Shadow Labyrinth, Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary, takes a wild, stylish turn with a gritty, ambitious, and surprisingly emotional Metroidvania.
No one thought that Pac-Man, the happy, pellet-chomping face of early arcade games, would be the main inspiration for a dark, moody sci-fi Metroidvania. However, Amazon Prime’s Secret Level anthology series, which allows people to explore new ways to reimagine old IPs, provided a suitable starting point for a darker Pac-Man story.
As a sneak peek at what would become Shadow Labyrinth, one episode showed a strange and high-concept take on the yellow icon. When Bandai Namco saw the chance to connect it to its UGSF (United Galaxy Space Force) universe—the same loose timeline that links Galaxian, Dig Dug, and Ace Combat 3—they jumped at it. It may sound strange, but the result not only works, it soars.
At the beginning of Shadow Labyrinth, a young boy is sucked into a screen. He is wearing the armor of a mysterious warrior named Swordsman Number Eight. Here is where he meets Puck, a spherical AI that floats around and was once locked up on this war-torn alien world.
From the start, Puck doesn’t give any explanations. Instead, he talks in vague fragments and sharp one-liners. The story is told through brief conversations, notes about the past, and stories that happen in the environment.
Even though Shadow Labyrinth‘s presentation is simple, it tells a story that is full of sci-fi sadness. As Number Eight and Puck travel through a world scarred by old wars and old technology, you start to learn more about why Puck is locked up and what the swordsman’s real job is.
The relationship between them keeps the journey interesting, especially as questions start to be raised about Puck’s intentions. The only problem with the story? Some important parts depend on text logs, which could have been hit harder with in-engine cutscenes.
Shadow Labyrinth is basically a normal Metroidvania game, but it has a grimy, dark tone to it. You go through zones that are linked to each other, find new tools for moving around, and go back to older zones to find secrets. Wall-climbing, air-dashing, grappling, and soon, controlling Gaia, a powerful mech form, are all core moves.
But Puck himself is the most unique mechanic. There are rails in each area that only Puck can use to get through, leading to maze-like score challenges that are a nod to the original Pac-Man. In timed sprints, you have to stay away from dangers and get the most points possible. They get really hard very quickly. When you switch between Puck and the swordsman, you can access new puzzle-platforming levels. Each character has unique skills that they can use in different situations.
Combat starts out easy in Shadow Labyrinth and then gets more complicated. You can use your sword to do basic moves, your prosthetic arm to stun enemies with a punch, your dodge move is linked to an ESP bar that works like stamina, and you can eventually change into Gaia.
Even though combos are easy, timing is very important. You can’t just press buttons over and over again; you have to learn how the enemies move and parry or dodge at the right times. You can do more than just dodge with the SP (ESP) bar. It also controls your special moves. Overusing it lowers the damage you do, which encourages you to be careful.
One smart addition is the SP blast, a powerful hit that happens after three hits in a row. This rewards players who use rhythm over panic. It’s fun and tight to play with swords in Shadow Labyrinth. The fact that there aren’t many combos is good for Shadow Labyrinth. The difficulty goes up not by giving enemies more health, but by turning fights into small platform puzzles.
It’s important to pay attention to your position, timing, and stamina. The best parts of Shadow Labyrinth are definitely the boss fights. Some use parries and counters, while others change the arena or make you fight more than one enemy at the same time.
Gaia, your temporary mech form, can make early fights feel too easy, though. It’s a show and fun to use, but it can sometimes take away from the challenge. In later stages, the developers fix this by making Gaia’s use windows shorter and more planned out.
Most of the time, platforming is fun, especially when you’re controlling Puck. Smooth rails and transitions, but some jumps need inputs that are pixel-perfect. When launching from rail platforms, there’s a frustrating lack of accuracy, which is likely caused by poor direction input handling and could greatly benefit from a patch.
Aura, the Shadow Labyrinth‘s main currency, is used to level up and buy new gear. To get it, you have to fight, explore, and eat stunned enemies while in Gaia form. Attack boosts, ESP boosts, and passive benefits can be bought with Aura in shops. For crafting, you also need to get materials from enemies, which can be used to improve the skills of both characters.
Since you don’t lose Aura when you die, there’s no reason to grind for upgrades. Many upgrades, on the other hand, are tied to time-limited vendor stock, which slows down the early stages of the game. Even though it’s not a very grindy game, it’s important to keep track of your resources because checkpoints are far apart and healing items (Nano ER) are hard to come by.
The appearance of Shadow Labyrinth is truly impressive. Dark colors and neon lights fill the environments, which have a mix of gothic desolation and sharp sci-fi elements. Each zone has its own distinct feel, ranging from abandoned factories to crumbling temples to eerie forests. The characters are modeled in a chunky, high-contrast style that keeps things clear, even when the fights get chaotic. The PS5 has perfect frame rate performance, with no drops or crashes.
The references to Pac-Man in the art are subtle but smart. Some enemy designs resemble ghosts, and some hallways are designed like the famous maze. The stages with only Puck pay the most clear tribute, wrapped in this creepy new tone.
One of their other big strengths is sound design. The sounds of enemies range from strange to creepy, and the sounds of bosses are deep and scary. Pay close attention to the music during boss fights—each track builds tension and keeps up with the fight’s pace. Ambient music is often moody and atmospheric, evoking feelings of loneliness and tension.
Yes, Puck’s snarky lines and robotic deadpan never get old. It’s not just a friend; it’s the sarcastic heart of the game. Shadow Labyrinth could have been just a gimmick—a dark Pac-Man-style platformer that wasn’t very good. But what Bandai Namco gave us is much better, more creative, and more meaningful. It’s a tribute to Pac-Man’s legacy without being too nostalgic. It has a sharp look, a mysterious plot, and a smooth gameplay loop.
It does have some problems, though. The early bosses are too easy, Gaia is sometimes too strong, and the economy for upgrades needs to be more balanced. Some problems with rail platforms also ruin a traversal experience that would otherwise be very smooth. Even so, the game is proud to be one of the best Metroidvania out there today.
It’s fun even if you don’t know much about UGSF or Pac-Man. There’s more to enjoy if you do, though. In the end, Shadow Labyrinth shows that even the oldest characters can come back to life in the strangest ways and still have something important to say.
