If there was one genre that I didn’t expect to see making a high-profile resurgence this year, and from Epic of all studios, it was Metroidvania. With Metroid having gone all first-person and Castlevania not taking no for an answer in its attempts to be the new God of War, the two standard bearers seemed to have abandoned it. Indeed, we didn’t even know this existed until E3, which made the surprise of how bloody good it was all the more pleasurable.

Given that there’s not a lot of pedigree for these kinds of games around any more, it’s all the more remarkable. A first attempt, on an engine more used to high-budget shooters – I believe part of Epic’s plan when picking up this title was to showcase Unreal Engine 3’s surprising versatility – and they created a game that I’d certainly put up there with the best in the genre.

It impressed me with how well the engine adapted, and a few kinks with the three-dimensional aiming aside, the technology only enhanced it, with some extremely impressive set pieces and sweeping changes to environments that just wouldn’t be possible on last-gen or wholly 2D engines. And even though it undeniably followed the genre template down to the smallest detail – really, the fact that you start from scratch rather than losing your all-powerful character’s weapons and abilities after the prologue is the only difference between this and Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid, structurally speaking.

I loved Shadow Complex, and it kept me going right to the brink of finding absolutely everything, where only a few irritating secrets remain. So with this and Battlefield 1943 showing that new takes on classic concepts works just as well as twin-stick shooters on Live Arcade, let’s hope that 2010 brings us more of that. I’d love to see some of my favourite long-dead 16-bit era gaming styles making a return.

I may have come to Shadow Complex late, being that my 360 was apparently on some kind of world tour on its way back from a German repair centre on its release, but this perspective has allowed me to come to it (mostly) free of the hyperbole that greeted it on its release. But you know what? Is it still hyperbole if it’s correct?

I mean, when was the last time we had a traditional ‘Metroidvania’ game that really pushed that sub-genre forward? The DS Castlevania games are great, but aside from some touch-screen features they don’t do anything different to Symphony of the Night.

And while Konami’s been struggling since the N64 days to update Castlevania into 3D as everyone else has realised that doing Symphony with polygonal graphics would have been enough, Chair Entertainment has pretty much done just that. Live Arcade has been good to revising classics with current-gen graphics, and this is to the Metroidvania formula what Street Fighter II HD Remix was to 2D fighters. More so, in fact, since this brings to the table things that just weren’t possible with sprites and a firmly fixed side-on perspective.

Admittedly, it works best when it’s firmly a 2D game, with the aiming occasionally getting a bit sticky when you’re forced to aim away from the screen onto other planes, but it’s more like Super Metroid – my favourite game ever, incidentally – in that the combat, bosses aside, doesn’t really matter that much. Most enemies can be taken down with a few bullets and your later weapons can make mincemeat out of anyone. Even early on, pretty much any enemy can be taken down instantly and silently with a melee attack, aided by AI that ranges in quality from adequate to barely existent.

It doesn’t take long to get through Shadow Complex and find everything when compared to its inspirations – I finished with 91% of items in about seven hours, and polishing it off is a matter of spending an hour mining the final section – but for a £10 download game I’d really have to be picky to criticise it for that. It uses the technology to further itself, with some cool seamless storytelling ideas and clever sequences – raising the water level to defeat a particular boss results in a large section being completely flooded, drowning all the enemies for you – and some tropes inherited from Epic, like the in-game leaderboards for each Achievement criteria that shows you which friends you have to beat as you play.

I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have been disappointed with this as a full release. Maybe that’s my own bit of hyperbole and I’m blinded by my love for this kind of game, but if getting one more person to buy it brings us a step closer to a new Super Metroid of Symphony of the Night then I’m going to do whatever it takes. In any case, Shadow Complex is a certain contender for downloadable game of the year.

At the risk of making this entry sound negative, even if Gears 2 improved on the original in pretty much every way, I just didn’t like it as much. It looks staggering at times, the vehicle sections were actually far from being atrocious this time, and Horde mode is a work of genius. But the lull in the fourth act and a multiplayer mode that just didn’t do it for me after a year of Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 means it doesn’t quite hit those heights.

Like I said, though, I didn’t dislike it at all. When it’s on song and you’re playing on the right difficulty the combat in this game is second to none, as visceral and thrilling to play as you could hope for. Enemies are just intelligent enough to keep you on your toes while still being possible to take down with some clever teamwork or led into a trap, and while some of them annoy on higher difficulties, there’s enough variety to them to bring distinct tactics into the mix.

I’m sure that in two years – or maybe early on in the next Xbox’s release cycle – I’ll be wanting another Gears game to sink my teeth into, but I can’t help but hope that Cliff Bleszinski and his team can find enough new content and extend the 360 hardware enough to make the inevitable sequel worthwhile. If not, let’s see what Epic can do with Microsoft’s money and a game where the height of the dialogue is, “They’re sinking cities with a giant worm!”

There I go, sounding all negative again, but constructive criticism is what will make the next one the revelation that the first game was rather than the impressive but safe sequel that this game turned out to be. Make sure to keep Horde mode next time, though. It’s awesome.

I finished Gears of War 2 the other day. It took me far longer than it should have done because of a slightly doughy patch in its middle that I needed a push through, but overall it was a better game than the first in every way. Crude and brainless, yes, but is that a bad thing?

There are a lot of gamers who will hold up games like Gears 2 as the worst thing to ever happen to gaming, somehow responsible for denying the medium its rightful place among the ‘respected’ entertainment media, but I think that there’s always a place for this kind of thing. Besides the point that no one except gamers takes it that seriously, you’re barking up the wrong tree if you think that games aren’t respected enough because of testosterone-fuelled action games.

Aliens, Terminator 2, Die Hard, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Matrix… All of these movies are, to various extents, considered to be classics, if not in general then certainly of their genre. They might have some cod philosophy to please the chin-stroking crowd, but at the end of the day you watch them to see people with guns doing cool shit.

Gears is the same as that. It’s as subtle as a brick, but it looks amazing – see the above shot – the tight action is second to none when it’s on a roll and, on the whole, I just had a brilliant time with it. Is it art? Who cares? I’d prefer movie posters and comic book artwork on my walls to Monet, and I’d prefer Gears to a game that’s trying to be clever for the sake of it. At least Gears of War is honest about the fact that it’s a game, and the point of them is to be fun.

If you’re looking to Gears to bring you closer to enlightenment you’re barking up the wrong tree – hell, it’s barely even a tree in that case – and I won’t come away from it as a better person, but I got to ride a fucking Brumak!

Of all the games on here, this is the one that, almost above all, had to be good. Despite positive previews it was really an unknown quantity until launch, and without Halo 3 until next year it was the 360’s big gun for its first Christmas with direct competition. And while it wasn’t perfect, Epic did a fabulous job and laid the foundation for Microsoft’s latest big franchise.

Just to get it out of the way, Gears looks amazing. It’s certainly the technically most impressive console game I’ve ever seen, and until Crysis it’s debateable that even the PC has anything to match it. Look at the caverns in Act 3, and I defy you to tell me that it doesn’t look stunning.

While the campaign isn’t the longest in the world, while it doesn’t act on the potential of its story, and while the macho stereotypes are tired (though slightly tongue-in-cheek, which helps), what it does have is a refreshing take on the usual run and gun shooters and some of the most visceral and satisfying combat in any game, that is even better when played online with a friend. The chainsaw bayonet is an obvious and ludicrous example, but it works in this context where even the destroyed opulence around you is larger than life.

I doubt that Gears will have the legs that the Halo games have had, but nonetheless this is a lesson in how to do a next generation game. After this and Rainbow Six Vegas, expect every shooter in the next three years to have some kind of cover mechanic. If you didn’t like it in this game, you’re screwed.