Shadow Warrior 3 – Review
In the gaming industry, the term “Boomer Shooter” is a beloved one. It evokes a sense of a bygone era, characterised by a lack of ADS and a floaty, fast movement style. It is unfortunate that Shadow Warrior 3 relies on both the best and most dated aspects of the genre.
After unleashing a dragon on the world in the second game, Lo Wang is left depressed, alone, and on the verge of a mental breakdown. You have to live through his failure to take down the dragon and learn your moves, weapons, and abilities as you go through a fantastic tutorial. The stakes are immediately raised, and the action doesn’t let up until four hours later, when the game comes to a close.
Shadow Warrior’s gameplay may be the best it’s ever been, capturing the essence of what gamers enjoy about the series. Both physically and visually, Lo’s guns pack a powerful punch. At any given moment, he can switch between weapons and leap from one platform to another.
Shadow Warrior 3 has an arcade rail shooter vibe to it. You’re constantly scrolling through a slideshow of set pieces, only stopping to look at the video you just recorded. In the first hour or so, you’ll get a clear sense of why these shooters are so popular: they’re fun to play and entertaining to watch.
Although the writing and storey are meant to help, they actually make things worse. While Lo Wang is still using one-liners from bad 1990s video games, there is no real room for a well-thought-out plot. As a result, Shadow Warrior finds itself torn between the desire to create a modern game and the insistence on maintaining the game’s identity, which becomes a problem when the game’s identity has always been a stereotype. When the source material is as shallow as a yokai-infested puddle, it’s difficult to make something deeper.
It’s not a problem for a game to be simple. However, if done correctly, even the most basic stories can still be interesting or thought-provoking for the viewer. Shadow Warrior 3, on the other hand, appears reluctant to grow into the shoes it has already outgrown. That Lo’s voice actor was replaced by an East Asian-sounding actor was clearly a deliberate choice. However, it doesn’t go far enough, and it always feels like it’s going in the wrong direction. It’s important for a franchise to grow, but this feels like a cheap marketing ploy.
There are so many pre-established storey beats you can probably guess the entire plot in just five minutes or so of gameplay. Although I didn’t expect a grand epic from Shadow Warrior 3, this is clearly the worst storey in the current trilogy. Despite the fact that this isn’t a very high bar.
Shadow Warrior 3’s presentation and gameplay will be your only saviour if the storyline fails to hold your attention. It’s a good thing that it looks so good. The film’s visuals have a distinct sheen to them, which is likely to draw your attention to the grisly details on screen. The gore in Shadow Warrior 3 has a certain beauty to it, and the game acknowledges this. The first twenty minutes or so of my performance were a little choppy, but it quickly levelled out and became a very smooth experience.
Shadow Warrior 3’s new traversal mechanics enhance the enjoyment of the game’s set pieces even further. You can zip between arenas using a grappling hook, and environmental hazards can be used to quickly take out your opponents. Combat with these two characters is a joy to behold. In addition, you can constantly improve your arsenal by acquiring new items and completing challenges, which encourages you to explore and discover new weapons and abilities. Using only a few of the game’s most important weapons and abilities, I was able to put them to the test and complete every challenge.
The final section of the game is a tedious slog because of the lack of progression, environmental hazards, and interesting arenas. A finisher is used on every enemy type in the game to allow you to take over their weapons, allowing you to progress through the game. You’ll be itching to take on new foes after mastering this move in general combat. Aside from the fact that you’ve seen all of their mechanics, the game feels like a slow-motion boss rush at the end because it doesn’t offer anything new.
Punchy weapons and sounds of ripping flesh are featured in the sound design, which is both gruesome and visceral. Using finishers on special enemy types may be the best way to get the most out of this. To murder their friends, you must take weapons from inside their bodies, which is just as brutal as it sounds. I wish the rest of the game took inspiration from Shadow Warrior 3’s creative use of enemies and environments. It’s got a great look, and the weapons feel well thought out, but the world is much more hollow than the cutscenes would have you believe.
Exploring the world is no different. Even though it appears to be part of a larger puzzle, the world is never able to catch up to it. It’s a good way to relax your mind, but you should probably avoid most of the dialogue.
Even though Shadow Warrior 3 is only a few hours long, it failed to hold my attention the entire time. A steady stream of new features and upgrades greeted me for the first hour or so. However a lack of variety in gameplay and weak upgrade schemes quickly turned me off.
