Reviving a 2.5D shooter franchise into the modern day is difficult. Making a comedic game with humor that doesn’t get stale is even more difficult. SHADOW WARRIOR, a remake of 3D Realms DUKE NUKEM 3D protege, manages to succeed where other remakes have failed.
Both the gameplay and premise are simple enough to quickly grasp.
Play-wise, it’s similar to Flying Wild Hog’s HARD RESET and other strafe and shoot games like SERIOUS SAM and PAINKILLER. Rather than your ducking for cover and waiting to restore health like so many other games, SHADOW WARRIOR has the classic run and gun affair with a variety of weapons and plenty of sword play.
Just like the gameplay itself, the story is a modern update of the classic FPS genre. You play Lo Wang, a ninja-like mercenary who must deliver a mystical sword to his employer, Zilla. Suffice to say you’ll know where most of the twist and turns are headed.
With that being said, there’s a surprising amount of depth to be found with SHADOW WARRIOR.
Most of this is due to the wide variety found in both enemies and weapons. Like HARD RESET, SHADOW WARRIOR makes the most of its AI, with each enemy having its own style and attack method. This helps keep each encounter feeling fresh and keeps you on your feet, even during the later levels. Flying Wild Hog has also kept their reputation for making unique weapons. From crossbow to flamethrower, each weapon is extremely different, allowing the players to develop a unique strategy for each gunfight.
However, SHADOW WARRIOR’S greatest strength is hands down the katana. Unlike many other games (including the original SHADOW WARRIOR), where melee is a dreaded last resort option, the katana here is often the best choice of getting through a horde of enemies. Hit detection is smooth, and despite the sometimes frantic pace, it never feels like a complete button-mashing session.
On top of it all, there are plenty of upgrades and easy-to-use special sword moves and powers.
This isn’t a deep story, as you’d probably expect judging off of the title. Regardless, the story uses modern storytelling tricks on an old school video game premise, making it light years ahead of Flying Wild Hog’s much less coherent HARD RESET. From the opening, when Lo Wang sings Stan Bush’s THE TOUCH while driving an 80s Porsche, I knew it was going to be a humorous tale with plenty of pop culture references. What I didn’t expect, however, was a sidekick… that I actually enjoyed.
Hoji has all of the traits of a standard comedic sidekick. He’s a smartass who does very little other than advising and making snide remarks. The difference between him and so many other sidekicks is that Hoji is actually funny, giving much needed dialogue and banter as you slash your way through the levels. And near the end, his story gets revealed, giving him some character development.
If there’s one major letdown to the game, it’s the boss battles. Unlike the numerous waves and larger size demons you encounter throughout the levels, the bosses here tend to be predictable and dull affairs. If everything else in SHADOW WARRIOR was about turning the 90s FPS genre upside down and making something completely engaging, the boss battles are ripped page for page from the standard video game handbook.
You know you’re onto a good game when you’re desperately spending minutes trying to find other flaws to point out, but you can’t. Sure, there’s plenty to nitpick: corny jokes, long loading times, occasionally unfair fights towards the end, and confusing areas certainly abound in SHADOW WARRIOR. But the beautiful graphics, gory mix of shoot ‘em up with hack ‘n slash, and creative story telling outweigh the flaws, making it a breath of fresh air for the FPS genre.
RELEASE DATE: September 26th, 2013
PUBLISHER: Devolver Digital
DEVELOPER: Flying Wild Hog
RATING: M
May 1, 2014 By Andrew Hudson