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I have to admit that Shadow Complex didn't interest me at first. I had nothing against its Castlevania-with-guns formula, but if I want to play a Castlevania-style game, I'll play Castlevania. But when I was offered a chance to check out a full build of the game, I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm only a couple hours in, but I'm already very glad I did. I won't get into the story at all because I clearly have a lot of twists left to discover, but from a gameplay standpoint, Shadow Complex doesn't take long to suck you in. The formual is simple: explore, find upgrades, fight enemies, and earn new skills to double back and find secrets about the areas you've already visited. Despite the gorgeous 3D graphics, all of the action takes place on a side-scrolling 2D plane, although you can shoot and enemies in the background by aiming with the right stick. If it sounds simple, that's because it is. But that's what makes it work. By creating a game with proven gameplay and melding it with big-budget presentation, Epic-owned developer Chair has created an Xbox Live Arcade game that's far beyond anything I've played on the service before. Full reviews are under embargo until next week, so I'll be back then with my final verdict. But right now, it's looking very, very good.

Shadow Complex is available on 8/19 exclusively on Xbox Live. Thanks to Paul for catching my mistake.