Shadow Complex

Shadow Complex is presented in 2.5D format; the game world is three-dimensional, but the player can only move in two dimensions, simulating the environment of a side-scrolling video game. Enemies can, however, move in any direction, and auto-aim is utilized to allow the player to fire at nearby enemies or objects both inside and outside of the 2D plane. The player can use the right control stick to aim with a laser sight. Gameplay in Shadow Complex was inspired by Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The gameplay takes many cues from Metroid: the player can move freely throughout the expansive game world, defeating enemies with a variety of weapons, and as they overcome challenges, new abilities and weapons are gained which allow to reach new areas.

The game rewards the player with experience points as they complete objectives and defeat enemies. The player can gain experience levels, each level boosting basic attributes of the character. These experience levels grant the player skills such as improved gunfire precision or damage resistance. Special rewards such as revealing the full map and unlimited special ammo are granted at specific levels. When the player starts a new game, they will lose all the weapons and items that they have acquired, but will keep the character's experience level and any benefits they have already received.

Epic Games indicated during an E3 interview that the game runs parallel to the events in the Orson Scott Card novel Empire, and that the game will dovetail with the sequel to the book Hidden Empire. Empire is a Chair-owned intellectual property that was licensed to Orson Scott Card to create a series of novels, though Card did not work on the game itself.

Jason Fleming (voiced by Nolan North) and his new girlfriend Claire (voiced by Eliza Jane Schneider) are backpacking in the mountains when they come across some caverns. Claire opts to explore them, saying she used to go there as a child, but when she does not respond to Jason's calls, he follows her. He comes across a massive underground complex manned by numerous soldiers with high-end technology. He manages to follow men dragging Claire through the complex and is able to rescue her.

Chair Entertainment's creative director Donald Mustard stated that much of Shadow Complex is based around the gameplay of Super Metroid, a game he considers "the pinnacle of 2D game design". Much of their effort was in creating the Metroid-style of gameplay, a first for their company. The first month of development was spent having the team replaying the various Metroid games in order to establish the language and concepts of such games for development in order to expand on enjoyable sections while avoiding the mistakes of these games. Chair's design process started by drawing out the game's world on graph paper, using the concepts of tile-based games to craft out the world, despite the final game not being tile-based.

This process set certain rules, such as how high the character may jump with the various upgrades or how far the character must run before a certain power would activate. They played out the game on this paper map to make sure that all parts of the game were possible to complete. Such a map was used to help with the game's pacing, making sure that the player's interest in the game would remain despite the acquisition of more and more powerups.

Shadow Complex has been met with positive reviews and has been nominated for or received several Game of the Year, E3, and Editor's Choice Awards. 4 out of 10, stating it to be one of the best games of the year, specifically praising its lasting appeal and graphics, though having minor issue with the sometimes "frustrating" aiming. Ars Technica gave it the verdict "Buy", stating that Shadow Complex "may be one of the best games of the season" and that it "is a must-play for those looking for a classic twist on a fresh challenge." Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann has given the game 5 stars out of 5, writing "the quality of Shadow Complex makes it well worth its $15 price tag."

The publication later named the game as its Xbox 360 game of the year. As of year-end 2010, Shadow Complex has sold over 532,000 copies.