There is a lot of competition for FPS games, and this one is good enough to stand out in the crowd. Definately worthwhile.
However, there is no way around the fact that Red Steel 2 for nintendo Wii have all the same concepts as this one, and execute them much better.
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.
Decent graphics despite age, good sound and music, beautiful level design and variety of weapons from ranged to melee using katana. Game also has bunch of fun and hilarious references to various things, humor is often pretty dark and I really like the upgrading which gives game somewhat RPG-ish feel, but what really absolutely killed the fun for me was the grind. Like 1/3 into the game when big enemies roll in, combat just becomes such absolute dreadful and annoying grind just because enemies become such horrible bullet and sword cut sponges the game doesn't even become hard as it becomes annoying as hell as you're just running in circles, charging most powerful katana charge and jabbing them in the face for half an hour, every combat encounter. Or plant nukes at their face. And it doesn't change later when you upgrade yourself all out on damage. Which means every fighting segment you get into is a dragging like a crippled snail and just becomes so annoying I'm basically playing the game just to finish it and be over with it. It's a shame because the game looked promising and exciting in the beginning and then just lost all the appeal because of annoying design and gameplay decisions, primarily around combat. And while they at least tried to make melee combat fresh and something different, double tapping directional keys like a lunatic gets really super annoying. Especially when Sprint key is getting stuck and you want to charge up a KI power just to prepare a regular katana attack instead. Or not heal because game thinks you're still holding Sprint key. This wasn't happening in the beginning of the game and it's making everything double annoying.
It's a shame they ruined what looked like an excellent game on silly technicalities.
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.
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.