Kris Wall reviews Shadow Warrior…
Shadow Warrior bleeds old school gaming from every single pore, a reboot of a game of the same name from the late 90’s by 3D Realms. The original Shadow Warrior first appeared in 1997, a pretender to Duke Nukems crown, aping it’s style and terrible/brilliant one liners, while deemed something of a cult classic, it also courted controversy for straying too far into overly offensive stereotyping and some very near the knuckle racism, a relic from a time when developers thought they could be tongue in cheek but fell way short of the mark. The new Shadow Warrior comes to next gen courtesy of developer Flying Wild Hog and publisher Devolver Digital.
In Shadow Warrior, you play corporate shogun, Lo Wang (Get it), who is ordered by his employer to track down and acquire the legendary blade, the Nobitsura Kage. As is usually the way with these ancient mystical blades, it’s connected to powerful God’s from another realm and pretty soon after, all hell is breaking loose. Wang soon becomes bound to Hoji, a spirit that has been banished from the demon realm who informs him that the Nobitsura Kage is the only thing capable of slaying immortals. It’s worth noting that Hoji is also kind of an ass, the court jester and trickster of the demon world, but he’s intent on seeking revenge for his banishment which makes Wang the perfect, albeit mismatched, partner to realise that violent endgame.
Following this years absolutely superb Wolfenstein: The New Order and preceeding next years Doom reboot, Shadow Warrior is a largely successful remake, retaining everything that made the original a fun alternative to Duke Nukem while trimming all the fat that cast a morally dubious light over it. If you’ve come to Shadow Warrior expecting next gen thrills and spills, you’ve come to the wrong place. Shadow Warrior is from the old school of Doom, Wolfenstein and more recently Serious Sam, it’s just you and your wits versus the hordes of evil and that’s the gist of how deep it gets, the games wants you to have as much fun as possible without bogging you down in the unnecessary . As you’re rushing around destroying everything in sight, you’ll be privy to some funny interplay between Wang and his demon sidekick Hoji, think a kind of uber violent Superbad and you’ll be there. Wang himself is basically a walking penis joke, when he’s not answering his phone with the line ‘You got Wang’, he’s finding ways to, ahem, insert his name into a one liner or withering putdown. When we first meet him he’s singing along to Stan Bush’s ‘The Touch’. This is also a man that has named his home ‘The Wangcave’ and has built a lair beneath to house his comic book collection. What I didn’t expect was the surprising emotional beats the story hit that often seemed at ends with the kind of game Shadow Warrior is but was a very welcoming addition, adding a layer of depth to Wang and Hoji’s journey that I didn’t expect but thoroughly enjoyed. Make no mistake though, Shadow Warrior’s tongue is always planted firmly in its cheek.
Everything in Shadow Warrior is tuned for maxium chaos, Lo Wang has clearly been reading from Arnie’s handbook and fixated on the line ‘If it bleeds, we can kill it’ and everything here bleeds and everything here can and will be killed, and there will be blood, buckets and buckets of the stuff, geysers spraying all over the place as bodies are blown apart, sliced to bits, eviscerated and torn asunder. Everything around Lo Wang from vending machines to cars to crates of fireworks explode with the fury of a thousand suns, sometimes the chaos on screen is completely blinding but at no point does the game engine falter and break a sweat while it’s all happening.
Shadow Warrior doesn’t look particularly next gen but it runs at a lightning quick 60FPS throughout. Initially the speed at which you can get around is slightly jarring but it soon becomes second nature and you’ll need every ounce of speed and agility to evade the hordes of demons and monsters that will swarm you. Character models can seem quite basic outside of the colossal bosses that you’ll occasionally come up against but given that there’s so many of them onscreen at once swarming you, it’s not something you’ll really have time to pay attention to.
The game does a superb job of making you feel like a walking death dealer. Wang’s main weapon is his katana blade which will slice through your enemies like hot butter leaving body parts lying all over the place. On your travels you’ll also have access to revolvers, machine guns, crossbows, shotguns and rocket launchers. You can also have access to magic and can enter combo style commands into the controller to unleash all manner of vi0lent and visceral moves with your katana to cut the beasts of hell down to size. If there’s an issue with Shadow Warriors arsenal it’s that the guns feel slightly weak and you’ll regularly find yourself going back to your katana to cut a path through your enemies. Throwing shurikens just feels like you’re annoying monsters rather than causing them harm. Having said that though, flicking between your sword, guns and magic powers is effortless and makes each battle a thrilling encounter.
There’s a surprising amount to collect, upgrade and modify in Shadow Warrior. Every demon killed grants you karma while money and Ki crystals can be found around levels. Each fight awards points for the many different ways you can kill your enemies (Think Bulletstorm but not as in depth) so it really pays to experiment between all of your weapons and powers to max out your earnings. Guns can be modified with explosive bolts for your crossbow, dual machine guns and extra barrels for your shotgun and if there’s one thing that most games need, it’s a four barreled shotgun. Wang himself can be upgraded with special moves, magical and healing powers and extra abilities like strike damage, money looting bonuses and the ability to overcharge your health. Not essential to Wang’s journey but always fun to seek out are the fortune cookies which deal in amusingly offensive wisdom, with ‘Light travels faster than sound which is why some people look good until they open their mouths’ being my favorite gem so far.
Given its old school roots, Shadow Warrior also falls into old school trapping with levels not really being clear, without the aid of a map it can be sometimes unclear and confusing where you’re meant to be heading, cue running in circles for 10 minutes while you try to locate the only door you haven’t tried to open that’s been hidden away down corridors and pathways that look exactly like the ones you’ve already searched 10 times or more. It’s by no means a deal breaker but it can cause some frustrating downtime in what is otherwise an incredibly fast paced game.
If Shadow Warrior was a £15-£20 downloadable title, I’d have absolutely no hesitation in singing its praises from the rooftops but it isn’t, it costs £30 or over and is about to go up against Advanced Warfare and Far Cry 4 and with those on the horizon, it’s a little more difficult to sell Shadow Warrior to anyone who doesn’t have money to burn and is looking for a good time, which is a shame as Shadow Warrior is a hell of a lot fun and deserves to find a good audience. If you’re looking for something that is pure entertainment from start to finish, Shadow Warrior is an exhilarating blast from the past.
Pros:
Great fun to play
Effortlessly makes you feel powerful
Amusing interplay between Wang and Hoji
Surprising emotional beats in the story
Lots to upgrade, modify and collect
Cons:
Intrusive load screens and long load times
Guns can feel slightly weak at time
Maps can be a bit confusing
Bit too expensive to really stand out
Rating: 7.5/10.
Kris Wall
Originally published October 26, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
