Shadow Complex

I don't play a whole lot of Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) games, and when I do, my involvement with them is usually half-assed and I often don't even finish the game. The complete list of XBLA games I've played in the past are as follows:

Hexic HD (free game, didn't "finish")
Alien Hominid HD (finished on normal difficulty only)
Braid (didn't finish...too challenging?)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (cool fighting game, but never worked on Achievements)
Portal (quasi-XBLA game, finished)
Shadow Complex (finished, more below)

So that's six games, most of which I haven't spent any real quality time with. That said, I've been on a roll lately: Portal was simply amazing, and Shadow Complex, although not quite as impressive, might as well have been a full-priced game, as it's that good.

Shadow Complex is essentially the most professional XBLA game yet made, and as such, it has received one of the highest ratings of ANY Xbox 360 release ever, including all the full-priced games. It's basically an Unreal Engine-fueled 2D platformer whose influences are best-described as such: the gameplay of Super Metroid with a Metal Gear Solid skin, featuring the guy from Uncharted. Basically, you're running around shooting guys and upgrading your equipment via over 100 upgrade packs hidden throughout the gameworld, all in an attempt to finish the storyline (saving your girlfriend, and the rest of the planet, from bad guys trying to take over the world).

Anyway, in addition to having incredible graphics (and sound), great gameplay, and a cool-yet-simple leveling system, what really made this game fun was how simple it was, harkening back to the simpler yet somehow more-addictive earlier days of gaming. I've beaten the game twice now, and both times it has proven to be pretty great. Again, the game couldn't possibly beat Portal for even XBLA game of the year, but it's not that far off. DEFINITELY worth the $15 I paid for it...