Investigation: Shadow Complex
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 12:05PM
Richard Terrell (KirbyKid) in Misc Design & Theory, Review

There are times when I play a game for my personal enjoyment. Then there are times when I play a game to investigate an issue. Sometimes the issue involves seeing if the hype or the positive reception for a game is justified. Other times, I study how games tackle specific design obstacles like motion controls or difficulty design. The great part about having an objective, critical approach to analyzing a game is that I can separate my biases from my research. In fact, when I'm apprehensive about a game I'm investigating, I tend to let a lot of things slide until I can reflect upon the game as a whole. 

With that said, I went out of my way to play Shadow Complex, an addition to the sparely populated metroidvania genre. Many reviewers and consumers loved the game. I have been under the opposite opinion. And as strange as it may seem, I really don't care about my opinion on Shadow Complex. And if you must know, I don't really think your opinion alone is worth considering either. I'm much more interested in being able to very precisely describe what Shadow Complex is and what it does.  

It's Metroid season this winter break. With the recent release of Other M, I've been studying these games. The metroidvania genre is one that I have a firm grasp on. So when the internet claimed that Shadow Complex evolved the genre, I had to see for myself. 

So if a Metroid game consists of these qualities...

...then evolving the genre might including features such as...

 

Though I haven't finished Shadow Complex yet, I've encountered a lot of problems with this game. Some of these issues may be resolved as I get better at or complete the game. But I'm confident most won't.

 

If I didn't go out of my way to take a closer look at Shadow Complex, I wouldn't be able to express exactly why the game falls far short of greatness. Still, Shadow Complex attempts to innovate in the metroidvania genre with new 3rd person shooter-like combat elements and a blue line to guide you to your next destination. I'll keep these things in mind for future projects. Stay tuned for those.

 

I'd rather play awesome games than disappointments. And I'd rather have a game I'm skeptical about turn out to be amazing. I see no point is pretending bad games are great. Going hands on to form my own options/analysis is the only way I can truly understand a game. Even after going hands on, I've been known to be pretty critical of games. N+ is just one example of many that I have been less than trilled with. It's been years since I've been in contact with the developers of N+. At the time, I couldn't fully express my thoughts on N+. So with Super Meat Boy coming out soon on the Wii, I picked up a copy of N+ to re-investigate the game and possibly post an update about it.

It's all about learning.

Article originally appeared on Critical-Gaming Network (https://critical-gaming.com/).
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