Shadow Warrior (2013)

It strikes me as amusing to no end just how much better Shadow Warrior 2013 is compared to any of the "Triple-A" First Person Shooters released in the past decade. The humour is playful and intelligent (yes, even though there's a big pile of dick jokes), the story is well crafted and writing is punchy, and the gameplay is quite enjoyable. This modern remake takes a more sophisticated approach to humour than the original, but includes plenty of throwbacks and references to the past. The best jokes come from the 'sidekick' Hoji as he remarks upon Lo Wang's failures. It's so incredibly refreshing to see a protagonist who is the butt to most of the jokes, which simultaneously explains away many of the video game tropes which would plague the storyline otherwise. The final cutscene ties it all together very nicely, explaining why irreverence is such an important theme to the plot. Combat is fast, furious, and full of frustration. However, overcoming that frustration is very satisfying, and it never got so overwhelmed as to urge me to quit. My biggest complaint is that the combat grading system's expectations aren't very clear. Overall I would like to see more games made with this attention to detail and respect for the audience. I look forward to Wild Hog's next work!

I was a little concerned that it would get nerfed but did think Flying Wild Hog was a team up to it given their work in Hard Reset (old school gameplay). So far so very good and well worth the price. Well done guys.

This game goes beyond the stupid shooter level without becoming weighed down by it's customization system. I was a bit worried when I saw skill-trees, but soon discovered that the ease and fluidity of the controls ensures that this game is a romp; a shiny, lighthearted, bloody romp. It strikes a great balance between complexity and casual shooting fun. You're rewarded for exploring the beautiful levels, and the dialogue and story are much more entertaining than they had to be. Flying Wild Hog- A team that knows how to give you an old-school shooter in a shiny new package. I hope games like this and Hard Reset continue to come from these guys. Devolver- Experts in addictive carnage and clever presentation. A pluses all around, gents.

While I realize that comparison to the original Shadow Warrior are inevitable, I think it might be a little bit unfair. Granted, it's a reboot of that title, but the original is old enough to drive. In terms of gaming generations, it's a great, great grandparent. One of the reasons that I think Duke Nukem Forever was such a disappointment, aside from the years and years of promises and hype, was that it was trying to pick up where it left off, just with a shiny new coat of paint. It didn't work. This reboot takes the original license and puts on its grown-up pants. There's still plenty of mindless, visceral violence, amusing one-liners, and fun bits thrown in, and it still follows the old-school linear FPS formula, but it throws in power and weapon upgrades, achievements, and so on. It does the reboot right, in my opinion. It can get a bit repetitive at times -- but then so did the original. I think Flying Wild Hog did a fine job here and given me a game I loved when it first game out and always wondered what it would be like if it was created today. Now I know, and it's still great.

An overall good game of the "old-school" design. It has its frustrations and isn't a genre defining classic or anything, but it's a fun time for a while. Pros: +Good voice acting. It's cringey, foul, and juvenile at times, but of good quality. +Runs good on modern systems. Ran natively in ultrawide resolution on my screen. +Lots of weapons. +Interesting level-up system for Lo Wang and upgrades for your weapons. +Fairly sizable levels that stay interesting despite being linear. +A few epic boss fights with huge bosses. +Surprisingly interesting story line. Cons: -Despite there being plenty of weapons, most of them feel a little unspectacular. Not bad; just unimpressive. -Too many ridiculous arena fights. Especially later in the game after it has run out of new enemies, it will just throw wave after wave of every enemy in the game at you before letting you proceed. It's a time waster and artificial difficulty spike. -Speaking of time wasters, the game lasts a bit too long. I spent 13 hours beating it and I was ready for it to end after 8-10 hours. -Ending is a bit anticlimactic. Maybe they're saving something for the sequel. It ran mostly stable; I think I had one crash to desktop. Also, the ending cutscene was unintentionally funny since Lo Wang's head wasn't rendered; only a set of floating eyes and teeth. This isn't the kind of game that I'll ever go back and play a second time through. But I did enjoy my time with it for the most part and I'm looking forward to playing Shadow Warrior 2 after a little break. I recommend it on sale or for fans of old-school style shooters.