Xbox Live: Get Shadow Complex and Perfect Dark for 50% off this week

Xbox Live Gold subscribers can score two decidedly retro-style offerings for cheap this week, with the Metroidvania-style Shadow Complex and N64 remake Perfect Dark available for 600 MSP ($7.50) and 400 MSP ($5.00) respectively. They're very different titles, but have at least one thing in common: both games present old-school gaming challenges with a coat of modern polish.

Shadow Complex is a contemporary homage to platform explore-'em-ups like Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, co-developed by Epic Games and Infinity Blade designers Chair Entertainment. We gave the game 9/10 on its 2009 release, praising the way it smuggles intricate old-school design within a flashy Unreal Engine 3 package.

Perfect Dark is an even more authentically old-time play experience, presenting Rare's original N64 blockbuster with cleaned-up Xbox 360 graphics and multiplayer options. Launched last year, the game is an unmistakable trip back to Rare's N64 glory days, and worth a look for anyone interested in what the FPS genre was like before Spartans, Captain Price or Weighted Companion Cubes. Both titles can be found in the Xbox Live Marketplace, within the system dashboard or right here on the information superhighway.

Oct 11, 2011