Shadow Warrior (2013)

Shadow Warrior is a prime example of how to take an old game and polish it up to have enough of the old in it to appeal to the nostalgia while having tons of new things to play with in the remake. Visuals are fantastic, with Asian architecture providing a nice change of pace from the classic Western City / Jungle / Derelict Ship in an FPS, and though the demons look bland, killing them is as much a riot as you can imagine. The worst complaints I have regarding this game are: Wang will actually constantly loop in one liners (the devs seemed to have spent more time writing (awesome) fortune cookie fortunes in the collectibles than Wang's jokes). The gunplay doesn't feel quite natural, especially regarding ironsight. The soundtrack is generic orchestral, not eliciting a sense of badassery, nor taking any Asian stylings inspiration for that matter. And the biggest one: Sometimes, levels have no indicator of where you're supposed to go: I've spent an hour in one section o the level finding only secrets, but never the actual path to continue. Which is weird, because the levels are actually very linear. Other than that, everything else is fantastic, between a limited but versitile set of skills and magic, and the ability to simultaneously shoot your weapons as well as cast spells at the same time with a little dexterity. Wang, despite his voice actor being a tad grating, is a great anti-hero, the sword play is really fun, and the enemies and encounters are varied.

Title explains itself. Take notes, other developers: THIS is how you made a really good reboot of an oldie goldie. Someone said this Lo Wang is more boring...I'll just state that it's maybe a little less hard-boiled than the original, but really funny nonetheless, and I believe you'll love Wang-Hoji barter, like I did. That said, it's a very solid FPS, with good weapons and a great sword mechanic. Lo Wang's katana will be your best friend, 'cause it'll come with some great superpowers that can make the difference between life and death. Secrets, achievements, fortune cookies...it's all there for you to take! The plot...maybe some old school fanatics will blame me for blasphemy, but IMHO, plot in this one is EVEN BETTER than the original SW. The latter was a simple revenge tale, but this reboot has something more in it. Nothing groundbreaking, but a decent and even touching plot, with good cutscenes and dialogue to clarify it. I bought it at about 3 euros, and let me say it: I really couldn't have asked for better. As cheap as a McDonald's cheeseburger, and way too healthy!

What a game! On the one hand, "Shadow Warrior" is a modern shooter the way it should be done - nice graphics, explosive environments, a decent set of weapons, even some of that upgrading and levelling games can't seem to go without these days, but it's not too much. On the other hand, "Shadow Warrior" turns you into a superhero, or, well, into Deadpool. Lo Wang (!) is a katana-wielding comicbook-collecting mercenary with a snarky sense of humour, magical healing abilities (among others) and a voice in his head. The game is rich in meta-jokes about video games in general and "Shadow Warrior" in particular, both the original and this version ("I was hoping for a more clichéd setting"). I had an absolute blast playing this, and that's what counts. Playing through the storyline on "Normal" (which was actually pretty easy) took me around 11 hours, and there are both a "Nightmare" mode and tons of secrets to find, so there should be some replay value too.

In short, it's just meh. The good: The visuals and level design are just gorgeous. The towns look like something I would dream to live in, and the bamboo forests are just plain pure gold. The swordplay elements are nice and fun, and the ability to play exclusively with a sword, is something the original never could do. Music is great, and sound design in general is solid. The Bad: Lo Wang is just ruined, awful beyond words. Instead of being the charming funny pervy old grandpa samurai with pad puns, he has been turned into No-More-Heroes' protagonist's retarded cousin, a snotty comic-book-nerd brat who lives in a *mansion with a bat-cave*. He is just plain plain awful to listen to, but the goddamn mr. vanilla-ghost is even worse, he is even less funny and even after this short of time, he sounds really dated, like, when you are watching some 80's high school teenage movie, makes me wanna punch the screen in. They also ruined the fortune cookie puns, and even added quotes from some random "SUPER-FUNNY-PEOPLE". Also all the combat is for some reason taken from serious sam, you'll have arenas with spawning waves and flying harpies en mass. In short, I would recommend trying it if you can get for like 5-10€/$, it is not worth the full price, sorry.

This is a fast-paced shooter where you need to constantly be on the move. The action takes place in ARENA like areas, similar to those found in Doom 2016, Painkiller, Bioshock Infinite. Enemies are diverse and require you to change your playstyle when engaging them. Some of the abilities employed by the enemies include: hovering in the air, using shields, turning invisible, resurrecting fallen comrades or having only one weak point on its back. Just like in old-school shooters you’re allowed to carry an arsenal of weapons, with the most FUN being the SWORD. You also get access to 3 upgrade trees: first is for your weapons, second is for your skills (move faster, hit harder), third is for your magical spells (heal yourself, stun enemies). Game takes a long time to complete, though be warned that combat encounters can become repetitive. That’s why it’s best to not play it for long periods. Also, be aware that level design is very linear. Being able to MANUALLY SAVE your progress is something I always appreciate in a game and Shadow Warrior delivers. On a final note, be sure to play the DirectX 11 version, as that’s the better looking one.