I wasn't too surprised to see Cliff Bleszinski come out on stage at Microsoft's Press Conference on Monday. After all, he and Epic Games have some new Gears of War 2 content coming this fall, and it follows that they should make this public on one of the grandest stages. Turns out I was wrong in thinking they would present that, and they actually had a new 360 exclusive to reveal at the press conference. A game called Shadow Complex, that would be available as a downloadable Arcade title sometime during the summer.
Looking at the game during the presentation just warmed my heart. It was the first signal that this E3 would be one to remember, from near or far.
It even has a map that's similar to the ones found in the newer Castlevania titles! Beyond inspiration, but incredibly welcome.
That's because Shadow Complex is a Metroidvania title, a free-roaming 2D game that will allow for the acquirement of powers and items so that more of the game can be explored. The unveiling of the game was definitely one of the biggest surprises of E3, though it regrettably isn't being cited as one too much. It looks like it takes the biggest inspiration from Metroid (like, duh), but also mixes in a little Contra-like intense shooting into the mix (and sometimes in 3D, no less). It looks so good that it made me wonder why no one had done something like this for the digital download systems until now. And by that I mean you, Castlevania. Though I'm not sure if that's the job of Koji Igarashi (IGA) anymore. More on that later.
I think places like Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network would be ideal for 2D Castlevania titles, which I had hoped Symphony of the Night's success proved. Games like Braid and Bionic Commando Rearmed did a nice job in proving that digital distribution is a good home for 2D retro-style titles, but I'd honestly like to see more publishers jump on that. I'm hoping Shadow Complex is the signal that will act as a beacon for other developers to try their hand at games like this, especially in Japan.
I'm usually not that big of a fan of the aesthetics present in just about every Epic title -- which helped give birth to the omnipresent bald space marine and "so much brown and gray" stereotypes. Shadow Complex is one of the most intriguing games I've seen from them, so I'm looking forward to playing it soon while hoping it won't be a disaster (though I'm honestly optimistic about it). Here's hoping not too many people decide to boycott it because it's written by Orson Scott Card (who tends to have some, uh, questionable ideals). Look forward to it, as since it's part of the next Summer of Arcade, it should be out before the end of August.
Looking at the game during the presentation just warmed my heart. It was the first signal that this E3 would be one to remember, from near or far.
It even has a map that's similar to the ones found in the newer Castlevania titles! Beyond inspiration, but incredibly welcome.That's because Shadow Complex is a Metroidvania title, a free-roaming 2D game that will allow for the acquirement of powers and items so that more of the game can be explored. The unveiling of the game was definitely one of the biggest surprises of E3, though it regrettably isn't being cited as one too much. It looks like it takes the biggest inspiration from Metroid (like, duh), but also mixes in a little Contra-like intense shooting into the mix (and sometimes in 3D, no less). It looks so good that it made me wonder why no one had done something like this for the digital download systems until now. And by that I mean you, Castlevania. Though I'm not sure if that's the job of Koji Igarashi (IGA) anymore. More on that later.
I think places like Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network would be ideal for 2D Castlevania titles, which I had hoped Symphony of the Night's success proved. Games like Braid and Bionic Commando Rearmed did a nice job in proving that digital distribution is a good home for 2D retro-style titles, but I'd honestly like to see more publishers jump on that. I'm hoping Shadow Complex is the signal that will act as a beacon for other developers to try their hand at games like this, especially in Japan.
I'm usually not that big of a fan of the aesthetics present in just about every Epic title -- which helped give birth to the omnipresent bald space marine and "so much brown and gray" stereotypes. Shadow Complex is one of the most intriguing games I've seen from them, so I'm looking forward to playing it soon while hoping it won't be a disaster (though I'm honestly optimistic about it). Here's hoping not too many people decide to boycott it because it's written by Orson Scott Card (who tends to have some, uh, questionable ideals). Look forward to it, as since it's part of the next Summer of Arcade, it should be out before the end of August.
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