Perhaps you have never heard of the Shadow Warrior – this thriller 3D Realms is always hiding in the shadow of legends Duke Nukem 3D. Studio has released it in ’97, replacing one hemisphere to the other – if the Duke versed with American problems and was in itself a Californian bullies, the Shadow Warrior was about Asian ninja with katana. In other two games were similar to each other as brothers – one engine, a little bit of nudity, crude jokes and enemies, bursting under fire as medical blood bags.
After 3D Realms collapsed, her rights were scattered in different studios. Duke got Gearbox, Shadow Warrior and bought Devolver Digital, publisher, who made a name for remakes and sequels Serious Sam. Devolver – a small but active company, did not throw money and quickly found a suitable studio developer. Make a new Shadow Warrior instructed Polish Flying Wild Hog, which you may know by militant Hard Reset .
To dispel doubts write once – a new Shadow Warrior is not a remake, but a big reboot. The team wrote a new script, drew the other levels, and the hero has learned some surprising ways to kill.
As before, his name is Luo Wang and it works contract killer. The story begins at a time when the boss asks Wang to get an ancient sword. Unfortunately, for these weapons also hunt Kitajka mobsters, and even an army of demons.
To cope with them, Luo Wangu need help otherworldly “friend” – a demon, who drove from hell. That the game will hang on the belt and let Wang sometimes relevant jokes. In addition, in the search for our hero hung with dozens of weapons and master the magic tricks. As the game progresses you can pump talents, so that by the end of your turn into a hero Wang Wuxi , killing dozens of enemies at one stroke the blade.
The search stretched his sword through the caves and catacombs otherworldly dimensions, but more often through the rooms of medieval Chinese mansions and bamboo groves. Like the original, the new Shadow Warrior is made up of stamps, so most of the scenery is not easy to guess including games.
But the main thing here, of course, retro gameplay. Each level in the game is a pack arenas linked by corridors. Quite like 16 years ago, each of them waiting for you on the twenty to fifty enemies. It is necessary to take the key or pull the switch is open around the portals, and the hero of naprygnut enemies. Most of them run fast and almost as Vanga in agility, Shadow Warrior is one of those games that run better on a mouse. Survive a character or not is often dependent on the milliseconds.
It looks like running another series Devolver – Serious Sam . There’s also sometimes hard to figure out what happens when an army of limbs, terrible birth and fireworks explosions trying to fit into the screen. Only Serious Sam gameplay of Doom copies and the number of monsters in one fight where it can step over a hundred. A Shadow is not very different from Duke Nukem 3D, which is rarely thrown at the screen for more than thirty monsters – so that in comparison with Serious Sam, Shadow Warrior is far less monotonous.
The Polish team was able to find a compromise. Shadow Warrior is played as a fighter 90s, but it does not get monotonous. Then sometimes you have to look for clues, but it’s hard to get lost. And yet, it is noticeable that the game was a modest budget – its interiors are constantly copying one another, and yet, here you can find dozens of wonderful landscapes.
Even the jokes are funny and to the point. Encouraging, as a short phrase of Wang and “cookies destiny”, hidden in levels, which sometimes hides a little anecdote.
By and large, Shadow Warrior only two problems. First, because the team wanted to make a game about the katana, firearms here embossed on the role of accessories, and it seems a bit awkward and boring. Within the walls of Flying Wild Hog are former developers of Painkiller – see in their game ineffective gun at least unexpected.
Secondly, the price. When the Steam almost every day make good games for $ 10-20, Shadow Warrior is already in the U.S. $ 40. Most likely, so the game and flew past the sales charts.
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