![]() I get why they had to tone down the signature satire and offensive jokes. Instead, you get an egoistic, cocky young fella who can’t make even 12-year-olds laugh. Gone are his hilarious one-liners and overall sense of badassery. Then there’s the watered down version of Lo Wang and the toned-down humour. The 15+ hours of the campaign makes this type of gameplay ever the more repetitive. Every once in a while, you’re thrown into this arena like closed-off sections where you are pit against waves of enemies, a bit too similar to Serious Sam and Painkiller. The reboot plays akin to a modern, linear FPS. Simple, but an identifying mark of retro shooters. You run around big levels killing stuff, looking for the next colour-coded keycard to get to another section of the map. The original game plays very similarly to its Build Engine brethren. One foot in the ’90s and other in late 2000s. But when all is said and done, Shadow Warrior remains a confusing product. I do acknowledge that back in 2013, devs were experimenting on how to make modern retro shooters and the whole indie FPS scene was in its infancy. How about the fact that it’s not really a Shadow Warrior title, at least with respect to the original. Well, what is there to rant about then, you might ask. The gameplay is great, the art direction is impressive and it has a rather long single player campaign. A Different Wangīefore I begin my rant, let me say that Shadow Warrior 2013 is a fine FPS. But the only question that matters here is what do I have to say about the Shadow Warrior reboot? Grab a cold drink and relax, because you’re going to be here for a while. But the release went without a hitch and kickstarted a new reboot series. If it were to use the same type of jokes as the original, then the game would be ripped apart by keyboard warriors worldwide. Another cause for concern was, of course, the current internet culture and the political climate. Retro FPS revival wasn’t so big back in 2013 and the Rise of the Triad remake and Duke Nukem Forever had fallen flat on their faces. It’s why I was excited and sceptical about Flying WildHogs’ Shadow Warrior reboot. Looking back and playing it today, the humour might not have held up, but damn, the gameplay still remains fresh. Anyhow, games could get away with a lot back then and developers took full advantage of the situation. Hey, it was the ’90s and we didn’t get offended at everything back then (maybe we did, I don’t remember). Starring Chinese badass Lo Wang, the game is choke-full of racist jokes, stereotypes, innuendos and over the top moments. It’s one of the main reasons I fell in love with Shadow Warrior, the second title in the holy trinity of Build Engine games. If there’s one thing I love more than a retro shooter is a retro shooter which doesn’t take itself seriously.
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