I was a huge fan of the original Shadow Warrior, I remember paying a kid $50 at my school to buy it for me, since there is no way my parents would have done so. I played it over and over again, loving every minute... ...but this isn't that game. The Lo Wang of this game is annoying, not funny, and kindof weak in comparison. The humor sucks, they discarded what made the original game so entertaining and enjoyable. Yes, it was racist and sexist, but that's not what I'm talking about. They could have made this game funny, without those aspects, but they failed. I'm ok with change, but only if it means improvement or at least staying the same. In this case, it was neither. The gameplay is pretty fun for the first half of the game, then you realize you are fighting the same fights over and over again and it gets dull. The katana is enjoyable to use and is probably one of the best aspects of the game, with the sword combat being some of the best in any game I've played. The guns are OK as well, but nothing groundbreaking here. If the game didn't have the katana, then this would easily be a flop. I have to be honest, I'm not a fan of Hard Reset. I found the game repetitive and dull, I barely got 2 hours out of it before I realized I was propping my eyelids open. If you were like me, you'll probably get more time out of this game, but find it suffers from the same faults. If you liked Hard Reset, then maybe this game would be more tolerable. If you have not played the original Shadow Warrior, I'd say this game is a three star game, mainly because it gets old after the first half of the game and the dull humor. The katana and swordplay is by far what saves this game. If you played the original, then go in with the expectation this is SW in name only. I'll reiterate that I'm not a grumpy old fart that doesn't like change. I'm ok with positive changes and I was stoked to see this coming out, but they fell short of expectations, whether this was SW or another title.
This game is awesome. I still make Lo Wang jokes with friends from school when it came out.
I'm not usually a fan of tower defense titles, but I really enjoyed this game. The addition of the RPG elements and good storyline make it enjoyable to play, the music is also good. Sure it's not super deep, but I don't really think that was the goal. For me, this game fits into a similar play-time category as FTL. They are completely different games, but they are both titles that I can play when I have a few minutes here and there to play a game and not require a massive commitment. My only complaint is that it requires AIR. I'd like to see an AIR-less build as proposed by Lars.
