Shadow Warrior

Who wants some more Wang? Wake up assholes!

"I used to have it all... Then I fucked up and saved the world!"

I also messaged a mod to fix the thread name.

edited 22nd Jun '15 8:14:52 AM by YoKab

That'll be fun. The first was probably the best "old-school meets new-school" shooter released in recent years alongside Wolfenstein The New Order, so I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.

Honestly I'm diggin this one more than the new DOOM. The first game was faster than that trailer for DOOM ever was, so I'll probably buy Shadow Warrior 2 first. Funny how and indie managed to get it more right than id Software (I still hope DOOM is good though, that gameplay at E3 was clearly just to show off the engine, so the final prodcuct might be more chaotic).

edited 22nd Jun '15 11:50:22 AM by YoKab

Was Doom ever meant to be fast paced and ultra chaotic though? To quote the Unbuilt Trope page:

"People who know old-school FPS only by reputation come in expecting balls-to-the-wall action, hoards of enemies, and Ludicrous Gibs. And while the game has its fair share of that, the overall experience is far more tactical. Ammo and health packs are limited, and your marine can't take much damage either. On the "Ultra-Violence" difficulty (hard mode; considered "proper" by fans and canon by the devs) you're constantly scrounging for suppliesnote except for shotgun shells, which are everywhere, and it's very important to know which weapon is best in each situation. You need to take advantage of easy kills through sniping and infighting, and sometimes just running for it is the best strategy. When you do get in to a pitched battle, it's only half thrilling setpiece — the other half is a harrowing ordeal that ends with you barely alive and low on ammo. Secret areas and pickups can often feel mandatory to find, and instead of being in out-of-the-way dead-ends or little easter eggs they're mostly hidden inside false walls, many times with monsters. In many ways the game seems more like System Shock than its own imitators."

The issue I still had was that in the gameplay enemies drop ammo and health when scoring a kill, eliminating any possible strategies similar to the old ones. You can argue using Ki to restore health here is the same but it topped at 60% and firing one-handed reduced the accurasy and slowed movement leaving you more vunerable than anything.

The devs said each co-op player experiences the game from Lo Wang's perspective and see other players as his ninja buddies. Claiming this is important so that each player experiences the narrative as intended and keeps the feeling of a classic single-player FPS.

Oh, yeah, gameplay for those who miised it

edited 23rd Jun '15 8:21:16 AM by YoKab

Gamescom Gameplay

GAWD I want this so bad! Lo Wang seriously upgrade himself from the 1990s and is successful as a franchise compared to Duke Nukem who is still stuck back there. Good on Shadow Warrior for branching out and becoming its own thing!

Shadow Warrior 2 is out, and it's well-received so far!

Been playing it, and I got... mixed feelings.

Look, objectively, It's a good game. But it has issues.

For one, the AI is terrible. Like, worse than a Bethesda game. The number of times I've seen enemies just firing non-stop into a wall (not even in the direction where I am), or shot enemies with a bow from 20 feet away in the open and they fail to react even as more and more of their numbers dies to arrows in the skull is ridiculous.

For two, Kasumi (Or whatever her name is, she annoys the shit out of me and my brain is refusing to remember her) is a really poor replacement for Hoji. She's sort of like a spoiled bitch and I hate her? Her constant insults on Wang sort of become grating when you realize that A) he's the one doing her a favor in this, and B) Wang's a fucking murder elemental, she's got no reason to treat him iike shit. When Hoji did this, it made sense. Hoji was what allowed Lo Wang to do these insane things, and their partnership was more mutual, so Hoji had plenty of room to complain. Hoji was also funnier than Kasumi is in his put downs.

There's way more weapons but at the same time a lot of them feel... samey? Does having 6 shotguns really matter so much when they all use the same ammo and I'll likely keep using the same 2? Melee weapons in particular suffer from this, wiht a lot of them identical, then the occasional stand out (this sword shoots beams! Why would I use the others???) The gems are fun ways to upgrade the weapons, but a lot of the gems feel like they lack impact. Elemental effects in particular are subdued (We're far from Borderlands here). I sort of wish we had less weapons but kept some of the upgrade system from the first game.

It's a fun game, but it's just... not connecting with me the way the first one did. I'll be the firs to admit it's likely a personal taste issue.

edited 16th Oct '16 4:25:35 AM by Ghilz

Yeah, it's kinda different from the first game. Kinda like Shadow Warrior meets Borderlands for a lack of better words, but in a good way. The AI is pretty much like the original, but the wider areas made it issues more noticeable. Game has some flaws, but it's overall pretty good. I enjoyed the variations of the melee weapons, but they probably went a bit too far into said variations. The level design is a step up though, and I enjoy the comedy. Some of the gameplay issues are a small fry for me, but hopefully the game gets post-release support, patching up the AI and some stuff doesn't hurt.

Also not to be rude, but that is not how the word "objectively" works. Shadow Warrior 2 objectively has guns. but enjoyement varries like with every game due to personal taste. Fun is subjective, and I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a few purists calling it a bad game that butchered the Shadow Warrior brand. Having issues with a game you enjoyed is perfectly fine.

edited 16th Oct '16 3:38:58 AM by YoKab

Wow! Bought this game when it first came out, but didn't have a computer beefy enough to play it. So it just sat there on my back-up drive until I suddenly remembered it again the other day after having my brand new beefcake laptop for about a month. What can I say? This is quite the different beast of a game compared to the first. They completely changed up the formula for how the game plays. Not saying it is altogether bad, just...different.

First the good, I absolutely love that they didn't change up the overall battle mechanics and formula. Lots of good melee and projectile weapon options and you feel as fast and fluent as ever like a badass ninja. Complete with more powers that are far more useful in an instantaneous heartbeat and you got a recipe for crazy, blood gushing fun. They excelled at what the first game was so good at. This is the crazy, frenetic game play I was looking for!

Now the bad, I do believe Kamiko is no replacement for Hojo. The humor and jokes fell flat and there just wasn't enough comedic energy to carry the entire game. Especially if you begin to hear the same one-liners over and over again during the triple dozen side missions. The overall flow of the game was a bit disjointed and you still ended up being a freaking power-house by the end - something that can be mitigated by restricting your build as you play.

And finally the undecided - I really do like the upgrade system, the skill system and the freaking 70+ weapons you can get, but they really are a mixed bag and their are very few 'good' upgrades that don't have some debilitating drawbacks. After a few side missions, the game's enemies do get repetitive and the situations lackluster and stale. By the time I got to the end levels and I saw this huge horde of like 20+ powerhouse enemies, I wasn't even shaking with dread anymore, it was more like: yay! more f**kfaces to slice and dice! Seriously, you are a GOD with that sword. Might be better to do a gun only run since that seems to be more of a challenge than melee combat! Overall, a fun romp through the Shadow Warrior universe, but next time around, I want a more cohesive story and gameplay thorough line.

edited 3rd Apr '18 5:01:10 AM by Darkflamewolf

Personally I found it kinda pointless to add the RPG elements, as weapons lose their variety really quickly along with the clusterfuck of stat effects and bullet sponges. I dunno, it kinda loses the charm of the originals and what made them so fun.

If this is people's hustle though, that's perfectly fine. And from the looks of it, it'll stay that way because the latest iteration blew the last one in terms of commercial success. Besides, there are other shooters that will strike my fancy like AMID EVIL.

Honestly, If they make a Shadow Warrior 3, I want them to change it up again. Keep some basic formula gameplay intact, as they did from 1 to 2, but change up overall game structure. Kinda like Final Fantasy with its stories, but instead apply it to game mechanics - each game having different way to play through the campaign each installment. Might as well make it a thing with Shadow Warrior games - each one is unique from the last but still keeping the core FPS experience more or less the same. That'd be cool. :P

I wouldn't mind the franchise becoming a downplayed version of Genre Roulette, if I'm being honest.

So long as they don't keep it like the 2nd. I despised the second. With its awful randomized level, boring, samey enemies, boring weapons, and broken as fuck AI that spends all the time shooting at walls, running in circles, and not reacting to the player.

edited 3rd Apr '18 3:32:50 PM by Ghilz

Really? I never had that problem. The enemies were quite reactive with me and chased me literally across the maps with amazing path finding, surprisingly. Granted, this is playing the game a year after its release almost, so maybe all those AI bugs got patched out? Because I never had those issues with enemy AI.

edited 4th Apr '18 4:11:18 AM by Darkflamewolf

Shadow Warrior 3 is on it's way

Looks like they are dropping the looter shooter bit. Good.

Enemy designs are wicked. They're so good! Varied, diverse, and pretty cool.

Not sure if it was Orochi Zilla that I saw on a screenshot (although his facial features and the Zilla logo on his haori would confirm it), but he got awfully hairy this time around. So did Wang.

I knew they were making this one around the time I finished the last one. And this one looks way better, if not exactly original (the finishing blows are, well, a little too inspired for me).

Longer gameplay preview

It's going to be coming out this March! I'm very hyped for it! Unsure how I feel about Lo Wang's hair tho. His voice actor 'seems' a bit different too, but it might just be me. Either way, this looks like a technicolor gore fest of fun!

They did change Lo Wang's voice actor but now Zilla's voiced by Pro ZD so I guess it's a even trade.

Unfortunately it's being tossed into an incredibly crowded February/March period but it's definitely on my list.