If you've read up on Shadow Complex, you probably know that the game ties in with Orson Scott Card's Empire book series. You may not know that the story and the world actually originated with Donald and Geremy Mustard of Shadow Complex developer Chair rather than Card, or that the initial moment of inspiration hit while Donald was mowing the lawn, thinking about his favorite childhood toys -- G.I. Joe action figures.

In the second edition of our Origin Stories series, Creative Director Donald Mustard declares his love for "Metroidvania" games, explains the genesis of Shadow Complex, and the thought process behind some of the game's early concept art....

On Metroidvania:

Donald Mustard: These kind of open world, non-linear games where you start with very little and you progress through all this stuff -- I'm like, "Why aren't more people making these games?" And I honestly don't know why.

I've been waiting and waiting for someone to make a non-handheld, Metroid-esque game. When we finished Undertow we were like, we're gonna do it. Why don't we try and see if we can make something in that kind of genre? I think it is its own genre, it just hasn't been explored enough. So we started designing Shadow Complex.

Your first game, Advent Rising, was a story that you had been working on for a long time -- how did the story for Shadow Complex come about?

DM: I think a lot when I'm mowing the lawn -- and you know, Advent's a story I'd been dreaming about for many, many years -- I was remembering the stuff in my youth that I loved, and I loved G.I. Joe. I loved all my little G.I. Joe guys, they were always my favorite toys.

Looking back, one of the things that I loved about G.I. Joe, at least what I perceived, was the dichotomy between G.I. Joe and Cobra. The idea of this high-tech, super-cool, well-funded bad guy versus this lower or more realistic-technology good guy.

We thought, what if we could make a more grown up, realistic version of G.I. Joe? That was kind of the nucleus for Empire. [But] who could be our Cobra, who could be our bad guy? The only real way we could have that kind of bad guy, who's well funded, a big, enigmatic threat -- what if we could turn America essentially into Cobra, and how would we do that? How could we turn America into the evil empire?

Then we looked at Rome, and how Rome became this great empire. That's when we started talking to [Orson Scott] Card. He loved the idea of this new American civil war that we'd been discussing, and how that could come about. That's how it [started], it was our desire to make a new Cobra.

We love the idea of high tech versus low tech. Even that last boss I showed you [editor's note: see screenshot, above, and mech illustration, below], that was probably the first thing we envisioned, what if there was this huge mech walking down the street, and all you had was like this foam, or you had to [use] physics to crush it, high versus low. That kind of defined the series, that's where it came from. That was the direct inspiration, G.I. Joe.

The events in Shadow Complex run parallel to the first book, they kind of set up a lot more what the bad guys are doing, and how they're doing it. This directly sets up what's happening in the sequel, they all work together in a cool way.

Shadow Complex Concept Art

Core Character Design

DM: Our thinking was that the Restoration's main goal is to subvert the government of the United States, and ultimately claim itself to be the "true" US government. Part of their plan was to win over the American people by looking really cool -- like something out of a movie -- and instilling confidence by looking like a really unified force.

When and if fighting ever broke out in the streets, the Restoration wanted the people to see a well-dressed, clean, high tech army fighting the dusty, camouflaged, and "outdated" military of the government. They realized that a war within the United States would be won not just on the battlefield, but through a concerted PR and marketing effort. So our goal in designing the Restoration was to reflect that mentality.

Early Color Concepts

DM: When looking at the color and design schemes we would use for the Restoration forces we referenced a lot of Nazi imagery. While we can all universally agree that the Nazis were really bad guys, they always had great uniforms. We wanted our bad guys to look like a modern, "American" SS.

The Mech

DM: We assumed that the Restoration would have employed the likes of the very best Hollywood designers, and that they would not be constrained at all by the oversight or bureaucratic process imposed on the US military's weapons development. In addition to creating high tech weaponry, their main design goal was to instill a sense of intimidation and awe -- and what could be more intimidating and awesome than a 20-foot tall biped mech walking down the middle of the street, flanked by spider tanks and faceless infantry? Plus, its size and movement made for a really great boss fight.

The Secret Base

DM: On long road trips we would always find ourselves looking out the window and the endless expanse that covers much of America. And we couldn't help but wonder -- what if there was a secret base hidden in that mountainside, or an underground bunker way out in that field. Doesn't everyone imagine this? We loved that idea that scattered and hidden across the United States there were all of these secret, high tech, underground facilities that were up to no good, and it made from some really cool game play. It's also one of the first core concepts we wanted to introduce in the novels first, and then build them out further in the game.

The lake draining to reveal a secret underground facility was one of the very first concepts we developed for the franchise. We knew we'd be using it in the game and therefore thought it was important to also include in the novel. Spoiler alert: If you've read the book and played the game, you realize that the events of Shadow Complex prove that Averell Torrent is fully aware of the existence of the Restoration's main compound months before he "guesses" at its theoretical location in the book.