As an historical gamer (now 32), I’ve had loads of expertise taking part in Pac-Man. During my pre-teen years, lots of my summer season days had been spent dropping quarters to my native arcade, trying to succeed in the legendary “split-screen degree.” As a loyal fan of the franchise, I admittedly had reservations going into my PAX East preview of Bandai Namco’s new, unconventional tackle the sequence, Shadow Labyrinth.
On paper, Shadow Labyrinth shouldn’t work. Pac-Man as a darkish sci-fi metroidvania the place he turns into an enormous mech and shoots lasers out of his mouth feels like unhealthy gaming Wattpad fiction. Yet, that’s precisely what it’s…and Puck, Man, it was wonderful.
The story takes place shortly after the occasions of the Prime Video animated quick, Secret Wars, because the protagonist, the darkish and brooding Swordsman No. 8, wakes up surrounded by monsters and aliens. He quickly meets a mysterious determine generally known as Puck, a yellow round creature who seems like he enjoys consuming pellets, fruit, and blue ghosts. After a quick introduction, the duo vows to work collectively by combining their distinctive skills of energy and mobility within the hopes that they’ll navigate the treacherous world and survive the darkness that awaits.
That darkness is available in many styles and sizes, because the setting includes a handful of various biomes, every with distinct personalities, backdrops, and traits. No two mazes on this 2D journey could have the identical format, and enemy designs and kinds will change relying on the area that’s being explored.
My preview began by putting me in an underground tech biome crammed with numerous melee, flying, and ranged enemy sorts that might solely exist underground, like bat-creatures and offended hedgehogs. Gameplay was simple and intuitive sufficient initially. Combat and dodging jogged my memory loads of the unique Castlevania titles, and its platforming components are akin to a love youngster of Ori and the Blind Forest and Celeste, due to Puck’s capacity to grapple onto spots, including additional layers of maneuverability.
Combining the grapple with aerial assaults makes for fascinating gameplay towards enemies, particularly when problem rooms come into play. Like many different Metroidvanias, Shadow Labyrinth has rooms that may seal off as soon as entered, requiring the Swordsman to defeat every combatant inside to unlock the room.
Enemies spawn in from all around the room, trying to overwhelm with amount and selection, making for a bullet-sponge-like atmosphere. I frantically grappled to keep away from floor foe prices whereas dodging flying enemies concurrently, failing to take action a number of occasions, and needing to respawn.
After getting the hold of their patterns and placements, I grappled up and used melee assaults to chain actions within the air, then slammed my sword down from above on the enemies beneath, making for an immensely satisfying victory. While I solely skilled two problem rooms on this specific construct, I used to be impressed with how troublesome however rewarding every room was. But regardless of how a lot I loved this, the true fantastic thing about Shadow Labyrinth’s platforming and fight involves mild when Puck turns into the controllable character.
The platforming ingredient of controlling Puck is each intelligent and nostalgic, because the Swordsman will morph into him and journey waves of electrical energy to assist them transfer round areas in any other case blocked by environmental hazards or inaccessible heights. While driving the wave, you’ll transfer identically to the previous Pac-Man video games, however with an added twist.
Puck remains to be restricted to shifting left, proper, up, or down on the violet electrical energy line, however he’s not restricted to a lined grid and may cease, goal, and bounce. While this would possibly sound easy, it provides a brand new layer to motion and fight. Some problem rooms even function these strains, which can be utilized to execute sword assaults, creating a completely new method to beating every room’s fight puzzle.
My favourite occasion of this occurred midway via the preview in the course of the Kaiju boss battle (sure, you learn that proper). The combat is just like a problem room within the sense that it blocks off any retreat, however this time it’s a one-on-one combat, because the boss is way greater than Swordsman No. 8. To fight the scale distinction, Swordsman No. 8 can use Puck’s capacity to journey up the wall to not solely get a peak benefit and deal additional harm to the enemy’s horn weak spot, but additionally keep away from huge laser assaults that might in any other case kill them each.
As it seems, the boss isn’t the one one wielding a laser, which ends up in my different favourite, absurd second on this preview: Puck can flip into an enormous mecha named Gaia. Yes, this can be a Metroidvania Pac-Man recreation the place you may management a Gundam and combat Kaiju. Again, this could not work, nevertheless it does so marvelously, leading to an epic crescendo to a fever dream of a boss battle and transformation.
Even after the boss battle ended, there was nonetheless loads to discover in Shadow Labyrinth. The very first thing I unlocked afterward was a pared-down model of Gaia’s laser capacity, which the Swordsman can use by holding down the cost button. Not solely is that this transfer nice for dispelling massive teams of foes blocking an space, nevertheless it will also be thrown into assaults in areas just like the problem rooms to make for some pleasant combo kills.
Alongside the brand new energy transfer, I additionally unlocked a brand new location that includes one other unusually familiar-looking set of enemies that might start to drift via the extent towards me till they touched the bottom. At first, I used to be confused about how one can beat them, as hitting them with a sword wasn’t working.
It wasn’t till I began listening to the music and sound results and remembering why the enemies’ actions appeared so acquainted {that a} lightbulb went off: these are the Pooka from Dig Dug. Just just like the 1982 basic arcade title, the one approach to destroy Pooka is to stun and inflate it when they’re materialized. After experimenting, it seems that utilizing Puck’s grapple capacity on them to knock them out after which utilizing it once more to inflate them is the one approach to kill them.
This is simply one of many many references to Bandai Namco’s library of beloved arcade video games, because the story and setting of Shadow Labyrinth are set to incorporate loads of references and modernized takes on a handful of different iconic video games. While there was no trace or point out of which one it could be, the builders teased that the war-torn world of Shadow Labyrinth itself will likely be a significant reveal because the narrative progresses.
If you had advised me again then that sooner or later somebody would make a Metroidvania model of everybody’s favourite Puck Man, I’d most likely suppose you’re insane. After taking part in Shadow Labyrinth at PAX East 2025, that assertion might be nonetheless true, however I’m proper there beside you, having fun with the madness.
Whether it’s the fluidity of Puck’s grappling hook and wall traversal mixed with Swordsman No. 8’s uncooked energy and sturdiness, or the truth that Pac-Man can flip right into a mech that shoots lasers out of its mouth, all the pieces about this Metroidvania is absurdly enjoyable. The recreation options one thing for everybody right here, because the platforming, fight, and puzzles every stand out on their very own as pleasurable experiences.
I implore you to droop your disbelief about how this weird idea may even work, and no less than give Shadow Labyrinth a strive when it’s launched, as this insane inventive guess by Bandai seems prefer it would possibly really repay.
