Shadow Warrior (1997 video game)

Did You Know?

• Shadow Warrior marked the first appearance of a sticky bomb in an FPS, an idea later popularized by Halo.
• The head and heart of certain enemies can be used as weapons.
• The official website was created by Jeffrey D. Erb and Mark Farish of Intersphere Communications Ltd.

Plot

Lo Wang serves as a bodyguard and enforcer for Zilla Enterprises, a conglomerate controlling all major industries in a futuristic Japan. Aware of the corruption and crime from Zilla's dominance, he remains content with his well-paid position until Master Zilla, the company president, allies with ancient deities to conquer Japan using creatures from the dark side. Lo Wang quits upon discovering this, and Master Zilla orders the creatures to kill him. Forced to fight, Lo Wang learns that Zilla had his mentor, Master Leep, murdered. The game ends with Lo Wang defeating Master Zilla, who escapes in a samurai-styled war mech, vowing they will meet again.

Development

Development on Shadow Warrior started in early 1994 under the name Shadow Warrior 3D, and the first screenshots appeared alongside Hocus Pocus in May of that year. The concept came from Jim Norwood, George Broussard created the character Lo Wang, and Michael Wallin provided early concept art. In 1996, Broussard said the team wanted Shadow Warrior to beat Duke Nukem 3D in both features and gameplay, which was a very high bar. To match that game's popular style, more tongue-in-cheek humor was added.

GT Interactive released the shareware version in North America on May 13, 1997, and the full game followed on September 12, 1997. At E3 1997, GT Interactive set aside a special area in its booth just for Shadow Warrior. The soundtrack was composed by Lee Jackson, who had also scored Duke Nukem 3D, using a Kurzweil K2500RS keyboard. Instead of relying on the system's MIDI device, the game played music directly from the CD audio tracks, which allowed for higher quality and the use of samples and effects that MIDI could not handle.

This let Jackson include a wide range of instruments to support the East Asian theme, as well as ambient tracks requiring advanced sound design. To keep the shareware version small, MIDI support was added exclusively to it, featuring MIDI versions of five songs. A special track called Lo Wang's Rap appeared on the game disc, made from sound bites and outtakes of voice actor John William Galt. Jackson wrote a backing track and used a DAW to arrange the vocals so it sounded like Lo Wang was rapping. This song played during the credits and was later released as an MP3 on 3D Realms' website in 1999.

Release

Shadow Warrior Registered, the original 1.2 version, was released for MS-DOS on September 12, 1997 and for Mac OS on October 1, 1997. Shadow Warrior Classic Complete, released on GOG.com on November 15, 2012 by Devolver Digital, includes the main game and expansion packs Wanton Destruction and Twin Dragon, with a digital soundtrack and manual; it became free on September 2, 2016. An iOS version, ported by General Arcade, was released on December 19, 2012.

Shadow Warrior Classic, the original MS-DOS version on Steam using DOSBox, was released on May 29, 2013 and is free to play. Shadow Warrior Classic Redux, released on July 8, 2013 by General Arcade and Devolver Digital, includes improved OpenGL graphics, remastered audio, and modern compatibility. Shadow Warrior (Classic) was rebuilt with Windows and OS X support and published by 3D Realms on October 23, 2014. Two expansion packs were released; a third, Deadly Kiss from SillySoft, remains unreleased.

Reception

NPD Techworld reported 118,500 units sold in the United States by December 2002, and the shareware version was downloaded 400,000 times. Reviews were mostly positive with ratings varying from average to positive. Thierry Nguyen of Computer Gaming World called it an average action game with good engine enhancements and level design but mediocre otherwise. GamePro praised its style, level design, difficulty, audio soundtrack, and ambient environments.

Tim Soete of GameSpot described it as a fun late entry in sprite-based action games despite dated qualities. AllGame editor Jason White called it a solid game and a keeper. The depiction of Asian cultures sparked debate; Elliot Chin in Computer Gaming World criticized it as insensitive and inauthentic, and Anthony Sze-Fai Shiu expressed concerns about portrayals of Japanese corporations as rapacious. 3D Realms responded that they did not intend racism, but used a melange of Asian culture to parody bad kung fu movies and create a fun game.

The source code was released on April 1, 2005 under GPL-2.0-or-later, leading to the first source port, JFShadowWarrior, on April 2, 2005. Modern source ports include WangGDX, VoidSW, IcedSW, and Raze.