Pac-Man is a franchise that needs no introduction. We have all played a version of Pac-Man, and we each have our favorite. I have always been a fan of the original arcade game and always play a few games if I see the machine while out. There was even a time I held the high score on the machine at my favorite pizza place growing up—I’ve always loved Pac-Man and given most versions a try. The Pac-Man World games were ones I loved growing up, and they showed me that you can try anything with Pac-Man. That leads us to now, with possibly the strangest Pac-Man game to date, with Shadow Labyrinth.
Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action-adventure Metroidvania. Releasing as part of Pac-Man‘s 45th anniversary, the game serves as a celebration but also a reimagining of the arcade classic. The game also serves as a continuation of the episode Circle from the animated show Secret Level. Now all of this feels very strange, especially for a game about eating dots in a maze. I can’t say I wasn’t interested, but I was also hesitant about it. Now that Shadow Labryinth is here, I can say it’s a great addition to the genre. One that certainly is rough around the edges with drawbacks that will infuriate some, but one I still couldn’t stop playing.
Waking Up in A New World
In Shadow Labyrinth, you play as a nameless character known as Swordsman No. 8. You awaken on a mysterious, war-torn planet with no recollection of anything. The one who woke you is Puck, a mysterious yellow orb asking for your help to escape this planet. While they don’t seem trustworthy, Puck is your only hope of escaping this place and learning why you are here in the first place. During your journey, you’ll encounter other characters that may be friend or foe, but all have the same goal: to defeat the true evil of this planet, something only you can do.
While you meet a good amount of characters, most of your playtime is spent with Swordsman No. 8 and Puck. These two are the heart of the game, and I enjoyed their dynamic. When the game started, I didn’t know what to think of Puck, especially after watching Secret Level. As the game went on, the mysterious orb became a fascinating character, and I enjoyed learning its backstory. They pair well with Swordsman No. 8, who is a blank slate but still gets some characterization. It doesn’t happen a lot, but the few story moments they do get are nice and give personality to these two.
The story is also interesting, even if it never fully grabbed me. While I enjoy the character moments, they are set aside for the main narrative. I enjoyed the world as it takes place in the United Galaxy Space Force (UGSF), a shared timeline of classic sci-fi Namco games. The world feels established, and I found myself wanting to learn more about it instead of the actual game’s story. While it didn’t grab me, the narrative didn’t deter the game, and never stopped the flow of the game either. The novelty of a dark story inspired by Pac-Man is fun, and I can applaud the attempt even if it didn’t click.
Fight, Eat, Survive
While I have issues with the overall narrative, I can say the core gameplay is a delight. Shadow Labyrinth‘s combat is simple on the surface but has some depth to it. Your main attack is a simple three-hit sword combo. Paired with that, you have moves that prioritize dodging/mobility, a health refill, defensive moves, and special attacks. On top of all that, you have a transformation called GAIA that is essentially a mech form that makes you stronger and near invincible based on its meter. There is also a gear system that can improve your preferred move set in different ways.
My preferred move set focused on perks that boost mobility and item drops, allowing me to upgrade my moves further. This is alongside a defensive move that acted like a shield, and a special move that was a bomb. All these moves use ESP, a stamina meter, so there is an extra addition to the gameplay of conserving energy. While this can annoy some, it adds a fun layer of difficulty that doesn’t feel overbearing. The GAIA was something I only used in last-ditch efforts or enemy crowd control, as it’s a little slow for my liking and doesn’t last that long. You can also only charge it by eating downed enemies. Yes, you read that right.
Now, while this became a lot of fun, it didn’t start like that. One criticism I have is how slow the game’s opening hours can feel. You have low stamina that depletes very fast, and a handful of enemy encounters that will annoy you. The game also feels slow with little mobility/exploration in the beginning. I never disliked my time, but I did get annoyed and wondered if things would improve. I’m glad I kept playing because after the inciting incident, I couldn’t stop playing, but those first few hours will turn off a handful of players. This also goes into another thing I enjoy that will infuriate some.
Shadow Labyrinth is a challenging game. From the opening hours to the final boss, your skill will be tested. Some bosses took me hours to beat, leaving me with barely a sliver of health. Exploring the map led me to platforming sections that tested my knowledge of the game itself. Save and checkpoints can be quite far apart, making basic enemy encounters life-or-death situations. This also contributes to why the opening hours can feel so long. Although it’s challenging, the game feels incredibly rewarding at times. As much as I love the challenge, I know not everyone will.
It’s all a Maze
Now, Shadow Labyrinth is also a Metroidvania, and with that, it brings other gameplay elements. One of those is exploration, which not only advances the game but also allows you to upgrade yourself. Keep a keen eye as the map is full of secret areas filled with essential resources. The map is also huge, and I spent hours trying to explore the whole thing. Even at the end, I still had at least one whole area that needed to be explored, with a handful of smaller sections still blank. I had a lot of fun exploring, but one part of it stuck out to me.
Since this is a Pac-Man game, parts of the exploration actually mimic a Pac-Man maze. There are parts of the map that only Puck can traverse, and when you step on them, the game becomes Pac-Man. You have to follow the path, jump to avoid or attack enemies, and eat pellets to gain resources. What could’ve been a gimmick is a whole game mechanic, and it’s a lot of fun. It makes puzzles more interesting, breathes life into combat encounters, and it’s also just fun.
Not only is there Pac-Man-style exploration, but also Pac-Man arcade minigames. In the second half of the game, you unlock the ability to enter these maze portals, full Pac-Man mazes with modern gameplay elements. These play similarly to Pac-Man Championship Edition and are all about completing mazes by eating all the pellets and the required number of ghosts. Each maze portal ends in a boss fight and is a lot of fun. Completing these mazes also gives items that will help you later in the game. More likely than not, I will probably go back and complete all of them in the future.
Lost in it all
While I have been enjoying Shadow Labyrinth, it is very rough around the edges. While I like the world, the visual identity isn’t that interesting. I love the enemies that are redesigns of classic Namco arcade games; my favorite one, Dig Dug, even gets some love. Sadly, that doesn’t transfer to a lot of the characters and locations either. It makes this fascinating world feel bland, and while it didn’t stop my enjoyment of the game, it can hurt the more monotonous parts.
Speaking of monotony, there is a lot of backtracking. Earlier, I mentioned how checkpoints are very far apart. This means you will die going from one to the other and will have to backtrack a lot. It gets annoying when the boss is nowhere near a checkpoint, causing you to walk through an entire section again when you die. You unlock items that help reduce backtracking, but it doesn’t eliminate it. The game also feels slow, and while you have some more mobility later, it still feels sluggish. Again, this is yet another issue that contributes to the prolonged opening of the game.
Another problem that arises is how easy it is to get lost. The game has your objectives listed out in the pause menu, and that’s it. It might point you in the right direction, but even then, you’ll still get lost. At least a third of my playtime was wandering around trying to make sense of where to go. The map isn’t that helpful either and is only useful after you fully explore an area. Add to this random difficulty spikes, and you’ll spend hours being stuck in the same part of the map. Some quality of life and balance updates are needed. However, even with all these issues, I can’t put down the game.
Escaping the Maze
Shadow Labyrinth is a bizarre game. It’s a celebration of Pac-Man along with other Namco arcade classics. It’s also a dark reimagining of these games as well, and the most interesting adaptation of Pac-Man I’ve seen yet. What could easily be a mess is instead an endearing game, one with many problems but one I couldn’t stop playing. Even when the novelty of it all wears off, the game is still a solid Metroidvania.
It has a slow start, but soon after, it picks up. The world can feel hollow and monotonous, but it can also be a delight to explore. The visual identity starts to fade away, but it’s able to give love to the game it’s based on. When the difficulty spikes, it can be annoying, but also extremely rewarding. I died a lot, I got lost a lot, I got stuck a lot, but I also couldn’t stop playing. Shadow Labyrinth may be rough around the edges, but it is also one of the most interesting Metroidvanias I have played in a while—one I know I will keep playing for quite a while.
Disclaimer: Bandai Namco provided a PC (Steam) copy of Shadow Labyrinth for review purposes.
