Bandai Namco Studios·Released Jul 18, 2025·Single player
Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action platformer and a genre-twisting alternate take on the iconic PAC-MAN. As The Swordsman, you wake on a mysterious planet amidst relics of wars past. To survive you will discover secrets, consume your enemies, and grow from prey to apex predator.
Shadow Labyrinth is uneven, overstuffed, and often frustrating. It has decent moment-to-moment gameplay, but it fails to materialize into something coherent.
Shadow Labyrinth takes the fascinating premise of blending Metroid with Pac-Man and fumbles the execution, offering a bland narrative with one-note combat and tedious exploration
A gritty, metroidvania reboot of Pac-Man.
An enjoyable adventure with a serious identity crisis.
Shadow Labyrinth is an admirable big swing that places Pac-Man in a strange new space. Unfortunately, while there are some fun elements taken from the arcade classic and a few neat ideas sprinkled in, the majority of the game is a by-the-numbers Metroidvania that doesn't quite come together. It feels like a game built to please Pac-fans and hardcore players that lap up the likes of Hollow Knight, but the end result is something that underserves both. It's not bad, but with so many incredible 2D Metroidvanias these days, this one doesn't quite do enough to measure up.
If you're intrigued by Shadow Labyrinth's fresh approach to Pac-Man, I recommend giving it a shot on Switch 2. It provides an intriguing narrative in a foreboding world with varied environments throughout, and PUCK proves to be a compelling character. The short bursts of Pac-Man-style gameplay help mix up the experience, and this is very welcome since the game never really delivers a 'wow' moment. Much of it has been done better elsewhere, but this is nevertheless a promising new direction for an ageing franchise; one I hope to see continue in the future.
