DISCLAIMERS:
- the reviewer has not finished the game with 100% completion
- the game was played on the Xbox One S using the version of the game intended for United States audiences
Seven years after the original Xbox Live Arcade game Shadow Complex was released, a new remastered version for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows was released. In 2009 it was arguably one of the greatest download only console games yet created, but seven years later standards have changed as downloadable content for consoles has grown. This review will judge the remaster on its own merits.
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The gameplay of Shadow Complex Remastered follows the formula first perfected by Super Metroid in 1994. The player will explore a large map that connects to itself throughout while gradually increasing the strength of their character. The game is much less open than Super Metroid during most of the game, though, as the player is generally expected to go to specified locations (that are marked on the map, unlike Super Metroid) in a specific order to further the story. The players main weapon is a gun that gets changed a few times during the story but generally controls the same. The player can aim either with the left analog stick or, much more effectively, with the right analog stick as if they are controlling a mouse pointer on the screen (with some obvious exceptions being the spaces that the player’s character takes up). This mechanic is also where the 3D part of Shadow Complex Remastered is used the most. As the player aims the gun, it will frequently aim further or closer to the camera as the game tries to guess where the player is trying to shoot. Overall this does not work nearly as well as it should, and the mechanic absolutely needed more development time. This needed extra development is also obvious when enemies killed in the background drop health packs and ammo in the foreground and when the melee attacks result in the player’s character teleporting back and forth between the background and foreground. Enemy AI also could have used some more development time. They frequently don’t realize that the player’s character is present even when extremely close to them, are easily exploitable by standing in some spots where they can’t figure out how to hit the player, among other issues. The enemy designs, including the bosses, are not particularly well done either. They use generic gimmicks present in just about every side-scroller ever made. The bosses are also way too easy to defeat with incredibly basic gimmicks that are frequently told directly to the player. The player’s character’s movement controls well, with most of the abilities being useful and appropriate, though the level design does not challenge the player to use these abilities skillfully. The gun and player also get some additive upgrades over the game that allow the player to move and battle more effectively, while also making previously unaccessible areas accessible. These upgrades are mostly generic and don’t get much use outside of opening doors or removing obstacles, though. There should have been some enemies that became easier to battle using the new abilities or something like that. Overall the game does not provide much of a challenge, with additional difficulty modes essentially just increasing enemy damage, which is negated by just collecting the optional collectables throughout the map. There is also a level and experience system that gives random bonuses when the player levels up that feels tacked on because what the bonuses actually do isn’t obvious and it just happens in the background as the player plays the game. The controls are mapped adequately and allow for nearly full remapping too.
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Technically, Shadow Complex Remastered does not impress. The game runs at 1080p and targets 60 FPS on console. Unfortunately, on the Xbox One and Xbox One S at least, the game suffers from rather frequent severe frame drops that go far below 30 FPS. This is somewhat confusing because the game doesn’t appear particularly graphically intensive, and almost all of the work that went in to this remaster seems to have been for optimization. The reviewer can only assume the problem is somehow related to the use of Unreal Engine 3, which does not have the best track record with performance. There are also some rather frequent graphical glitches in the game, that even appear during cutscenes. One example is the main character holding and shooting gun that doesn’t exist during one cutscene. Overall the game gives a rather low budget feel that leaves it looking worse than some of the games released on the console generation before the original Shadow Complex was released, but with more modern visual effects and resolution.
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In terms of music Shadow Complex Remastered isn’t very special. Every song sounds generic and nothing really stood out to the reviewer. Sound effects are about what one would expect and are executed well. There is also voice acting with some pretty quality performances from all of the characters.
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The plot of Shadow Complex Remastered is pretty limited, with most of the story taking place in a few cutscenes. Overall it is nothing special, with a twist that is so obvious it is hard to call it a twist. Thankfully, the majority of the cutscenes in the game can be skipped.
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Shadow Complex Remastered is overall a pretty good value. The main game only lasts around four hours but the player can get some more hours out of it if they continue to search the map for every last collectable. There are also some timed challenges that the player can take on separate from the main game. This may seem pretty short but the game has a rather low asking price that is one-fourth of most big newly released games. However the remaster is absolutely not worth it if you already own the original unless you liked the original so much that you are willing to pay the same price as the original for what is essentially a slight graphical and performance increase.
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Overall the reviewer would give the game a 7.5 out of 10.
