Sources claiming to have already played that game told us about their experience with the title, a side-scrolling shooter likened to classics Super Metroid and Mega Man X, a mash up of genres that's a 2.5D platformer. Card has said in the past that the game will focus on the Battle Room simulations that test tactical aptitude and be high on replayability.

Shadow Complex is also said to feature a unique twist on the Metroid-formula. It will feature familiar weapon and ability upgrades, including a jet pack for double jumps, a climbing kit for wall slides and a Bionic Commando style hookshot, but it's also a little deeper than the games it's been compared to.

According to what we were told by folks who had played the game, Shadow Complex takes advantage of the third dimension by offering interactive backgrounds. Players are said to be able to shoot into those backgrounds with the aide of a laser sight—controlled with the right thumbstick—to fend off enemies in a fashion described to Kotaku as a blend of Contra's side-scrolling and hallway style levels.

That mechanic was touted as an interesting addition to stock 2D shooter gameplay, but also lamented for its occasional awkwardness.

Shadow Complex sounds like it will follow the Metroid formula in offering new weapons, new areas to unlock and a progression that takes the main player from lowly combatant to super soldier.

We were told to expect more storytelling than your average 2D side-scroller, with cut scenes explaining why Battle Room combatants enter the titular complex on a rescue mission. Expect a sci-fi twist that fans of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game may already be familiar with to justify why you're there and what you're doing.

What we were told certainly jives with tidbits that Chair Entertainment and Orson Scott Card have dropped since the announcement that the two parties would be working together. We wouldn't be surprised to see Shadow Complex announced at E3 as an Xbox Live Arcade downloadable game, but we're still calling this all rumor for now.

Update: Looks like we got everything but the book the game is based on right. That has been corrected to Orson Scott Card's Empire, instead of his Ender's Game series.

The game is based on the sci-fi classic Ender's Game and is being developed by the Epic Games owned Chair Entertainment. Card previously has been working with Chair Entertainment on a game version of his novel, Empire This we knew.

Card, however, has grandiose plans for a Ender's gaming franchise, saying that the Ender's Game computer and video games "will not be mere tellings of the story, but rather true games with a high degree of replayability." Hrm, m'kay. Go on.

In other words, you don’t play the game once, so you can act out the story (as with, say, the Harry Potter movie-based games), and then discard it. The Ender’s Game games will immerse you in the experience of different aspects of the life of these kids who train together in order to fight the war. I can see a Battle School online game as well as a Battle Room game, various Formic War games, even the Mind Game (or Fantasy Game) that Ender plays relentlessly on his computer.

Just hope they do this straight-up and without any knowing wink-wink nudge-nudge stuff. Don't mind the wink-wink, but loathe the nudge-nudge.

Card Interview [Sci Fi Wire via Multiplayer] Pic]

The interview wraps up with some talk about the Ender's Game... game, which will focus completely on the battle room. Chair's goal is to make it as authentic as possible, though it will likely be a downloadable game. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad one.

"From the moment I started working with Donald Mustard and his team at Chair, I knew that these were the guys I wanted to do the first Ender's Game video game," said Card. "It's not enough to slap the Ender's Game name on just any game - it has to be exciting, memorable, and endlessly replayable. Chair shares my understanding of this and I am looking forward to working with them to ensure the game is as authentically Enderish as possible."

For those of you not familiar with the book, Ender's Game is the story of a young boy named Ender Wiggin, recruited along with other children as potential military commanders in the third and possibly final invasion of Earth by the insectoid 'buggers'. It is a must read for anyone even remotely interested in science fiction, but for those of you who have no plans to ever raise the book to your eyes, I will tell you how the engaging novel ends:

SPOILER ALERT!

Read the damn book already.

Chair plans on releasing titles across all viable platforms, with the earliest games being downloadable titles for an as-of-yet unannounced platform. As with all things Chair, the game will be crafted using Unreal Engine 3. It's also worth noting that the games will not be tied to the upcoming film, currently in production at Paramount, instead focusing on the 'virtual' Battle Room sequences from the novel where the meat of the action takes place.

Having interviewed both Donald and Geremy back in November for their Xbox Live Arcade title Undertow, I can safely say that there is no other team I could see working on an Ender's Game title. Commence geeking out completely in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... now.

Sci Fi Classic 'Ender's Game' To Be Powered by Unreal Engine 3 [WRAL.com]