Chair creative director Donald Mustard was nice enough to sit for a few moments with us to talk Infinity Blade 2 so, naturally, we took advantage of his generosity to grill him about the long-discussed (and apparently "largely designed") Shadow Complex 2.
We asked if the runaway success of Infinity Blade is what's kept the follow-up to the side-scrolling action-adventure off of Chair's radar.
"No, I think that's a complete misnomer," Mustard said. "When we sat down to figure out what we wanted to do after Infinity Blade, and we started to wonder 'Do we want to do Infinity Blade 2?', it wasn't about 'Do we want to make more money?' it was about 'Do we have more to say in this genre?' 'Can we push this gameplay somewhere meaningful?' Those are the questions we ask ourselves.
"Now that we've made the first Shadow Complex we kind of know what we're doing and we feel like we can really bring a lot to the Metroidvania genre and Shadow Complex franchise. We want it to be amazing, we want it to be perfect, and we want it to be delivered on the right platforms. It's really about finding the right opportunity for Shadow Complex, not that we've been diverted in any way.
"Everyone on our team at Chair will be dead long before we run out of games we want to make. So we try to be very careful about where we spend our time."
That's right, that's the answer: Mustard is choosy about projects because he's worried about his own mortality. We may not know when Shadow Complex 2 will arrive, but at least we know the source of the shadows: Donald Mustard's gloomy bummer clouds.
Reader Comments (28)
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 2:26PM Jhoalot said
@Justin McElroy
I know this isn't the place to say this but i have a problem and i can't view my profile.
I know this isn't the place to say this but i have a problem and i can't view my profile.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 3:02PM King Johngie the Fourth said
@Jhoalot
I have a problem too. I can't stop...LOVING JOYSTIQ!
Anyways, no one can view their profile. There. Problem solved.
Reply
I have a problem too. I can't stop...LOVING JOYSTIQ!
Anyways, no one can view their profile. There. Problem solved.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 3:02PM (Unverified) said
@Jhoalot I am in the same boat. Figured it was because I have a new profile but I can't seem to do any editing or even view it.
Reply
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 2:31PM Dirty said
All I can think is, what does Ketchup have to say about all this.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 4:21PM ItsameMatt03 said
@Dirty
I'm wondering if he ever hooked up with Patty Mayonnaise.
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I'm wondering if he ever hooked up with Patty Mayonnaise.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 9:13PM ThatGuyFromTV said
@ItsameMatt03 i bet we would have relished the opportunity.
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Posted: Dec 1st 2011 2:35PM King Johngie the Fourth said
I haven't played Infinity Blade (no Apple device), nor have I played Shadow Complex (no Xbox), but these, guys seem to have a good head on their shoulders.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 2:57PM NaeemTHM said
@King Johngie the Fourth
I'll no doubt enrage the Nintendo biomass but Chair knows how to bring Nintendo franchises into the next generation. Shadow Complex was a great Metroid clone and Infinity Blade is perhaps the next best thing to Super Punch Out.
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I'll no doubt enrage the Nintendo biomass but Chair knows how to bring Nintendo franchises into the next generation. Shadow Complex was a great Metroid clone and Infinity Blade is perhaps the next best thing to Super Punch Out.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 2:39PM Razer922 said
I still have time to pick up the original!
The road to gamer hell is paved with a list of "games I intend to actually get".
The road to gamer hell is paved with a list of "games I intend to actually get".
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 2:50PM (Unverified) said
I guess they don't have to ketchup when releasing SC2.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 2:55PM Megasoum said
"We want it to be amazing, we want it to be perfect, and we want it to be delivered on the right platforms."
Err... What does he mean by "right platforms"?? I hope they are not thinking about putting Shadow Complex 2 on iOS...
Err... What does he mean by "right platforms"?? I hope they are not thinking about putting Shadow Complex 2 on iOS...
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 3:09PM Liquidfingers said
@Megasoum
that's the thought that sprung into my mind as well. maybe by "right platforms" he's just insinuating that Shadow Complex 2 is going to be multi-platform this time around? which, in Microsoft's case, will just be another failed opportunity at holding on to yet another high profile exclusive because their heads are so far up Kinect's ass right now.
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that's the thought that sprung into my mind as well. maybe by "right platforms" he's just insinuating that Shadow Complex 2 is going to be multi-platform this time around? which, in Microsoft's case, will just be another failed opportunity at holding on to yet another high profile exclusive because their heads are so far up Kinect's ass right now.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 3:10PM Liquidfingers said
@Liquidfingers
err, speaking of Kinect, why is there no Infinity Blade out on the 360 yet? that makes absolutely no sense to me.
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err, speaking of Kinect, why is there no Infinity Blade out on the 360 yet? that makes absolutely no sense to me.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 4:41PM nerdquest said
@Liquidfingers Its highly unlikely Shadow Complex 2 will be multiplatform. Epic signed an exclusive deal with Microsoft develop future titles on their plaforms (along with Gears). http://www.develop-online.net/news/33317/Microsoft-hunts-producer-for-new-Epic-games
If anything, he's probably referring to whether or not they want to make SC2 a full retail title or craft a Windows Phones spin-off which is compatible with the sequel.
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If anything, he's probably referring to whether or not they want to make SC2 a full retail title or craft a Windows Phones spin-off which is compatible with the sequel.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 6:26PM Liquidfingers said
@nerdquest
that article is over 2 years old now, doesn't really prove anything. Infinity Blade is an iOS exclusive (as far as I know) so obviously Chair (the developers of Shadow Complex) don't have to develop exclusively for Xbox or Microsoft platforms.
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that article is over 2 years old now, doesn't really prove anything. Infinity Blade is an iOS exclusive (as far as I know) so obviously Chair (the developers of Shadow Complex) don't have to develop exclusively for Xbox or Microsoft platforms.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 3:22PM 880Cloud088 said
Holy shit I just noticed that. Now if they can do the same for Kirby I would shot myself.
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Posted: Dec 1st 2011 3:16PM 343 Guilty Fart said
Shadow Complex is probably my favorite downloadable title.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 3:32PM TheRealLawrence said
i played the first infinity blade for 5 minutes and i never want to play it again. does that make me a bad person?!
flip side, i played the first shadow complex for about 18 hours and i very much want to play it again.
flip side, i played the first shadow complex for about 18 hours and i very much want to play it again.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 4:24PM ItsameMatt03 said
Chair has definitely cut the mustard.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 4:39PM TheRealLawrence said
Shadow Complex is the best metroidvania of this generation. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet was great too though.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 5:21PM gordeaux said
Maybe this time they'll make a good one. Shadow Complex is one of the most overrated games of this generation. The games that inspired it (Super Metroid, Castlevania: SotN) are still so far ahead of it that it makes it look like a joke.
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 9:10PM ShadoKat said
i think he meant "misconception," not "misnomer."
Posted: Dec 1st 2011 10:31PM KungFuChaosNinja said
The fact that we haven't gotten a confirmation of Shadow Complex 2's existence is mindboggling. What's going on? Is Microsoft not really to pay the bill? They''ve become so cheap with pushing exclusive content.







