Shadow Warrior 3 Review – Humorous Repetition

Within Shadow Warrior 3’s opening minutes, protagonist Lo Wang stands in dirtied underwear, screaming profanities at a massive dragon outside his window. This comedic introduction sets the stage for a lighthearted and breezy approach to storytelling and combat – both satisfying in over-the-top ways while coming up a little short in scope and variety.

Flying Wild Hog, a software developer almost always laughs at the absurdities of what happens onscreen. Zany pop culture references, a near endless stream of lines like “I think I just peed a little” when barely making a jump, and jokes about human body parts are delivered like they are going out of style. Some hit in comedic ways, but most don’t, yet there’s a charm to these swings and misses that work in Shadow Warrior 3’s favor – it’s almost funnier when the humor is terrible.

After putting some clothes on and hatching a plan to use dark magic to kill the dragon, Wang shows us he’s no slouch on the battlefield. Given his move set and overly violent approach to killing, he looks like the understudy of Doom’s Slayer – a strange and mouthy version of him who is a blast to control. He doesn’t stop moving once combat begins, lighting up demons of all sizes with a rattle of machine guns, a flurry of swords, and even using their own weapons against them. Wang should not pause for more than a moment as the enemy is likely to kill him fast. He is able to use the vertically-planned arenas in his favor. The escape routes and traversal paths are liberally scattered around the place, creating separation from the swarms. A small but well-balanced selection of weapons can make chaining together kills a lot more fun. This is especially true when combined with the nice designed environment maneuvers such as double jumping and wall running. You can even have arenas do your fighting, with spinning sawblade traps you can activate from far away to slash down foes. The combat flow is pleasant and gives you the feeling of being powerful.

The run-and gun action can be dangerous. Demons explode like shotgun zits, intestinal slits soar through air like party streamers, and each explosion makes an enemy a bloody wreck. Wang is able to direct one final attack on an enemy when he has done enough destruction. Just like Doom, the action pauses for a gory fatality, like ripping off a giant’s arm and using it as a hammer or tearing off someone’s head and squishing it to juice. The carnage is a bit much, and seeing the identical death sequences frequently grows tiring, but some moments bring about humor – more of that is desperately needed to change things up.

After an hour of play, Wang says, “Chopping demons to pieces is the one thing I can’t ever get tired of,” and it’s not meant to be sarcastic, but comes across that way given just how frequently the same conflicts erupt. Flying Wild Hog is trying to add variety in battles with different enemy types within each zone. But it relies too heavily upon the same grunts that pose no threat and endanger excitement from nearly every battle.

Platforming sequences usually 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, as many of the motions can be quite exciting and are very good. The best diversions are a harrowing rooftop ascent, and a set-piece moment in which Wang chases a tanuki through a cavern – a moment lasting long enough to give the platforming meaning in a goofy way.

When moving between areas, the player is encouraged to keep an eye out for hidden upgrades that can enhance Wang’s weapons and base attributes in significant ways (like headshots triggering explosions), but a good number of these items are found on the critical path or earned as rewards for completing basic challenges. Sadly, the game doesn’t let you revisit past levels to collect perks you may have missed.

Shadow Warrior 3 combines zaniness with gore in a lot of places, making it an oddly enjoyable experience. It feels different, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is wildly aggressive in how much it wants to make you laugh. It is an admirable approach, and I had fun with it. Despite the repetitive gameplay and humorous moments. When most major releases these days are 100-hour juggernauts, Shadow Warrior 3’s five-hour playthrough is a nice alternative and is worth a look. You should expect to laugh a lot and to occasionally groan.