Shadow Warrior (2013 video game)

Did You Know?

• Pre-ordering the game on Steam gave players the Zilla Enterprises Z45 katana in-game weapon and a 75% discount off Hard Reset or another Devolver Digital published game.
• If players already owned a copy of Saints Row IV on Steam, an in-game weapon known as the Penetrator from that series was made available.
• The game's Special Edition included a sledgehammer from Serious Sam 3: BFE and a katana from Hotline Miami in retro-pixelated graphics.

Plot

Lo Wang, an assassin in the employ of the Japanese industrialist Orochi Zilla, is tasked with buying a legendary katana from a collector named Mizayaki for two million dollars. When Mizayaki turns down the offer, Wang attacks, killing several of Mizayaki’s men. Mizayaki then reveals he is allied with a demon called Hoji, and Wang is taken prisoner. He manages to break free during a demon assault on the compound, which also kills Mizayaki.

Wang then teams up with Hoji to recover the sword. Hoji explains that the weapon, the Nobitsura Kage, can kill immortals and is deadly to demons. It is actually three separate blades that must be combined into one. During his journey, Wang finds Whisperers—magical golems that each hold a memory an Ancient (an immortal demon ruler) chose to hide.

The Ancients cannot touch the Nobitsura Kage without dying, but Whisperers, lacking true life, can handle the blade and serve as couriers. By destroying these golems, Wang absorbs their memories and uncovers the story behind the conflict. In the Shadow Realm, the demons’ home, rain comes from the tears of Ameonna, Hoji’s sister and a fellow Ancient. Hoji and Ameonna had an incestuous relationship that made her joyful and stopped the rain, causing a severe drought.

When Enra, the Shadow Realm’s ruler, found out, his brothers Gozu, Mezu, and Xing separated the lovers. As punishment, Hoji’s face was flayed off, forcing him to wear a mask. Ameonna accepted her duty to the realm, which left Hoji bitter toward her and Enra. He plotted to poison Ameonna and get revenge on Enra, tricking Xing into giving her a tainted drink that put her into an endless sleep.

This brought another drought, luring Enra to a temple so Xing could seize power. Mezu, the most loyal brother, stopped the coup. On Enra’s orders, Gozu beheaded Xing (which did not kill him), and Hoji was exiled to the mortal world. Later, Enra realized that only an Ancient’s death could wake Ameonna and save the Shadow Realm, so he sought the Nobitsura Kage—the sole weapon capable of killing an Ancient.

Development

Devolver Digital planned to reboot the game with Flying Wild Hog as the developer from the start, first approaching Scott Miller of 3D Realms about new developments. According to studio writer Jan Bartkowicz, the game was designed to reflect old school design with emphasis on fast-paced shooting against masses of enemies and no use of cover mechanics, similar to the developer's last game Hard Reset. Bartkowicz stated they wanted the katana to be an integral part of gameplay, not just used when out of ammo.

Regarding the new writing style and character redesign, Bartkowicz explained it as a much more clever sense of humor and wit, rather than relying on old Duke Nukem or Shadow Warrior tropes about women and racial stereotyping, instead drawn to what they considered the rich setting of the original. The game was first announced in May 2013 with a teaser trailer showing the new graphics engine. It was further shown at E3 2013, with designer Paweł Kowalewski comparing it to an exploitation film, calling it so violent it's funny.

Kowalewski stated they wanted to maintain the violence of the original, while story writer Slawomir Uliasz said the redesigns created a newer experience, such as a younger Lo Wang, while retaining humor like one-liners to keep true to the original without being too serious. A follow-up trailer titled You've Got Wang featured gameplay footage and announced the release date of 26 September 2013. 30 minutes of gameplay of the beta version was commentated by John Bain on 15 August 2013. On 27 April 2015, Shadow Warrior was ported to Mac OS X and Linux by Knockout Games.

Reception

Shadow Warrior received mixed or average reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. M Randy of Destructoid said of the PC version, Impressive effort with a few noticeable problems holding it back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd favorably compared the PC version over other modern reboots in terms of gameplay and humor, particularly against Duke Nukem Forever, noting the variety in combat segments and finding that magical sweet spot where you feel as if you overcame the odds without ever encountering the frustration.

However, VanOrd felt the boss fights, while visually fearsome, had overly straightforward strategies that caused them to drag and become slogs. Dan Stapleton of IGN said the PC version's excellent fast-paced swordplay and surprising story make Lo Wang's comeback tour a great success. On VideoGamer.com, Pete Worth called the PC version a fun, if limited, throwback, while Tom Orry said the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were old-school in all the right ways.

Darrell Shayler of The Digital Fix gave the PC version a score of eight out of ten, calling it an unrepentant love poem for all things 90s. Liam Croft gave the PlayStation 4 version the same 8/10 score, saying it offers humour and a bucket load of fun. Paul Goodman of The Escapist gave the PC version three-and-a-half stars out of five, noting solid combat but some design flaws. Roger Hargreaves of Metro gave the PC and PlayStation 4 versions each a score of six out of ten, calling it a surprisingly charming and likeable shooter, if unavoidably shallow and repetitive.