Shadow Warrior

Fun and funny.

Bardzo dobra gra z wciągającą fabułą, dobrą oprawą graficzną i świetną rozrywką. Walki są dynamiczne i szybkie, a gracz ma do dyspozycji szeroki wybór broni i umiejętności. 10/10

Shadow Warrior 2013 is a first-person shooter and ninja sword fighting reboot of the 1997 game which could be described as an “Asian Duke Nukem”. The main character, Lo Wang, has accepted a well-paid contract by a Japanese mafia boss to buy a sword from another head of a crime organisation. Just a few minutes in to the game, all hell breaks loose and the beautiful scenery is flooded with demons. Lo Wang continues his quest for the item and runs into a lot of trouble, fighting his way through varied levels as well as hordes of enemies. Just to give you a heads-up: if you liked the game, be sure to also play the extra “Viscera Cleanup Detail – Shadow Warrior”. After about 13 hours in a completionist approach, here’s my pros/cons list: Disclaimer: the game deliberately makes use of stereotypes and thus spoofing itself. Pros: ++ amazing level design + scenery and environmental detail + great graphics for a game from 2013 + game engine running super smooth + funny and cool opening scenes + great soundtrack + environment sounds + sound effects in general well done + fast-paced shooting and melee + combat system well-balanced and working damn good even on PC + variety of firearms + great hack & slay from within enemy hordes + sword combat is well implemented + humour in the first third of the game + weapon & skills upgrade system + looting for weapon upgrades + secrets and old-school references hidden in nearly every level + combos from console well ported to PC + funny characters (especially Hoji who is a bit like the Viking legend of Loki) + crazy enemy types + interesting background of Hoji, unfortunately only revealed at the very end Cons: - Repetitive bamboo forest sections - Some clipping errors, especially noticeable in the jump-and-run sections - Lots of invisible barriers typical for console games - Long time missing clues / explanations of what’s actually going on, got me questioning if this is just a dream or metaphor or if the developers meant it seriously - Although good fun, combat does get repetitive in 2nd half of the game - Sound track also becomes repetitive after a while - Chapter 13 feels super stretched - Mostly arena battles, over and over again - Overall shallow story unfortunately - In the latter 2/3 of the game, the humour and dialogues are way less funny - A chapter and level checkpoint selection would have been great for finishing collectibles Conclusion: Shadow Warrior is great fun if you like hack & slay combined with a level up system as well as a variety of guns to mow your way through hordes of enemies in a beautiful, varied setting. It does get repetitive over time and the story is rather shallow, despite the latter having more potential. Rating: 7/10 points