Taking a tiny break from Fallout 3 (please don’t die from shock at that statement; I haven’t yet), I’ve gone back into the thinly veiled world of Shadow Complex. Now, I’ve already beaten the game twice, once just going along with things, and the second time to collect 100% of the items on the map. I basically have two achievements left to get: Minimalist (Complete the game with less than 13% of items) and Serious Complex (Level up to experience level 50). Both are definitely an uphill battle, especially if you’re one of the types that grows bored playing the same game over and over and over…

Luckily, Shadow Complex is a blast.

And random, too.

Take, for instance, the following scenario. Sneaking down a set of darkened barrack-like halls, I ran into an enemy soldier. Since I was close enough for hand-to-hand combat, I jabbed him twice in the face and moved to the next room…only to die a quick death from many, many guns. Going back through the same room, I instead killed the initial guard with a grenade…to only die once again in the next room. The third time…I popped the soldier quickly in the head with my pistol and planned my subsequent moves much better.

I also completely forgot how stunningly beautiful and haunting the gameworld is, and yes, I’m talking about when whatshisname has to swim back through some previous rooms now flooded and there’s dead soldiers drifting in the water with this quiet, atmospheric piano in the background. So good, people. So spooky. Much better than a hundred retail games have ever gotten it. Quote me on that if you must.

But yeah…Shadow Complex is a game worth replaying and revisiting because it is never what you expect it to be. I won’t be going after these achievements simultaneously because it is nearly impossible to gain a ton of XP, but not explore and gather extra items. So first up is…Minimalist. I’m at 7% and doing well. Then it looks like I’ll be playing through for a fourth time, which I don’t mind one bit.