So, while a return trip to Rapture has me packing my bags, I do so cautiously. This game is being billed as a prologue, which, given the story in the first title, is really the only way direction they could go. That said I feel that too much explanation sometimes ruins the experience. The mystery is where the fun is at.

I’ve got my hopes high that the developers at 2K Marin will top the first title and produce another unique gaming experience.

4. Shadow Complex (Xbox 360/XBLA – July)

In the midst of Microsoft’s blistering blitzkrieg of E3, they dropped a salvo of jaw-dropping Arcade announcements. Billed as The Summer of Arcade 2009, Microsoft has decided to follow-up their successful promotion from last year – which saw the one-two-three punch of Bionic Commando Rearmed, Braid and Castle Crashers – with a new installment boasting some heavy hitters in small packages.

Shadow Complex is one of those titles. Here’s a 2D adventure title – its roots firmly entrenched in the Super Metroid vein of game play – that boasts stunning graphics and animation and really looks like it could be a full retail release.

The formula perfected by Super Metroid and embraced by the contemporary Castlevania series of games positions players in 2D adventures where they are confronted with a sprawling swatch of real-estate which they must work their way through, battling enemies and massive bosses while seeking out new abilities that will help them remedy previously encountered dead-ends in order to press further on the map. It’s an addictive formula that works like the carrot at the end of the stick – you see the new area, know that somehow you can get to it, and that sends your brain scouring the area for the item that will help gain passage deeper into the adventure.

The Developer, Chair (an offshoot of Epic), used their proprietary Unreal 3 engine to lovingly craft these gorgeous 2D backdrops and then set their Metal Gear-esque futuristic espionage tale against it.

Again, I’d pay top dollar for this title. The Metroid/Zelda/Castlevania formula gets me every time and the fact that the lead developer told anyone who would listen that he has made the new Super Metroid is music to my ears.

To be continued…