There are very few things that Shadow Warrior does well. The level design can be very confusing and incredibly repetitive, with plenty of backtracking; the story has very little value to it; and the game is a glitchy mess at times. But there is no denying that Shadow Warrior features the best swordplay I’ve experienced in a first-person shooter.
The video game industry has seen a few games try to nail that feel of wielding an incredibly sharp katana, but it does feels like a feature tacked on at the end. Swordplay is incredibly important in Shadow Warrior as the main character, Lo Wang, is a highly skilled ninja. The swordplay in Shadow Warrior works well because of the fluidity between strikes and the crazy ways you get to dismember the demons trying to take you down. For those that do not like watching limbs and heads fly all over the place, you may want to stay clear. But for the rest, get ready for mayhem.
You will be presented with plenty of enemies to disperse of throughout the 17 chapters, with every chapter averaging about 150 enemies to disperse of. Each chapter takes about 30 minutes to complete, so you’re looking at an eight hour game. But after the first few chapters, the game starts to get very repetitive, with objectives carrying over from previous chapters. The first four chapters have the same objective throughout the 30 minute level. It is really interesting game design that makes you scratch your head sometimes.
As Shadow Warrior is a reboot of a ’90s shooter, it tries to bring that feeling of old shooters to the modern era. A big problem with this approach is the game features many outdated mechanics, like poor level design that makes you walk around aimlessly until you find a glowing yellow door that leads you to the next area. It also features backtracking like nobody’s business. One chapter was a map that consisted of around five rooms, and the game made you run through each room over three times fighting enemies. You sometimes feel annoyed when the combat music kicks in, knowing that you’ll be dispatching of dozens of enemies in the next few seconds. But then you pull out the awesome katana, and start hacking away.
In addition to the katana, Wang can carry guns and other weapons. They become useful in later chapters when the enemies become larger than life. The gunplay is mediocre for a first-person shooter. Some weapons will feature an alternate firing mode, like the crossbow can shoot grenade tipped arrows, or you can dual wield sub-machine guns. These alternate firing modes, plus other weapon upgrades, can be purchased using cash that you find strewn throughout the maps.
In addition to weapon upgrades, Wang can unlock abilities using Karma and Ki Crystals. Karma is obtained through battle, with you gaining more Karma based on your performance in a battle. Karma can be used to purchase new skills for Wang, like better health, and new sword techniques. Ki Crystals can be used to purchase Ki powers, like healing yourself in battle, or knocking enemies down. I found these abilities to be useful in battle, but I also felt so overwhelmed at times that I would resort to just mashing on the left mouse button to swing my sword over and over. Plus some of the key combinations to activate these powers can be a bit tricky. The healing Ki power became very useful as the game progressed.
This may be a result of poor game design, or developer Flying Wild Hog on wanting to make the game feel like a ’90s shooter, but the enemy AI could use some improvement in Shadow Warrior. For a majority of the game you are mainly facing off against demons, which the AI part can be excusable, but it is still really noticeable when their two moves are run at you, and roll to the side. As the game progresses and enemies become harder, there is very little strategy to taking down the large enemies other than hack away and heal yourself as necessary.
While Shadow Warrior has its problems, there is no excuse for a glitch that made me turn off the game in anger. Apparently if you use the dash mechanic while standing on stairs, Wang will die instantly. This happened to me with full health and no enemies in sight. It is a very frustrating glitch that has zero reason to be in the game.
The visuals in Shadow Warrior is actually one of the better things about the game. Those that have a power gaming PC can expect some great high-res textures and some awesome looking environments. There are some neat effects at play in Shadow Warrior, which makes the scenery that more enjoyable.
Shadow Warrior isn’t a bad game, even though it may sound like it from this review. I did find a majority of my time with the game enjoyable. It does become incredibly repetitive, and some poor design choices glaringly stand out. But for those looking for a game with awesome swordplay, look no further than Shadow Warrior.
Score: 7.5/10
Shadow Warrior was developed by Flying Wild Hog and published by Devolver Digital for the PC on September 26th. A copy of the game was provided to us by Devolver Digital for reviewing purposes.
