Shadow Warrior is a remake/reboot/reimagining of a 1997 game starring Asian protagonist Lo Wang. It contains plenty of humor, including humor related to the surname Wang and ludicrous fortune cookies that are scattered around the diverse levels of the game. One of the funnier fortune cookies refers to love: “It is better to have loved and lost than to have had loved and gotten syphilis.” The story is centered on finding a powerful sword named Nobitsura Kage, a mythical sword that Zilla Enterprises, Lo Wang’s employer, is trying to track down. Lo Wang is accompanied by Hoji, a masked man who adds more humor to the game in cutscenes.
This game is a first-person shooter that begins with Wang handling a katana and learning to take on humans and demons with the katana. The katana is a sword that can be used for diverse attacks and is upgraded as you progress through the 17 chapters. There are lots of limbs cut off, including beheadings, arms, and legs. You will typically have to take on multiple enemies in indoor and outdoor environments and you will leave plenty of gibs behind. There will be the option to take on humans and demons with firearms such as Uzis, and a shotgun to be recovered from dead humans.
There is a nice upgrade system for powers, weapons, and skills. The powers include the ability to heal and defend yourself against attacks. The weapons can be upgraded so that they can be more effective against demons that will be more numerous and larger in size as you progress in the game. The skills are for improving sword skills, improving the ability to find more ammo and cash, and improving focus during combat. Later you will find a rocket launcher and a crossbow. The crossbow is very interesting once it’s upgraded, as its secondary function allows you to fire explosives at enemies.
The demons are quite diverse since they range in looks, speed, size, and strengths and weaknesses. Facing large demons like Warlords can be challenging, but the upgrade system makes them easier to handle. Facing a Warlord for the first time feels like a boss fight, but Warlords will appear more regularly as the game becomes more challenging. Facing a Necromancer also feels like a boss fight, but they also will appear more regularly. Necromancers make life difficult since they summon undead minions and the only way to stop the summoning of the undead is by killing the Necromancers. Defeating a Warlord provides you an opportunity to diversify your attacks by collecting his demon head. The demon head can be used like a laser to defeat enemies, but are best saved for the larger enemies. The use of diverse attacks with the sword, firearms, and demon heads is relevant because you will be rewarded with more karma. Karma can be used to upgrade your skills so that you can become more effective in combat.
The diversity of enemies, the upgrade system, and the diversity of attacks prevent this game from getting boring from start to finish. The environments are lush and beautiful with bamboo forest in the beginning chapters and buildings with elaborate Japanese architecture. The one problem I found with the each level/chapter is that the only guide to help you progress is the glowing doors. There is no map or other guide. Therefore, you may wander aimlessly trying to figure out where to go next. This can be especially troubling in a game with very open levels. The boss fights are fun and challenging, although they can feel a little repetitive. But there is still a feeling of accomplishment that comes with defeating them.
I found the mouse/keyboard controls responsive enough. However, double tapping a key to be followed by a left mouse click to heal yourself can be inaccurate since it can cause you to accidentally use a weapon’s secondary function. This can be most problematic when facing large numbers of enemies great and small or when facing a boss while desperately trying to heal.
If there is a remake/reboot of a video game that is modernized optimally and is fun to play, Shadow Warrior is definitely the game you can’t go wrong on. Flying Hog should be proud of its work reimagining an old-school FPS and turning into a satisfying piece of work. The early chapters of the game are a little exciting, but it is more exciting in the middle to later chapters. The middle to later chapters are more difficult, but the upgrade system becomes more fun to use and will make you more effective against the larger numbers and larger sizes of demons.