![]() ![]() As I mentioned before, there’s not much in the way of collectibles, since exploration is non-existent, plus 90% of achievements are unlocked through normal play without even trying, so most players won’t feel the need to revisit Shadow Warrior 3 anytime soon. There’s no horde nor survival mode to be found (and believe me, they’d be easy to implement), and post-launch plans are unknown at this point. Much like its platforming, the gunplay and wisecracking characters deserved a more unique package, or at the very least… one that had more to offer after the credits rolled only six hours in. With plenty of indie devs looking at the big franchises for inspiration, but then working out their own mix of ingredients, Lo Wang’s third modern outing feels like a game that’s trying to please FPS enthusiasts by being the lesser version of a game that, quite honestly, only id Software could pull off in the way they did. And despite all that, it’s hard to make a case about why you should play Shadow Warrior 3 instead of the many amazing neo-boomer shooters out there. I love its gunplay the enemies are quite creative “gore weapons” are a great twist on DOOM‘s glory kills and the game’s final hour packs the most intense (linear) action I’ve experienced recently. ![]() But I felt like I was playing on autopilot - as the game passed the first-hour mark, I had already seen everything it had to offer, and only the locations and mix of enemies were changing. I enjoyed the hell out of my six-ish hours with Shadow Warrior 3. Shadow Warrior 3 does exactly what’s advertised on the cover, but I feel like it’s not enough when the price tag almost enters the full price zone. ![]() It’s refreshing to play a medium-budgeted single-player shooter so focused on delivering a short and sweet rollercoaster ride, but it’s hard to shrug off the feeling that Shadow Warriors 3‘s (excellent) platforming sections deserved their own space to shine, instead of being just small bits between Arena A and Arena B - DOOM Eternal understood the value of each of its parts and allowed players to breathe in between battles, packing memorable level design and secrets around every corner. In the same way, the gameplay has been refined to deliver hectic but tight shootin’ & slicin’ action that wastes no time with convoluted progression systems or exploration off the beaten path. Moreover, there are only four characters in the game (five if you count a spirit raccoon), with only two of them undergoing some sort of development, so many times you have to wonder if setting up the “antihero fighting self-doubt and depression” angle was even worth it for such a brisk and laser-focused action game. This is more than enough to fuel up five to six hours of classic FPS action, and some character beats (without getting into spoilers) are surprisingly poignant, but the narrative is generally kept to a minimum. The meager story hits the ground running with a massive ancient dragon threatening the entire planet and our potty-mouthed hero Lo Wang feeling down and unworthy of the status he built up across his two previous adventures. So much so that it lacks a unique personality in spite of the enjoyable blood-soaked breakneck action it offers from start to finish. Instead, they tried extremely hard to make it feel like this franchise’s DOOM Eternal. ![]() It seems like the developers listened to those concerns, as Shadow Warrior 3 is a big departure from the previous game. It was an evolution that mostly paid off, but a large number of veterans claimed maybe that wasn’t the path Shadow Warrior should follow. While the Shadow Warrior reboot (2013) flew under the radar, as the original IP wasn’t that popular to begin with, Shadow Warrior 2 (2016) was a bigger success story that dared to introduce looter-shooter elements into the classic “boomer shooter” FPS formula. Many players still think of them as the team behind 2011’s Hard Reset, but the truth is they’ve had an amazing last decade, consistently playing their cards right and tinkering with different genres and systems. Polish developer Flying Wild Hog are on a roll, quickly expanding beyond the borders of their rebooted Shadow Warrior games - Evil West and Trek to Yomi are among the most anticipated medium-sized releases launching in the near future. Lo Wang is back with the highly streamlined threequel of the rebooted Shadow Warrior saga. ![]()
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