Speaking with Chair Entertainment's co-founder, Donald Mustard, I was curious about their future plans, for "Shadow Complex" but also for their next game. Turns out there's not much going on in terms of "Shadow Complex" DLC, but their next project has already jumped into the design phase:

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"Shadow Complex" is the final game in Microsoft's "Summer of Arcade" series, and, like "Castle Crashers" last year, it seems the best was definitely saved for last. "Shadow Complex" is the best XBLA title I've played to date, and will make you quickly forget that you've only paid 15 bucks for it.

The Basics

Inspired by games like "Super Metroid," "Shadow Complex" is a side-scrolling action/adventure with an emphasis on exploration. Dropped in a massive underground military facility, you'll have to climb through vents, discover upgrades and, well, shoot a lot of guys if you're going to put a stop to an intra-national conspiracy to bring down the government.

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In a rare move, Chair Entertainment was able to send out download codes for "Shadow Complex" more than a week before the game releases to the world on XBLA. So, of course, I've been playing a lot of it. My review is embargoed until next week, but I thought you guys might be interested to learn just how quickly the game can be finished.

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I've been playing through a preview build of "Shadow Complex" for about a week now and I'm happy to report that it will live up to its predecessors like "Metroid" and "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night." And, thanks to some Unreal Engine-powered visuals, it looks a helluva lot better, too.

Throughout the game you'll explore a giant, labyrinthine military base, collecting items and objects to help you progress deeper and farther. There's a lot of cool gear to discover, but if you're looking to go into the game fresh, you may want to stop reading right here. For everyone else, read on, spoilers ho!

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Chair Entertainment was in town today to show off "Shadow Complex," the non-linear, "Metroid"-styled action adventure game based on the "Empire" series of books by Orson Scott Card. Phew, that's a lot to pack into one sentence!

While I spent about an hour delving into the massive game world, Donald Mustard (co-founder of Chair) finished by revealing some "Master Challenges" that the game has for the hardest of the hardcore. One of them was titled "Jason Bailey," an obvious reference to the "Justin Bailey" code from "Metroid" (which allowed you to play as Samus in a bathing suit). In "Shadow Complex," the "Jason Bailey" challenge is achieved by finishing the game in under 2 hours.
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Chair Entertainment announced in early 2008 that they had nabbed the rights to make "Ender's Game" games, which is all fine and dandy and fits nicely with their previous multiplayer-centric game, "Undertow". Imagine my surprise, then, when they showed up at E3 with Epic Games to reveal that a completely different Orson Scott Card-based game had been developed and, even more surprising, that it's looking great. Thanks to some hands-on time, "Shadow Complex" has jumped to the top of my most anticipated downloadable games list.

What It's Doing Right
Inspired by Greatness
"Shadow Complex" is inspired by "Metroid" and "Castlevania". They even said it right there in the Microsoft press conference. It's a 2.5D game that focuses on exploration, but features action to break up the gameplay. You'll start with nothing but the clothes on your back and a flashlight, but as you progress deeper into a mysterious underground facility, you'll gain upgrades which will allow you to access more locations.

They're really not even trying to hide the similarities to its predecessors. Double jumps, guns that shoot platforms which you can then walk on, etc. Hell, the map is straight-up ripped from the square-based map of "Super Metroid"! It's not subtle, but I'm fine with that, those were great games.

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