Shadow Warrior – How I learned to love swordplay in a shooter
Shadow Warrior has returned from that seemingly endless well of video game nostalgia that is the 1990s. As a game that remakes or reboots an older title, Shadow Warrior comes on the heels of both fantastic as well as utterly dismal attempts at recapturing those glory days of FPS gaming. Yet again, I could not resist that siren song from days gone by and had to pick up a copy to see for myself what Flying Wild Hog and Devolver Digital were able to do with a beloved 3D Realms title. As with others, the idea was to take the essence of an old FPS and translate it into a modern gaming experience. Would Lo Wang bring honor to the memory of his past or seppuku inducing disgrace upon all of their houses for generations to come?
Who wants some Wang?
Shadow Warrior back in 1996 was able to cash in on the success of Duke Nukem 3D by bringing an entirely new experience to players while continuing to hit those same notes that gamers of the time wanted. Lo Wang was constantly spouting one-liners in the same crude vein as Duke while reducing enemies to piles of gibs. Of course, the backlash against Duke Nukem Forever made it pretty clear that times have changed and so have the tastes of gaming audiences. And so Lo Wang is re-imagined as a younger, comic book loving assassin that runs around with a snarky demon named Hoji. While there is still some amount of crude humor (and a bottomless supply of Wang jokes), much of the actual swearing tends to happen while taking damage in combat. Most of the humor in this bizarre, demon-laden buddy film of a game comes from the interactions of Lo and Hoji. That and the plethora of fortune cookies that can be found sitting out and going stale in the weirdest places. Sure, they can be used to regain 5 health, but it’s really all about the fortunes that show up when you use them.
Not entirely a shooter
One of the most interesting aspects of this new Shadow Warrior is the fluidity and fun that go along with melee combat. Lo Wang slices, dices, and makes julienne fries! Seriously though, I tend to rely almost solely on my katana and then I remember that I have 8 other weapons to choose from. I usually hate when games try to shoehorn in melee combat where it really doesn’t belong. Something about the button press sequence needed to initiate a technique gives it a more visceral feeling than blithely charging forward and pressing a mouse button to swing. There is a good deal of that in my play style anyway, but the variety and options of attacks with the sword works quite well.
Shadow Warrior uses an upgrade system to improve the katana techniques as well as every other weapon and a number of additional skills. Thankfully the upgrades are split into three categories with their own currency so that you never end up having to choose between a passive power, a new ki technique, or a weapon upgrade. The best part for me was that awesome detail of making weapon upgrades have an actual visual reflection. I loved that so much in the Bioshock games and I’m thrilled to see it in Shadow Warrior as well.
The path of blood
Of course this is an FPS at its core and that means killing a lot of guys. In this case wiping the floor with a brood of nasty demons. There is a clear division between areas of exploration and areas that are designed to make you face a horde of baddies. It gets to the point that every large open area comes complete with a foreboding sense of doom. Half the time I stop before stepping in to reload all of my weapons and prep a sword ability. Turns out that using too many dark powers enrages enemies. Sometimes the best option is to splatter them with your shotgun. Your four-barreled shotgun. All at once. Guaranteed to turn all lesser demons into a fine red mist! For Lo Wang, killing is its own reward. Well demon parts are actually the reward. Hearts, heads, and spirits to be specific. Dismemberment is a regular occurrence during game play and the gibs fly like you wouldn’t believe.
Overall, my only complaint is that there can sometimes be a bit too much of a lull in combat while you roam from area to area especially if you’re trying really hard to get to that secret area you can glimpse through a window. Otherwise, Shadow Warrior is freaking fantastic. It hits all the points that I want out of a reboot of an old franchise: old tropes (like the horny bunnies), secret areas using graphics from the original, and scoreboards in between levels so that you can agonize over missing a secret somewhere along the way. Throw in some plugs for other Devolver Digital titles in the form of posters and arcade machines, Lo Wang singing along to “The Touch”, as well as the most ridiculous cross promotion ever and you really can’t go wrong. The cross promotion, if you aren’t aware, is the inclusion of the “Penetrator” if you also happen to own Saints Row IV on the same Steam account. Now go get a katana and some shuriken and slay some demons!
