LogFAQs > #964301019

Shadow Warrior 3 (PC)

Ah well, at least it doesn't suck.

After the success of its initial reboot the sequel Shadow Warrior 2 attempted to cash in on Borderlands and create a pseudo-open world hack slasher RPG while also adopting its brand of crude humor. Unfortunately this also ended up making every character into an unlikeable jerk. Gone was the witty banter and stellar writing and plot. They turned Lo Wang into this manchild who spouts dad jokes once in awhile.

So when I heard that a third game quietly came out sometime this year I was intrigued. Even moreso when they decided to go back to its linear roots. Does it live up to the hype? Meh.

This time Flying Wild Hog decided to ape not Borderlands, but Doom Eternal and Mirror's Edge, giving the game more emphasis on parkour and gladitorial style arena combat complete with finishers. I'll admit it was fun. You only have 6 weapons but they had 3 levels of upgrades as well as a myriad of "gore" weapons you can acquire from each kind of enemy.

The fact that the final area had a 3-wave gauntlet of bad guys did not even bother me at all; there is enough variety here however...and I don't know since I played it on Medium, but a big part of the fights just amounts to relying on infinitely spawning mooks to heal. The real targets took ALOT of damage and I feel like that's the wrong way to go about things. Moreover, your finisher bar depended on collecting "Finisher Powerups" but not from doing well but from environmentals (which had to be unlocked btw) and the occasional pickup. Doom Eternal's flow was great because it rewarded skill for skill to finish. This game was just a bullet sponge exercise where everything was trying to kill you and it just amounted to shotgunning the right mook to keep fighting. Hotswapping was encouraged because it auto-reloaded your weapons and there wasn't much ammo per gun so I know for sure this dakka dakka bs was the intended way to play this game.

The plot was ridiculous. And simple. They literally dialled it back so much more than the first game. Honestly, this felt like Wolfenstein Youngblood levels of storytelling returning a popular character from the first game all without the wit of the conversations. Story is the last thing you should care about which would be fine if the first game didn't set the standard.

So what does that leave us? Gameplay is stellar if you can forgive everything I just said. Its beautiful ya know actually wallrunning and jumping around like a ninja in this nigh post-apocalyptic setpieces, and you get to fight this massive ass dragon that coils around you in some levels just to show you how miniscule you are. The 2 boss fights were also amazing, no slouch there. The final boss was utterly epic since you finally get to take down that dragon that's been bothering you all game. Extremely cathartic.

And then it just ends.

No new game plus. No multiplayer. No stage select. The secrets are the upgrade points but they don't carry over so what's even the point? Nevermind that that design was stupid because if you're not encouraged to secret-hunt, you could never do marginally cooler things with your weapons. I finished it in 2 days and now I'm thinking this should've just been billed as a spin-off or DLC. Why did it take so long for them to get from SW2 to this?

Honestly there didn't really need to be an SW sequel. The first was perfect and I know I've brought it up three times in this writeup now but that's just how awesome it is. Play that one instead, then get this when the price drops if you want some "bonus content".