Posted on: November 28, 2016

Uberskunk

Games: 463 Reviews: 22

A Silly, Fun Time

Shadow Warrior (2013) is not exactly reminiscent of the original game but it is a good, solid effort at an FPS from a studio that's not necessarily AAA. The gameplay is fast and frenetic with most battles being an arena-style affair with enemies everywhere. If you're familiar with the 2016 edition of DOOM, the combat here is comparable. There is a bit of a drawback here in that the battles get repetitve as a result but they're still engaging enough. Although there are several different weapons, the sword is by far the best, the game is built around it and thanks to the available upgrades it remains a viable weapon throughout the entire game. You can perform special moves with it similarly to how you'd input a special move in a fighting game, and it is generally the most satisfying weapon to use (It also mutilates corpses real nice). The other guns have their uses but don't feel especially satisfying to use. Basically if you need a ranged attack, use one of the guns. The game's humor is hit and miss, sophomoric as you'd expect but doesn't commit to it enough to really hit that sweet spot of "so stupid it's brilliant." Level design is mostly linear with a few rooms off to the side here and there to explore for more items or secrets. You also aren't able to travel much outside of the scripted course with many invisible barriers keeping you from exploring much. The game is loaded with easter eggs and references to other games but it happens so often that it kind of cheapens the special feeling. The environments can be pretty beautiful and it's graphically impressive for a smaller studio. I'm running out of characters so I'll break it down: -Pros- Fast gameplay Great sword play Very breakable environment Lots of dismemberment Decent secrets and easter eggs 3 classes of upgradable stats -Cons- Repetitive Linear levels Boundaries not well marked, resulting in death Physics sometimes weird (DON'T dash down stairs) Maybe not $40 good but worth it if you get it on sale.

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Posted on: February 22, 2022

Darkaja

Games: 164 Reviews: 14

worth your time

Solid fps experience, enriched by collectibles, fun characters and gameplay. Story oddly clicked and has a major twist in the ending in terms of feelings. Absolutely worth the price.

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Posted on: May 21, 2022

IkatteiruPanda

Verified owner

Games: 179 Reviews: 19

Cyberpunk2077 should have this Swordplay

This is a solid FPS with very fun swordplay. I found the storyline very interesting, but the narration is a little bit disconnected to my taste. By the time I finally put all the pieces together I was really hooked and the ending did not disappoint me, in fact is kinda poetic. The main character Lo Wang steals the show with his funny one-liners that made me giggle more than once (whitout taking the player by the hand) and Hoji's jokes just hit the spot. Graphics are just serviceable, said that, I rember a couple very beautiful landscapes that made me stay still for a while. In the VERY positive side, it offers ultra-wide screen support, no drawbacks. Played on RTX2080 OC Super @ 3440x1440 120fps stable, all options maxed. Other good point is that I found no bugs, but be aware of killing all the enemies on each room because sometimes you'll get stuck if you fail to find and defeat them all.

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Posted on: September 22, 2024

Unfallen_Satan

Verified owner

Games: 606 Reviews: 78

Virtue and flaw in equal measure

To the point: 1. The swordplay is great with several skills that make the sword useful in different situations, including at range, but the gunplay is more situational, almost puzzle-like in their applications. 2. Multiple skills give Lo Wang more control over the battle, like CC and healing (the healing skill is especially good at keeping LW in prolonged fights), but skills are activated by double tapping the direction keys then pressing alternate fire. In a hectic firefight with guns upgraded with alternate fire, misfires are common. 3. The environment, especially the outdoor ones, can be gorgeous and even majestic, but there is very limited environmental story telling. 4. The story of the Ancients, told through stylish hand-drawn cutscenes, is surprisingly emotional and very Asian, but that story has very little to do with Lo Wang's rampage through the game. 5. The voice acting, especially Hoji's, and the music fit the setting well, but the dialogue/writing feels cringy, even more than the old Lo Wang, whose lecherous old man archetype is a long-running inside joke in Japanese culture. 6. There are in-game achievements with several that motivate the player to practice game mechanics, but some are only grindy with no apparent purpose to those achievement "points." Having played through Shadow Warrior Redux including both expansions, I found SW to sit at a unique place between old school shooters and tactical shooters. SW 2013 carries on this tradition admirably. The Ki skills let me safely draw out multi-wave fights even in relatively confined spaces. The different weapons and environmental designs almost always let me fight tactically even when all hell broke loose. The last mob fight of the game was especially rewarding, albeit tiring. If you are not used to this middle ground, however, you may find the pacing of the game off. To me, this game is an excellent reboot/prequel to Shadow Warrior Classic, but it could use some more work.

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Posted on: October 9, 2024

NOOBMASTER

Verified owner

Games: 157 Reviews: 3

Great for casual players, frustrating

Ok, it's not perfect. The boss fights especially can get frustrating when playing on harder difficulties. It's the same thing every time. You just kite the projectiles and boss attacks, in order to break their armor, and then you can deal damage to them. Rinse and repeat. What I like about this game is the story, voice acting, and the art style. Everything else is really repetitive or gets boring quickly. Katana is only a good weapon you are playing on easier difficulties, where you can use its special skills without being afraid of getting nuked by ranged attacks. The weapons have upgrades, sure, but other than that the skill progression is rather bland. Even looking for the secrets gets boring after a while, mainly because there are some places where you can out of map boundaries, but most of the cases it's just a bug / glitch. You are then either stuck and forced to die / load game, or the game just instantly kills you for leaving the boundaries, even if it is as easy as crouching and walking through a fence. When fighting, most of the time you are kiting monsters, in order to nuke one or two stronger ones, and only then can you start dealing with the less dangerous demons. And finally, the game's native version doesn't even run on modern systems,due to it being a 32-bit executable. Just use Proton Experimental from the first launch. There also something weird about aiming and shooting because if you just damage a few enemies on one side, and then use a powertful shot on the enemies on the other side, then you will get kills for those enemies that were already damaged. It's very strange, as if rewarding careless gameplay more than actual, precise shooting. Really, the only redeeming quality about this game is its story.

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