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 accepts a task from the Yakuza to retrieve an ancient trinket from the Temple of Longing. After obtaining the artifact, he speaks with Mamushi, the Yakuza's second in command, who tasks him with rescuing Kamiko, the Yakuza 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, reaches Kamiko, and brings her to Smith. Smith temporarily transfers Kamiko's soul into Wang's body until a cure can be made. Wang retrieves ingredients for the cure and delivers them to Smith. Meanwhile, Mamushi tasks Wang with finding the source of a black ooze spreading in the wildlands.

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 the mountain to find 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 lets him into the temple. Ameonna says she can reverse the soul binding only after Wang retrieves Kamiko's body and restores it.

For the soul joining ritual, Ameonna needs Ancestral Chi from a weapon belonging to Kamiko's father. Kamiko reveals Mamushi carries a wakizashi given by her father. Wang seeks out Mamushi; after a brief talk, Mamushi 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 PlayStation 4, according to Metacritic. Zack Furniss of Destructoid gave a 7/10, calling it solid with an audience despite hard-to-ignore faults. Jonathan Leack of Game Revolution awarded 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 scored it 8.6/10, praising the humor and variety of combat. PC Gamer's James Davenport gave 78/100, noting combat as gleefully expressive but undermined by dated humor. Carli Velocci of Polygon rated it 5/10, stating the game felt hollow with lifeless characters, unfunny jokes, a worthless story, and repetitive levels. Flying Wild Hog announced that Shadow Warrior 2 quadrupled its sales launch compared to the 2013 reboot, expressing happiness with the reception.