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ForumsDiscussion Forum → Shadow Complex: Best $15 game of the year?
Shadow Complex: Best $15 game of the year?
2009-08-19, 5:47 PM #1
I've only spent 3 hours in it and I'm already hooked. It's better than many $60 games I own, and it even is longer!

Probably the best $15 I've spent in a long time. If this is a sign of "arcade" titles to come, I for one am on board.
2009-08-19, 5:52 PM #2
When do I get the Morph Ball?
2009-08-19, 6:31 PM #3
Pfft it's an XBLA game. I thought it was an indie PC game or something.

2009-08-19, 7:03 PM #4
Yes. It is awesome. So awesome.

(BTW: The speed boost thing? Coolest thing ever.)
"If you watch television news, you will know less about the world than if you just drink gin straight out of the bottle."
--Garrison Keillor
2009-08-20, 12:14 AM #5
This + Trials HD = no need to go to a games store any time in the near future.
The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.
2009-08-20, 12:41 AM #6
[http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/wring/must_not_fap.jpg]
2009-08-20, 1:39 AM #7
No, Because it's not on PC.
2009-08-20, 1:48 AM #8
Red Faction preorder gives you first two games for 40 bucks.

I am going to do it.
ᵗʰᵉᵇˢᵍ๒ᵍᵐᵃᶥᶫ∙ᶜᵒᵐ
ᴸᶥᵛᵉ ᴼᵑ ᴬᵈᵃᵐ
2009-08-20, 2:02 AM #9
The second one states flat out on the store page that it won't work on DX10 cards
Lazy ****ing buggers.
2009-08-20, 4:00 AM #10
I've not played a game as addictive as Shadow Complex in a long time. I downloaded that som***** last night around 8, intent on just checking it out for a few minutes. I ended up playing for a full 3 hours. This game is simply full of action and you just want to get that next gadget, that next level, that next gun. The unique rooms and variations in decor make backtracking to reach new places even better than it was in Metroid and Castlevania.

Through and through, I love it and can't wait to get off work to get back in there.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2009-08-21, 4:03 AM #11
For the record, I adore Nolan North's voice acting. I adore it in any game, but in Shadow Complex he manages to give Jason Flemming a good deal of character power despite minimal dialogue and a more or less mediocre story.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2009-08-21, 5:11 AM #12
Bleh. CoolMatty managed to sell the game to me.

But.

The Demo blows chunks. Going on the demo alone, I would never have purchased this thing and discovered that it is actually quite good. Why do they do this, just make the beginning of the game the demo? String together a bit more varied tasks into a demo. Give us a little to explore, a puzzle to solve, and one of those turret things. Your sales would skyrocket.

Also, it does that thing where you get all the stuff... and then it takes it away. At least it doesn't take it all away while you're the same character.
2009-08-21, 6:53 AM #13
I'm a bit disappointed of how late in the game you get a good portion of the tools/abilities. The missile launcher, the hook, the triple jump, etc. By the time you get them, you've little to do but explore again or go kill the last boss.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2009-08-21, 8:57 AM #14
Does it have any local multiplayer? I've spent weeks playing Splosion man with my sister, awesome game.
"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. " - Bertrand Russell
The Triumph of Stupidity in Mortals and Others 1931-1935
2009-08-21, 9:28 AM #15
I actually spent the final boss fight just shooting the crap out of everyone, since it won't end until you die or the boss does. Stuff keeps spawning like mad, so it's a fun distraction while making use of everything.

Edit: Mort-hog: no multiplayer, but it has leaderboards for various things, including stats like meleeing and making people scream.
2009-08-21, 9:38 AM #16
I'm gonna get this, but I was put off by having to still use points. I want to just set up my debit card dammit!
2009-08-21, 9:43 AM #17
Originally posted by Martyn:
I'm gonna get this, but I was put off by having to still use points. I want to just set up my debit card dammit!


Buy it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Complex-Online-Game-Xbox-360/dp/B002LIT3F2
2009-08-21, 9:45 AM #18
Ooooh can I do that, or do I need to go through Amazon UK?

Also, this would be way easier over IM <_<
2009-08-21, 9:50 AM #19
I have no idea. Try it :p
2009-08-21, 11:00 AM #20
Finished my first playthrough with 77% of items. Started my second attempting to get 100%. I love this game so much.
"If you watch television news, you will know less about the world than if you just drink gin straight out of the bottle."
--Garrison Keillor
2009-08-21, 11:13 AM #21
I'm going for 100% on first run through, then I'm aiming for level 50

I love killing people with melee attacks, especially once you get the armor. I usually kill anyone I'm able to reach with melee attacks. And wall-bots. I love booting them.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2009-08-21, 11:16 AM #22
The upgrades at level 20/30 are ridiculous, I almost wish I didn't get the level 20 upgrade (Full Map revealed), but the level 30 upgrade (UNLIMITED FOAM F*** YEAH) is so god damned fun.
"If you watch television news, you will know less about the world than if you just drink gin straight out of the bottle."
--Garrison Keillor
2009-08-21, 11:35 AM #23
I thought we got the full map when we get the girl out?

Or at least that's what happened to me and I was only level 13 or 14. She said something like "I found the schematics for the whole base!" and then the map went on screen and all of it appeared.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2009-08-21, 11:36 AM #24
Originally posted by Jep:
I thought we got the full map when we get the girl out?

Or at least that's what happened to me and I was only level 13 or 14. She said something like "I found the schematics for the whole base!" and then the map went on screen and all of it appeared.


This one reveals all the secret areas as well, in addition to where all the items are.
"If you watch television news, you will know less about the world than if you just drink gin straight out of the bottle."
--Garrison Keillor
2009-08-21, 11:59 AM #25
Aaah! Oh man, I best get cracking and find them all before I hit 20 then.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2009-08-21, 12:00 PM #26
Originally posted by Jep:
Aaah! Oh man, I best get cracking and find them all before I hit 20 then.


It's actually not that bad, since sometimes the items are 2 or 3 rooms over from where the secret entrance is, and it reminds me to revisit some areas I've forgotten about.
"If you watch television news, you will know less about the world than if you just drink gin straight out of the bottle."
--Garrison Keillor
2009-08-21, 12:15 PM #27
Looking up some videos of this actually got me quite excited about it. Might pick it up when I'm back at work properly.
2009-08-21, 2:13 PM #28
As it turns out Shadow Complex actually has a very deep, rich and detailed story, in the form of the novel Empire by Orson Scott Card. I can't believe I forgot about this, I read Empire last year; in the acknowledgments Card writes;

Quote:
My first and greatest thanks must go to Donald Mustard and his team at Chair Entertainment, who began developing the videogame of Empire and yet held off on committing to any storyline so that I would be free to let the characters, situations, and events of this novel develop organically. Their development work provided the premise of a new American civil war, the mechs and the hovercycles, the falling and rising water level in a lake in the state of Washington.


The climax of Empire is a raid on a base under a lake in Washington State by a group of ex-military commando types. Honestly, when I read Empire, I expected the game to be a generic first person shooter. And most of the novel happens in Washington D.C. and New York City.
2009-08-22, 11:45 AM #29
I managed to beat the game on my first run though (on normal difficulty) with 100% of map and items discovered, including unlocking the golden guns. My final time was 11h36 minutes. There was nearly 2 or 3 hours wasted going back and forth throughout the base to find the final keycode to get the Fusion Helmet. Its a sneaky one, because the room does not have a ? over it.

The final was really neat but terribly easy with all items. With the Helm, you can stand immobile and take straight on hits from (atst-like) mechs and spider mechs without so much as a scratch. It makes the final battle almost anticlimatic.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2009-08-22, 12:36 PM #30
The final keycard is actually one of the early ones, it's in the same room as the scuba mask thing. The problem is that when you get the scuba mask, the room gets marked as completed so it doesn't show up later in the game when you're trying to find the remaining items.

My time was about 7 hours for 100%, but I wasn't really rushing through it. I reckon 100% is doable in under 3 hours without too much difficulty.
Detty. Professional Expert.
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2009-08-22, 12:47 PM #31
I finished with 73%, in about 3:30 of total playtime. But I intend to go back and find the rest of the stuff.
2009-08-22, 1:28 PM #32
100% in 5:45. 245th on the total campaign score leaderboard.

Doing a 100% speedier run now.
"If you watch television news, you will know less about the world than if you just drink gin straight out of the bottle."
--Garrison Keillor
2009-08-22, 9:44 PM #33
100% in 3:08. New results aren't publishing to the leaderboards for some reason. Makes me sad.
"If you watch television news, you will know less about the world than if you just drink gin straight out of the bottle."
--Garrison Keillor

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