In the opening minutes of Shadow Warrior 3, the protagonist Lo Wang stands in dirty underwear and yells profanities at a giant dragon outside his window. This comedic introduction sets the stage for a light-hearted and airy approach to storytelling and fights – both over-satisfying while falling a bit short in scope and variety.
No matter what’s happening on screen, developer Flying Wild Hog almost always goes for a cheap laugh. Crazy pop culture references, a near-endless stream of lines like “I think I just peed a little” when I barely take a leap, and jokes about human body parts are delivered like they’re going out of style. Some hit in comedic ways, but most don’t, but there’s a charm to those swings and misses that works in Shadow Warrior 3’s favor – it’s almost funnier when the humor is awful.
After putting on some clothes and hatching a plan to kill the dragon with dark magic, Wang shows us that he’s no slouch on the battlefield. Given his moveset and overly violent approach to killing, he looks like the understudy from Doom’s Slayer – a weird and cocky version of him that’s incredibly difficult to control. He doesn’t stop moving once the fight begins, unleashing demons of all sizes against them with a crackle of machine guns, a flurry of swords, and even their own weapons. If Wang pauses for a brief second, the enemy will likely kill him quickly. Luckily, the vertically designed arenas work in his favor, with traverse lines and escape routes liberally scattered throughout to create separation from the swarms. With a small but balanced selection of weapons, stringing together kills can be a lot of fun, especially when the beautifully crafted environmental maneuvers like double jumping, wall running, grappling, and dashing are added to the mix. Some arenas will even do the fighting for you, such as B. rotating saw blade traps that can be activated remotely to chop up enemies. All in all, the combat flow feels good and makes you feel strong.
This run-and-gun action isn’t for the faint-hearted, though: Demons pop like shotgun picks, guts fly through the air like party streamers after sword slashes, and each explosion turns an enemy into bloody chaos. If Wang causes enough carnage, he can direct one final move at an enemy. Just like Doom, the action pauses for a bloody fatality, like ripping off a giant’s arm and using it as a hammer, or ripping off someone’s head and crushing it into juice. The carnage is a bit much, and watching the identical death sequences often gets tiresome, but there are moments of humor – more of that is badly needed to change things up.
After an hour of play, Wang says, “Bashing demons to pieces is the one thing I can never get enough of,” and that’s not meant to be sarcastic, it comes off as such given how often the same conflicts erupt. Flying Wild Hog tries to mix up the fights with new enemy types in each zone, but relies too heavily on the same grunts, which pose little threat and end up stealing the suspense of almost every fight.
Platforming sequences typically occur after most encounters, but rarely last more than a few seconds and don’t do much for the player other than give you a chance to catch your breath before the next brawl. It’s a shame because the moves are pretty good, but the action rarely shows how exciting they can be. The best distractions are a harrowing climb onto a rooftop and a fixed moment when Wang chases a tanuki through a cave – a moment that lasts long enough to give the platformer some goofy meaning.
When switching between areas, the player is encouraged to keep an eye out for hidden upgrades that can greatly enhance Wang’s weapons and base attributes (like headshots that trigger explosions), but a good number of these items are or are on the critical path as rewards earned for completing challenges. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t let you revisit previous levels to collect perks you may have missed.
Shadow Warrior 3 rages with madness and gore spilled en masse, and the combination is oddly satisfying. It feels different, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is wildly aggressive in how much it wants to make you laugh. I appreciate this approach and had a good time playing this game, although it often hits the same gameplay and humor notes. While most major releases these days are 100-hour juggernauts, Shadow Warrior 3’s five-hour playthrough is a nice alternative and worth a look. Just be prepared to moan frequently and let those moans oddly amuse you.
