Shadow Warrior 2

Did You Know?

• Shadow Warrior 2 was developed using Flying Wild Hog's in-house Road Hog Engine.
• The game was officially announced by Devolver Digital on 11 June 2015.

Plot

Lo Wang is tasked by the Yakuza to retrieve an ancient trinket from the Temple of Longing. After obtaining it, Mamushi, the Yakuza's second in command, sends him to rescue Kamiko, the leader's daughter, from Zilla's labs. Wang finds Kamiko tied to a table with the Kyokagami Twins present; Zilla watches via monitor. The Twins inject Kamiko with Compound 61, causing hallucinations.

Wang reveals himself, fights ZillaCorps soldiers, and brings Kamiko to Smith. Smith temporarily transfers Kamiko's soul into Wang's body while he devises a cure. Wang retrieves ingredients for the cure and delivers them. Mamushi Helka then tasks Wang with finding the source of a spreading black ooze.

The source is the Outer Gates, locked by Mezu's armor; Mezu still guards them. Smith contacts Wang, asking him to return to the mountain after a ZillaCorps attack. Wang reaches Dragon Mountain, finding Smith gravely injured. Smith finishes the cure, places his soul in a Soul Well, and dies.

When Wang administers the cure to Kamiko's body, it attacks him in a mutated form and escapes. Ameonna contacts Wang, urging him to meet her in the Shadow Hills. Gozu guards the temple entrance but lets him in. Ameonna says she must reverse the soul binding, but Wang must first retrieve Kamiko's body and restore it.

For the soul joining ritual, Ameonna needs Ancestral Chi from a weapon belonging to Kamiko's father. Kamiko reveals Mamushi Helka carries a wakizashi given by her father. Wang confronts Mamushi, who takes her own life, and Wang brings the dagger to Ameonna.

Reception

Shadow Warrior 2 received generally favorable reviews on Windows and mixed or average reviews on PS4, according to Metacritic. Zack Furniss of Destructoid scored it 7/10, calling it solid with an audience despite some faults. Jonathan Leack of Game Revolution gave it 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as a potential sleeper hit with well-executed gameplay dynamics but lacking a satisfying story. IGN's Leif Johnson awarded 8.6/10, praising Wang's wisecracks and the variety of combat and loot, noting fun in solo or co-op with enough randomization to keep action fresh.

PC Gamer's James Davenport scored it 78/100, stating combat is gleefully expressive but undermined by dated humor. Carli Velocci of Polygon gave 5/10, saying the game feels hollow with lifeless characters, unfunny jokes, a worthless story, and repetitive levels, though it offers basic monster-slashing. Flying Wild Hog announced that Shadow Warrior 2 quadrupled its sales launch compared to the 2013 reboot, expressing happiness with the reception.