The Pac-mandibles are gritty in this upcoming project
Bandai Namco is looking to revitalize Pac-man for a new generation, or at least let it catch up to the gen that grew up with it in the Eighties. That endeavor can be seen in the Amazon Prime series Secret Level, which features a new take on the icon that’s dark and gritty. At the 2024 Game Awards, Bandai Namco surprise-announced based on this new animated version of the guy (or thing?) in its new game Shadow Labyrinth.
Let me tell you, fam, this is not what you were expecting.
Pac-man has almost always been an arcade experience where a pizza-shaped dude ate power pellets and chased ghosts, in a variety of evolutions. Sometimes he made it into a traditional platformer or 3D world, but always remained true to that clean, retro animation style. With Shadow Labyrinth the character now appears in a don’t-call-it-a-metroidvania game that’s set in a chaotic, dark world with weighty consequences. The game takes place right after the events of that Secret Level in which we control Swordsman No.8 in their trek through an alien world. The genre lends itself well to the Pac-mazes, and Bandai Namco says that it will also draw inspiration from some of its other arcade classics. HMMM!
Regardless, this unique take looks oddly intriguing because, well, WHY NOT? Why not give the character something new and fresh and a different approach? Because if it doesn’t work you just go right back to gobbling up cherries.
Shadow Labyrinth launches on Switch, PC, Xbox and PlayStation in 2025.
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