Shadow Complex - XBLA

[Flawless]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

<div style="width: 480px;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" id="gtembed" width="480" height="392"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=53741"/><param name="quality" value="high" /> <embed src="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=53741" swLiveConnect="true" name="gtembed" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392"></embed> </object><div style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Verdana; text-align: center; width: 480px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; background-color: black; height: 32px;"><div><a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com" title="GameTrailers.com">Video Games</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com/game/11402.html" title="Shadow Complex">Shadow Complex</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com/player/53741.html" title="Exclusive Creators Developer Diary">Exclusive Creators Developer Diary</a></div><div style="padding-top: 3px;"><a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com/platformlist/xb360/index.html" title="XBox 360">XBox 360</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com/platformlist/ps3/index.html" title="PS3">Playstation 3</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com/platformlist/wii/index.html" title="Wii">Nintendo Wii</a></div></div></div>

[Flawless]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

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[frostbyte06]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/101/1012245p1.html

August 7, 2009 - It's been a long wait, but in less than two weeks, Shadow Complex arrives on Xbox Live Marketplace. For just 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) gamers can run roughshod through the Restoration's expansive compound. We've previously examined some of the weapons of Shadow Complex, but today we're going to discuss your greatest tool: The flashlight. How is it possible that a flashlight is more essential than a missile launcher or the foam gun?

Shadow Complex is basically one big open world ripe for exploration. The catch is that throughout the compound are barriers of various types (doors, vents, exhaust fans, etc.) keeping you out. The flashlight not only illuminates the darkest corners of the compound, it provides vital information on how to progress through the game. Shining the flashlight on surfaces highlights obstructions different colors. Yellow means you can shoot your way through, green requires grenades, purple is for the foam gun, red for missiles and blue means you need to use the Friction Dampener to literally run through the obstacle.

But these barriers aren't just around to keep you from moving forward. Most protect secret items. Shadow Complex draws comparisons to Metroid and Castlevania because as you progress, you gain ways to access areas you passed by earlier. There is a lot of optional backtracking to hunt down individual items in hopes of earning a 100% collection ratio. Good luck on that one!

You can beat Shadow Complex with very few items. In fact, you can beat it with just four items. No health upgrades, no armor upgrades and very few of the bonus weapons. Yes, four items total. And one of those four essential items is the flashlight. You just couldn't get very far in Shadow Complex without it. So while the missile launcher and foam gun earn a lot of praise, the truth is that you wouldn't even know how to gain access to them without the flashlight.

Shadow Complex has plenty of combat and platforming, but it's the exploration (and the joys of accessing new parts of old areas) that have us pumped for its release.

[spankdatazz22]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

Looks fantastic. And can't believe it's only $15 - minute one purchase

[Flawless]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

New mode revealed.


Shadow Complex’s Proving Grounds

If you need yet another reason that Shadow Complex will change the height of the pedestal upon which you place XBLA games, there’s a little something called the Proving Grounds. Yeah, it’s exactly what you think it is: Timed, training-style objectives built with Leaderboard mavens in mind.

Once the tutorials are down, it’s time to get into what Proving Grounds is all about: The challenges. Each challenge is individually timed and scored. Quicker times score better than slower times of course, but there’s a bit of a trade-off for speed in the form of what is known as “kill points.” Basically, if there is an enemy in close proximity to the fastest route through a challenge, it’s better to take him out. You’ll get a healthy amount of points for taking down enemies, which is added to the aggregate score.

The total score for each individual challenge is what is ranked on the Leaderboards. The total score also determines if you earn a medal or not for a particular event. As long as you complete the event without dying, you’ll receive a bronze medal. The medals go up from there in typical fashion, culminating with platinum hardware for those that really know their way around a challenge. For what it’s worth, you’ll have to score a platinum medal to even have a sniff at the top of the Leaderboards.

The challenges are organized into “Packs,” which hopefully means that additional packs will arrive as DLC after Shadow Complex drops next week. The standard game will come with three Challenge Packs, with seven events per module.

No matter how easy or how difficult a challenge is, they have all been cleverly designed to allow multiple routes to the end. In fact, getting creative on how to end up at that last door is how your times will drop low enough to crack the Leaderboard’s top spots. As mentioned, it’s important to work some kills in there if you can, but mainly it’s about knowing the controls well enough to quickly react, and practicing the fastest routes through the various mazes.

Believe us: You won’t moan when it comes time to train at the Proving Grounds. The gameplay is addictive enough that you’ll probably grovel when you’re not partaking in Proving Grounds competition. Yeah, it’s that fun. Of course it doesn’t hurt that Shadow Complex, as a whole, looks better than many full-priced Xbox 360 DVD’s on the market. The Proving Grounds section is especially attractive, since, well, it looks the part. It’s exactly what one would expect a “proving ground,” or training simulator of the future to look like. Imagine objects that have been rapid prototyped (you know, through the magic of 3D printing), and then animated within a world modeled in Maya…yet not fully skinned.

Proving Grounds cuts to the graphical chase, and allows its starkness be one of its biggest strengths. It’s a no-frills aesthetic, but one that survives due to the subject matter and the mind-blowing physics running it all. Hey, you’re competing in a timed obstacle course that could cost you your life, not a beauty pageant. What do you expect something called Proving Grounds to look like?

We could go on and on about the Proving Grounds’ dangerously addictive gameplay and its striking visual style. But the only way to fully understand why you’ll be compelled to compete in this XBLA gem is to check the action out for yourselves. If you need more convincing, read our full review of Shadow Complex that will run on Monday, August 17th.

Screens

[frostbyte06]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

It just gets better and better, next Wed can't come fast enough!

[Flawless]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

<embed src='http://videomedia.ign.com/ev/ev.swf' flashvars='object_ID=839087&downloadURL=http://xboxlivemovies.ign.com/xboxlive/video/article/101/1014150/shadowcomplex_spc_provingground_flvlowwide.flv&all ownetworking="all%"' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='433' height='360'></embed><div style='width:433;'><a href='http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/839/839087.html'>More Shadow Complex News & Previews</a></div>

[Jistic]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

Want.

[TheBadazz]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

Man I need some more MS points.

[Flawless]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

Eurogamer Review - 9

At well over 800MB, we're a far cry from Microsoft's original vision of sub-50MB entertainment snacks on Xbox Live Arcade. But despite this substantial bulk, Shadow Complex would never have been made were it not for the evolution of the download service and the growth of its limits. It's too slim and risky a prospect for a contemporary boxed release, yet too broad and ambitious for a quick fix.

The result is a glorious 3D reimagining of the Metroidvania style of game, at once reverent of its references, yet also eager to better their achievements. In some areas it meets this tall order, in others it falls a little short. Nevertheless, it's a game that will delight gamers old enough to recognise the classics it celebrates, while captivating those oblivious to its inspirations. Its inevitable success in the coming weeks and months could even kick-start the genre. Drop a stone into this game and the splash may never echo back. Its significance might just be unfathomable.

CVG Review - 9.0

If this, and Trials HD, are a sign of things to come from Xbox Live Arcade, we can't wait to see what else MS has cooking in its cauldron of downloadable treats. And for Super Metroid fans (which should be all of you), it's the sequel you've wanted Nintendo to cough up all these years.

OXM UK Review - 9.0

We can't expect every Xbox Live Arcade developer to produce such wares - budget nor engine isn't going to be readily available to all. But Shadow Complex is a stunning demonstration of what you can squeeze onto the service. Play it, marvel at it, and hope that it's the future of downloadable games.

[Pappy Knuckles]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

This game looks awesome.

[frostbyte06]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

TeamXbox Review : 9.4

You know a game is good when everyone you know who has played it can’t stop raving about it. And everyone you know who hasn’t played it can’t stop talking about how much they’re looking forward to playing it. Such is the case with Shadow Complex, a new Xbox LIVE Arcade game from Chair Entertainment and Epic Games. So far, it appears to be the XBLA game of the year, if not of all time, but I wouldn’t blink at someone considering it as the best Xbox 360 game of 2009 period either.

Also for those of you on twitter, chance to get the game a day early:
Get day early from TeamXbox

The next evolution in downloadable games, “Shadow Complex” marries the quality and depth of a full retail title, the stunning visuals of Epic Games’ industry-leading Unreal Engine 3 and a classic side-scroller. “Set in the world of Orson Scott Card’s best-selling novel, 'Empire,' Shadow Complex introduces a compelling universe in which you collect items and power-ups, and evolve your character into a force of destruction.”

This coming Tuesday, August 18, 2009, we will be giving away a batch of codes redeemable for Epic Games' amazing XBLA title Shadow Complex before it's available to the rest of the world! We'll be posting these codes via our Twitter page, which is located at twitter.com/TeamXbox.

Make sure you are following (or stalking, depending on your point of view...) us on Twitter to stay up to date with all the latest Xbox updates and you just might be lucky enough to snag one of the codes for Shadow Complex, or any others we give away from time to time!

So make your way on over to twitter.com/TeamXbox and be sure to tell your friends to follow us as well!

[Flawless]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

More Reviews:

Arstechnica - Buy

Shadow Complex ends this year's Summer of Arcade on the Xbox 360 by bringing back what gamers loved in Super Metroid and giving it a modern military twist. There are secrets under the lake, and there are people who need to be shot in the head: Ars explores one of the best 2D action titles in recent memory.

GiantBomb - 5/5

Shadow Complex is an incredibly well-made game that finally grabs the "Metroidvania" subgenre and drags it into the modern era instead of relegating it to a land of remakes or portable games. Players that obsess over speed runs and 100 percent completion will certainly find a lot of replayability, but even players who just want to play a game start to finish and move on will find that the quality of Shadow Complex makes it well worth its $15 price tag.

Videogamer - 9

In short, Shadow Complex is a triumph, a new standard for downloadable games. It’s a game in the purest sense, but is as “next-gen” as any Xbox 360 owner could hope for. And at 1200 MS Points it’s an absolute bargain guaranteed to fill rival XBLA developers with fear. 2009 has already seen a raft of quality downloadable games, but Shadow Complex could well be the best.

IGN Review - 9.4

Shadow Complex probably could have used a little more development time to iron out a few glitches and nail down the sometimes awkward aiming system. Even so, it stands as one of the best games yet in 2009. And I'm not just talking about the Xbox Live Arcade. The classic, exploration-heavy gameplay is a winner. Go buy this game.

[Jistic]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

Man all these games to play! I havent' even scratched the surface with Trials, got two very fun football games and I gotta have this. Man I have no time for all of this.

[mgoblue]

Re: Shadow Complex - XBLA

Man all these games to play! I havent' even scratched the surface with Trials, got two very fun football games and I gotta have this. Man I have no time for all of this.

Yeah, I want it, but with Trials I don't think I have room for another XBLA game right now...looks awesome though!