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Trying to keep up with all of the downloadable games and content that's out there these days is enough to make a person cry. But cry no more, because Download Lowdown is here to help. Each week I'll sift through the good, the bad, and the weird to help you get the most from your game system of choice without leaving your house. Plus, if you read now I'll also toss in some choice (usually less-than-helpful) quotes from folks around the Internet at absolutely no extra charge!
This week I rock some Civilization Revolution, try some Trials HD, and eventually overcome my Shadow Complex.
Shadow Complex
System: Xbox 360 (Comes out this Weds.)
Price: $15
The Lowdown: Hot damn, I love this game. I can’t say enough good things about Shadow Complex, and trust me, I’m trying. I’m not even a big Metroid or Castlevania guy, but I totally loved every second of Shadow Complex. The controls are sharp, the graphics are great, the shooting is satisfying, and it’s a ton of fun to melee dudes and punt robots. I enjoyed searching for hidden stuff, upgrading my abilities, blowing crap up and in general, being as much of a pain-in-the ass as possible to the bad guys.
I’m gushing about Shadow Complex, yet I’m still not doing it justice. It’s the perfect Live Arcade game and I can’t believe it’s only $15. If I had paid $60 for it I would feel like I still got my money’s worth. The game’s so darn good that I only took one bathroom break from start to finish. That doesn’t mean that it’s short, it means that I had to use the friggin’ bathroom for most of the eight hours I was playing. Here’s a quote Epic can use in the next Shadow Complex commercial: “So f’ing good that I’d rather pee my pants than stop playing!”
What Twitter says:
Aaron_Thomas seems to be having a pretty good time with the game: “Shadow Complex is some hot shit. Can't stop playing...”
Aaron_Thomas REALLY seems to be enjoying himself. Perhaps too much: “My hands ache but I won't stop -- no -- I can't stop playing Shadow Complex until I've beaten it. It's so f*****g good.”
Aaron_Thomas might be getting ready to propose to the game at this point: “Just finished Shadow Complex in one (very, very) long sitting. Best game I've played since the first God of War. Hands ache, but I'm happy.”
Trials HD
System: Xbox 360
Price: $15
The Lowdown: Trials HD is a cross between FlatOut and Pain, but with motorcycles. Yes, it’s an absolutely horrible name for a video game about riding motorcycles. The action is viewed from the side and it’s your job to guide your rider through increasingly difficult courses without wrecking. If you do wreck, your rider goes flying into the air, twisting and turning until he lands in a heap. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to restart once you’ve crashed, which is very important because the game’s really heavy on trial and error. You’ll spend a lot of time doing the same course over and over tweaking the throttle or your landing angle in an effort to get all the way through in one run.
In addition to the standard courses, you can create your own courses, share them with others, and download user-created courses as well. There are all sorts of stunt challenges to tackle. The use of online leader boards makes these challenges more fun, assuming you’ve got a few friends that also have the game. I’m not a huge fan of Trials HD, but I also hate trial-and-error gameplay. If you don’t mind perfecting runs and you enjoy brutal-looking crashes you might want to check out the demo.
What Major Nelson’s commenters say:
Tabicat is not going to even download the free demo because of the price of the full game? Way to stick it to the man: “Since it's more than 800 points, I'm not even going to download the trial. I refuse to spend more than $10 on anything I can't resell because of DRM restrictions.”
Monosocratic didn’t know about the game until it was announced. You know, like the rest of the world: “This game wasn't on my radar until it was announced as part of the Summer Arcade, and as it was the only game that I didn't know: I instantly looked it up. Surprise and awe followed.”
Exu can’t stay on his bike because of the funny puns he’s making: “I gave Trials HD a TRIAL (lol) but kept falling over. Does the problem lie with the controls or the person holding them?”
Civilization Revolution
System: iPhone
Price: $9.99 (free demo available)
The Lowdown: My buddy CoolDaddy (don’t even ask how this name came about) used to play the heck out of Civilization, Master of Orion, and other “take over the world/galaxy” games. He was good at the games, but we loved to antagonize him because he didn’t use diplomacy enough. Actually, he might have used diplomacy plenty -- we just wanted to bug the crap out of him because we’d come over and he wouldn’t stop playing these stupid games. The point of the story? Uh, CoolDaddy is a big nerd that has all of the diplomatic skills of Kim Jong Il. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Now CoolDaddy and the rest of you folks who love this sort of game never have to stop playing because there’s now a very competent version of Civ Rev for the iPhone. I never played the console or PC versions of this game, but people who have played both seem to be pleased. And really, a world where Civ fans are happy is what it’s all about, isn’t it?
What the App Store reviews say:
Verovoekdoex shoots a hole in my theory that everyone is loving the game with this well-written review: "This game is horrible!”
Brothainarms doesn’t seem to understand the concept of a 5-star review system: “Extremely well executed, eats up my time like crazy!! 1099999999 stars!”
Eazy E42 is very thankful that this game was made and that they had the opportunity to purchase it: “Thanks”
That's it for this week's Download Lowdown. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!
