in place, which fortunately carries over should you complete the story and start a new game.

Overall:

While Shadow Complex is one of the more expensive Arcade titles at 1200MSP, it surprisingly offers up plenty of value. There's eye candy galore for one, and more importantly the gameplay, exploration and levelling-up will keep you coming back for more. If you grew up playing the 2D side-scrollers of old, then you'll certainly appreciate this 'fresh', yet nostalgic trip. Shadow Complex has without a doubt put the Xbox Live Arcade on notice, here's hoping we get more titles on the Arcade of this calibre in the months and years to come.