Metroidvania? Most of you know what I?m talking about. For those of you uninitiated with the genre it?s the school of game that has spawned some of the greatest games of past console generations, the various 2D entries Metroid & Castlevania (and it must be said the 3D Metroid Prime trilogy) have been sure fire quality hits. If you?ve ever played one you?ll know the drill well.

You start off with almost no weapons or gadgets and with limited access to the map, you upgrade yourself gradually unlocking new abilities, better weapons and gain access to previously inaccessible areas allowing you to get EVEN MORE upgrades. This continues until you?re bad ass enough (or clever enough to sequence break) to take on the final boss. Sounds simple enough but it?s startlingly addictive and brings out the inner squirrel in me (must collect all upgrades, I may need them later).

So Shadow Complex was Epic Games first shot at XBLA and they have taken the template set out by the past masters and build upon them with proper 3D graphics and a half decent story. It works well for the most part, I only felt it trailed off slightly at times and the final boss fight can only be described as wholly unsatisfying and way too easy. If you have collect-em-up-itus as I do and you are successful in your quest for 100% of the items you?re transformed into a walking tank and can stand in-front of the most formidable enemies in the game indefinitely without a scratch being done to your shiny suit of armour.

Gameplay wise it?s spot on and the difficulty curve is perfect for 90% of the game, cover works well for the most part and I encountered no collision detection problems, game designing 101 but it?s amazing how often these things just don?t quite work.

It is a very short experience, I completed it with 100% of the items in a little over 3 hours with a second shorter playthrough for an achievement. There is a challenge mode but it?s not really much fun so only for those who want the 200G.

Overall a short but satisfying experience, I picked it up for 800 MSP?s and was well worth that small outlay.

7/10 - Better Than Average