Not Just Cause 2, in case you were wondering.

Yeah, I’m doing two impressions in one post. That’s just the way we jerry-rig things together here at InsaneBear. You got a problem with that, punk? That’s what I thought. Now onto my very valuable personal opinions!

I’ll cover Just Cause 2 first, since I have less to say about that. The demo gives you a satisfyingly large landscape to explore (although it is clearly a small portion of a much larger map) but only 30 minutes to do so. You can replay it as many times as you want, though, so there’s plenty of opportunity to experience all manner of craziness. I played a few different times and tried my hand at core missions, side missions, blowing crap up, and just doing crazy things like flying as high as I could and leaping out to enjoy a breezy two-minute free-fall. From what I saw, the game definitely lives up to the hype as an arena to conduct insane stunts in, but poor controls and lack of polish hinder the fun.

The grappling hook that’s so integral to the game’s stunts doesn’t really allow free-flowing movement like Spider-man’s webs, for example. It just seems cumbersome when every time I try grappling to the top of a water-tower, my guy doesn’t automatically climb to the top, but instead hangs on the ledge and forces me to jump up, which is not nearly as easy as it should be. And with intermediate sized obstacles that look jumpable but really aren’t, it becomes a hassle to stop and aim the hook and go through all the ledge non-sense. Pretty much, Just Cause 2 can’t keep up with the flow and pace of most modern sandbox games.

The driving is also an issue, as it feels unresponsive and unsuited for the high-octane action that the game is going for. I much prefer the driving in GTA games. And while we’re on the topic, Grand Theft Auto IV puts Just Cause 2 to shame in the graphics department.

All and all, there’s a lot of potential for uniquely memorable moments in this game and I’m sure the main missions have some great scripted stunts and action. But Just Cause 2 simply doesn’t feel like a AAA game. I think a game like Prototype would probably offer more polished and responsive opportunities for open-world mayhem. But keep in mind, my thoughts are based solely on a demo, so the real thing could turn out better.

Now onto Shadow Complex. I considered reviewing this game, but have decided on a policy of only reviewing video games released in the past six months (if that’s quite alright with my dear readers). The first thing that stood out to me when I started playing this game is just how awful all of the voice acting and narrative is. I think this might be on purpose, though, as the game is a throw-back to the simpler days of 8 and 16-bit gaming. But it’s a throw-back that looks as pretty as any original Xbox game, so that’s nice.

But that’s not what Shadow Complex is about. And I know this has nothing to do with my impressions, but I sort of feel like my shoulder’s coming out of its socket right now…I can’t wait until a nice robotic body is available at a reasonable price for me to implant my brain in. But anyways, Shadow Complex is all about the gameplay. I played on Normal, which made combat so pathetically easy that I can hardly count it as a gameplay aspect. For what it’s worth, there’s a decent variety of enemies, but they are all frightfully dumb…so we’ll gloss over that part.

The core of the game to me was exploration. This mundane “cave” that you go spelunking in gradually grows into a massive labyrinth full of secret rooms and passages to explore. As you run and jump your way around the complex, you’ll come across upgrades which allow you to go all Scuba-Steve with infinite air-tanks, double-jump about with a very poor excuse for a jet-pack, run at super-sonic speeds with some tricked out boots, and grapple around like some sort of guy who stumbled across a grappling hook and thought he’d make a day of it.

Especially curious gamers can platform themselves into what can sometimes be very secret secret rooms which contain weapon upgrades and the like. Each new upgrade or ability you gain grants you the means to bypass barriers and advance the plot. That’s one thing I really liked about the game–each area of the world constantly felt fresh, because new equipment would allow you to go back to places you’d been before and access the areas you saw but didn’t have the means to get into yet. And considering the wealth of upgrades (which felt sort of useless on the Normal difficultly level, to be honest) to be found, you always have an excuse to backtrack and test your platforming skills.

One thing that disappointed me was the lackluster boss fights. For a game that’s supposed to hearken back to the glory days of boss fights, I expected a little more. But hey, at least the old-school focus on high scores and speed-runs mixed with the modern capabilities of internet leader-boards and constant updates on your progress against friends makes for some great replayability.

Shadow Complex may not have been my cup of tea, but for $15, I found it enjoyable enough. And even though I’ve never played the old Metroid or Castlevania games, from what I understand, this modern take on the “Metroidvania” formula gets it right. Still, I can’t help but feeling Batman: Arkham Asylum is a better modern alternative. That game has all the thrill of equipment-delayed exploration found in Shadow Complex, but with really fun combat, puzzles, atmosphere, and story to boot. But for the price, the seven hour campaign of Shadow Complex is probably worth it, especially if you like that style of game.

And because this isn’t a review and it doesn’t have to be coherently organized, I’ll throw in one final issue I had with the game here. Visually, it’s presented as if it’s a 3D world, but the gameplay is purely 2D. It’s something I got used to, but it was really annoying at first when enemies were moving at different depths than my character and I was stuck on one plane. Aiming is a bit of a problem in that circumstance. Now I have to go do something about my shoulder before it falls off.

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I still don’t see what looks so good about this game, but to each his own I guess. And I think it’s coming out in the next few weeks. So, yay for coming releases?

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