If I told you Bandai Namco just released a brand-new Pac-Man game, you would probably have a hard time believing it. But Shadow Labyrinth is exactly that. It is a Pac-Man spin-off with one of the most unique twists in the series. It is disguised as a Metroidvania game, but with Pac-Man-inspired gameplay mechanics built into it. While it is an interesting experiment on its own, the game has some major flaws that hurt its overall quality and make it hard to appeal to a casual audience.
Shadow Labyrinth might look like another standard Metroidvania with 2D action-platforming elements, but it is really a Pac-Man game in everything but name. The main character does not have any dialogue, but the real star is Puck, a glowing yellow ball with a mouth who is basically Pac-Man. Puck mostly interacts with the main character, who is known as Swordsman No. 8. Most of the dialogue comes from Puck, who explains the situation or gives bits of lore to the swordsman.
Like most Metroidvania games, the hero starts out with almost no powers and slowly unlocks new abilities as they progress. Every time the player defeats a major boss, Puck transforms into a giant, menacing shadow and consumes the boss, which in turn grants new powers to the swordsman. The level and enemy design feel very familiar if you have played other Metroidvania classics, with lots of enemies you might recognize. The art style mixes an old-school design with a modern twist. The graphics have a kind of 3D look but use 2D elements that help them stand out from other games in the genre.
The controls take some getting used to. While the combat feels satisfying, the movement can be a bit unpredictable. The game features parry and dodge mechanics, which are crucial since the difficulty is made tougher by the lack of a proper checkpoint system. Combos are easy enough to pull off, but the key is knowing when to parry or dodge out of the way of enemies. Shadow Labyrinth is not exactly an easy game. If you are not busy fighting off waves of enemies, with the constant risk of dying and having to restart from a save point that can be far away, especially before boss fights, you will be dealing with tough platforming sections.
As the story moves forward, new powers unlock over time. One of these abilities lets the player travel along lines that run next to walls, basically turning them into Pac-Man as they collect glowing yellow balls. These orbs also serve as currency or power-ups in the game. Enemies drop them too.
As for the story itself, if you have not watched the Circle episode from Amazon Prime’s Secret Level series, you might find yourself wondering what just happened. That episode acts as a prequel to Shadow Labyrinth, introducing Swordsman No. 7 along with Puck. But even if you skip it, I do not really think the story matters much compared to the gameplay.
The biggest criticism of the game is probably its difficulty, mainly because of how it handles the checkpoint system. When the player dies, they can choose to respawn at a checkpoint or return to the nearest save point. The problem is that these points are spread out, and in a game where boss battles rely heavily on trial and error, most players will end up dying multiple times. This forces them to retreat and repeat the same encounters over and over before they even get back to the fight. On top of that, the game often mixes platforming sections with combat, and it is not always easy to pull them off every time.
Boss attacks also deal a lot of damage, and upgrades are hard to come by at first, which only adds to the frustration during battles. The Pac-Man-inspired platforming sections suffer from awkward controls, even more so than the regular on-foot gameplay. While you can toggle a trajectory arrow to help figure out where Pac-Man will jump next, it still does not make things much easier. The game even tries to copy the Dark Souls formula by giving you a refillable health item that can only be restored at save points, but honestly, I do not think it works as well here.
The PC port of Shadow Labyrinth is pretty barebones. There are no graphical options and not even a resolution toggle. At least, that was my experience on the Steam Deck. The game runs smoothly at 60 FPS, but I still feel like it would have been nice to have some customization options. That said, I did not run into any major issues with the PC version, and the Steam Deck support was excellent.
Shadow Labyrinth is an easy recommendation if you are a Pac-Man fan. However, if you are looking for a satisfying Metroidvania, you might find it a bit too basic. The level design and the special powers do not offer the same sense of depth you would expect from a well-crafted world, and the game is pretty decent length-wise. It tries to make up for that with a higher difficulty, but overall, it is still a tough game that may struggle to appeal to a casual audience.
Shadow Labyrinth Game Information
- Price: $29.99
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
- Developer: Bandai Namco
- Platform: PC (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
