Bandai Namco

Shadow Labyrinth is a Pac-Man Metroidvania, and I’m being completely serious

Originally posted on Video Games on SI
By Josh Broadwell | Last updated Dec 12, 2024 8:01 PM ET

Bandai Namco kicked off The Game Awards 2024 with Shadow Labyrinth, a Pac-Man Metroidvania set in an apocalyptic sci-fi future because… sure I guess? It’s absolutely not something I would have predicted, but since Shadow Labyrinth has the look of a good Metroidvania about it, I’m more than happy to let Bandai cook with this one.

Read more: The Alternative Game Awards 2024

Actual narrative framing is light, but the trailer starts with a robed figure emerging from a ship before a yellow orb zooms in from off-screen. The two work together to scale heights and deal with enemies, though it’s not completely clear which character you control – Hood Person or Pac-Pal. Either way, the areas the first Shadow Labyrinth trailer showcased ranged from the windswept wastes of a barren plain to frosty caverns and lava-filled depths, as the two hop, grapple, and pull off some special moves to get by.

There’s a selection of deadly looking monsters to contend with – none of which you’d ever fathom have any connection to Pac-Man – narrow corridors, unique powers and all the usual things you’d expect from a Metroidvania. There’s even a horror twist as well. Pac-Man wants to escape the labyrinth, and if the trailer’s tease is anything to go by, he’s just using the hooded figure to get out. The trailer ends as Pac-Man enters his companion’s chest, and the screen switches to a glob of blood-covered sinew shaped like Pac-Man.