For anyone who has never played a side-scroller Metroid game, the gameplay is relatively simple; run around a large map collecting upgrades and furthering the story, normally by defeating large bosses. The upgrades to your weapons will often provide you access to new areas previously rendered inaccessible. This formula is used in Shadow Complex, and works perfectly. Starting off with nothing but a flashlight, you slowly work your way up through weapons and armour until you become some kind of unstoppable cyborg ninja, capable of disintegrating people with a punch. Seriously.

The story in SC is actually inspired by a novel, written by science fiction legend, Orson Scott Card, but isn’t particularly well implemented into gameplay. You take on the role of Jason Flemming, a guy who decides to go cave-exploring with his girlfriend of two days, Claire. However, when said girlfriend is captured by home-grown American terrorists called the Progressive Restoration, Jason decides to risk life and limb going to save her, killing several hundreds of people in the process. I don’t know about you, but I feel that one day isn’t enough time to get to know someone well enough to then commit multiple homicide to save them. Despite this strange plot setup, it’s a relatively good story line, but some of the cut scenes seem unnecessary and at times the dialogue is downright stupid. The game also features a ridiculously obvious plot twist, which most will see coming after about ten minutes in.

But what makes SC different from other games? Well for one, it’s visually impressive. The realistic graphics work well with the gameplay, and it also allows for some incredibly cinematic sequence, such as the first encounter with a quadrupedal tank, or the climatic screen filling showdown at the end of the game. There are also some more artistic sections. For example, at one point you battle your way through a section to face a boss. After defeating the boss, you return back through the same section, only this time, it has become completely flooded with water, meaning you have to swim back, brushing past your fallen foes and other debris. These sections, although few and far between, make a nice change of pace from the constant gunning down of foes.

Where SC lacks slightly is in its consistency. At the start of the game, you are armed only with a pistol, and have to use the environment to your advantage to get the drop on your enemies, and pull off stylish headshots, and at first this feels brilliant. You feel totally badass dropping down behind a guard unnoticed, then punching him off a ledge. But towards the end, the game drops these steal kill moments in favour of hordes of enemies. Whilst it’s true you have immobilizing foam and missiles by this stage, it seems strange that it turns into such a run-and-gun affair. SC also features a levelling up system, where you gain experience for killing enemies and discovering new portions of the map. Each time you level up, you are told that your accuracy, precision or agility is increased, but I honestly could not detect anything particularly changing. I was the one doing all the aiming and jumping, so if anything, my gaming skill was getting better. Shocking, but plausible.

REVIEW ROUND UP

Graphics: 5/5 Save the world whilst in nice surrounds, even if the surroundings are an underground maze filled with armed terrorists

Sound: 2/5 As much as I love to hear the same Hollywood soundtrack over and over again… I actually don’t.

Gameplay: 4/5 Should probably be marketed as some kind of badass simulation, at least for the first half.

Longevity: 4/5 Absolutely tons for the completionist to find here, from gold bars, to armour upgrades, to pass keys.

Overall Score: 4 shadowy headshots out of 5

Bottom Line; A modern take on a classic gameplay style done well, with enough to keep you coming back for some time.