Shadow Complex Review

We just posted a review of what could possibly be the retail game of the year, Batman, but now a review of the Xbox Live Arcade game of the year contender Shadow Complex? Amazing back to back reviews of potential games of the year.

Lets get to it. We will start with the graphics. This game will rival any full retail game when it comes to visuals. Shadow Complex is running on the Unreal Engine 3 and you can tell as soon as you load the game. Typically side scrolling games, which Shadow Complex definitely is, scrimp on the graphics. Not here, in this maze of rooms, full 3D sensations will get you to try and navigate your character up. No matter how many times you try, he will just not walk back to that kick ass looking robot, or brightly lit office. You can only move side to side. This game will win awards for its graphics. Moving side to side leads to the controls.

The controls are tight and responsive. Which is exactly what you need to navigate the tricky passages of the subterranean lair. Your character does level up throughout the campaign, which should make RPG players happy. No, you do not get to specifically level up attributes, but instead everything levels at the same time as you discover them. You can jump, and later in the game double jump. Running will also be upgraded to what can only be describes as screaming fast. You will run so fast, that Jesus will look twice. Yes you can run over water in Shadow Complex. As you progress your character will ultimately be able to go anywhere you wish, if your talented enough with the sticks. Slightly related to controls are the guns. Your main weapon will also be upgraded as you progress through the game. That is until you have a bad ass weapon capable of taking down the screen filling bosses. In the beginning all you have is a flashlight. The weapon you end up with is significantly more serious. That is if you devote the time to search down every upgrade hidden within the map.

The story line is loosely based upon a story penned by Mormon Sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card. The story is interesting and helps progress the game from beginning to end. If you chose to play through a second time in an attempt to locate every powerup, you can skip through the cut scenes. What helps the story is excellent voice over work, done by Nolan North, mostly known for his work in the Uncharted series. The over the top action of this game, just keeps you playing. The campaign will take a solid 6-8 hours to play through. Expect to double that time, if you chose to hunt down all those powerups. You will want to upgrade your health, armor, stamina, and weapon if you expect to take down the final boss. There are separate challenges that will take you another 2-4 hours to complete. With 4 different difficulty settings, you can also tailor the game to your playing style.

A single play through should yield you 170 of the 200 available G's. The achievements are perfect for this type of game. They are simple, and easily obtained without even knowing your working towards them. For the accumulation achievements, 100 screamers for example, are tracked both in the menu screen, and during game play with simple pop ups. This also helps drive you to keep exploring the map and finding hidden areas. There are a bunch of them, and if you are into 100% completion, this game will make you work for it.

Map borrowed from our friends at MTV Multiplayer.

If you tend to like side scrolling games of past system, think Metroid or Contra, you will love this game. With a price tag of $15, there is no reason not to buy this game. It was released just a few weeks ago, during Xbox's summer of fun. But do not think the game developers over at Chair have left this game behind. DLC is on the way!! While they are very hush, hush about what type of DLC it could be, I am very excited that they are still building upon this solid foundation.

Review by the numbers:

Graphics 10 out of 10

Controls 8 out of 10

Story 8 out of 10

Value for your money 10 out of 10

Achievement ease 9 out of 10

Overall 8.9 out of 10

Avatar Golf Review

Wanted to get the word out quick about this new Indie game. Just released on Saturday, Sept. 5th, Avatar Golf is a easy to play golf game. Simple controls allow anyone to play this game. Your online Avatar is your golfer of choice. You can edit the color, but not the attributes of the player. Think Tiger Woods, but your the main golfer. I played 2 rounds and it was very fun. You can customize the weather, time of day, and some physics. I don't want to spoil it for you. For the required 400 Microsoft Points, you get a local multiplayer mode, a online multiplayer mode, and a course editor. I have yet to check that feature out. So you get your money's worth on this title. The graphics are awesome, and surprising for the price. The game does have some Avatar expressions that are pretty standard. Overall there are 6 courses with 18 holes each. 8 player online capabilities.

So what is the catch? OK, no achievements. Take a deep breath. You will get no G's for playing this game. What the game does offer is unlockable "titles". They are titles you can assign to your avatar. They pop up just like achievements. The only other negative I thought was the music. Very repetitive and it got on my nerves by the third hole. However, they do have a custom music feature and you can stream music from your hard drive or network connected computer. That is a pretty awesome feature. Go download this game now, so I will have someone to play online.

Thanks for reading.

Call of Duty : World at War review !!

Call of Duty: World at War

Rating: (Bad: 1-3, Average: 4-6, Good: 7-10)
Story: 4
Graphics: 9 (but at times very hard to pick out the enemy)
Sound: 8
Controls: 9
Overall Gameplay Experience: 10
May ’09 Value: $35
Achievement Difficulty: 9 out of 10 (a little easier than average)

Achievements:
-300 G’s with one playthrough in <10>

Review

With Infinity Ward taking a back seat to developing the Call of Duty series, Treyarch surprises you with World at War. Released in Nov. 2008, the game was a shoe in to be heavily promoted for the holiday shopping season. Heck it, even got a few Game of the Year nods and runner up awards. Face it 2008 was a great “release” year for Xbox 360 gamers. Lets get this out of the way now. World at War is NOT a better game than Call of Duty 4. It is almost a twin, which is a good thing. This game is not bad, but just don’t expect a better game. This release offers some new co-op options and improved online multiplayer. The campaign is simple and straightforward. It is way too easy on the lower difficulties and way too hard on the upper difficulty. Even the addition of two new weapons, bayonets and flame throwers are not enough to keep the single player campaign fresh. There are a few gotcha type encounters. The developers really tried to adopt the philosophy and real world tactics of the World War II battles. You get the great city battles of Eastern Europe, and the dark, dingy jungles of the South Pacific. A few times the A.I. will do some strange things, but more often than not they are coming for you. The enemies do appear angry in this game. They really want to hurt you.

Graphics\Sound

This is where the game really shines and distinguishes itself from any other WWII fps out there. The realistic gun shots, reloads, and knife swings add a touch of reality. But honestly when you shoot a leg off an enemy, he screams, then begins crawling and scratching his way toward said blow off leg, a chill will run up your spine. The wounded soldiers screams might haunt you at night. The jungle scenes are very dark, but for a reason. Enemies hide everywhere and lurch out at you every opportunity they get. The cities are broken and crumbled creating excellent hiding spots. Perfect if you have a sniper rifle in hand.

Game Play\Controls

The controls are tight and very responsive. Nothing really new or spectacular here to add or subtract from the experience. Standard FPS controls. Not much to dwell on here. Overall Gameplay Experience The online multiplayer will keep this disc in your Xbox360 for months to come. With continual DLC material being released, players swamp the online servers nightly. Just tonight there was over 159,000 players on deathmatch itself. A recent DLC allowed for a Zombie Horde mode to be playable by 4 co-opers. This is the latest fad. Gears of War 2 does it, Left 4 Dead does it. It is a very easy way to extend the life of the game. New multiplayer maps have been release and I am sure more are to come. These are great if you enjoy the online modes. The stat tracking for every online move is simply amazing. Every bullet, every gun, and every sprint you make is recorded and tracked. This is important as you level up, certain modes are locked or unlocked as your ability increases. Nice little feature, no more NOOBS, racking up kills on newbies. Once you reach level 5 you are locked out of the training levels. Even better once you reach even higher levels “Prestige” points accumulate to unlock even better upgrades, match types, weapons, and attributes. This drives you to play online. The only downside I can tell you, is that you do not have to play well. Simply logging enough online matches will net you enough experience points to level you up. So if you are not a great online player you could quickly find yourself over your head, competition wise.

Cheats\Walkthoughs

By now the Internet is chock full of walkthroughs, guides, and achievement tips so listing them here would be redundant. What I can add is that a walkthrough really is not needed. The main campaign is very linear and forces you down the correct path. Simply kill every enemy, proceed to next “situation”, repeat. No walkthrough needed. In my opinion what is needed would be tips on how to compete online at a high level. Players with online ranks above 25-30 will know every hiding spot, perfect weapon\ attribute combination, and respawn points. This can become frustrating for someone climbing the ranks. Stick with it and you will be rewarded.

Thanks for reading