Shadow Warrior 3 - Eastern DOOM succeeded...not so much

The Shadow Warrior series is a parable of the fact that success is not always waiting at the end of the road. Originally, back in 1997, the very first Shadow Warrior was released as an attempt to bask in the glory of Duke Nukem 3D. It wasn't to everyone's liking, but Shadow Warrior did gain an audience. Some players liked the non-serious tone of the game, others - remembered the chip with the use of the body parts of monsters as weapons. As the years went by, a relaunch came out seventeen years later. The series was resurrected, only to...fall silent because of the sequel, which for some reason changed from a spinoff shooter genre to a looter shooter. Shadow Warrior 3 came out in 2021 and...hit the bullseye again, more like a hole. Did the threequel fix the perennial problem of the series - the problem of self-identity?

No time to answer questions. Hurry up and save the world!

There are two pieces of news about the plot of Shadow Warrior 3: one is good news and one is bad news. The bad news is that the plot of Shadow Warrior 3 starts after the events of the sequel, boasts neither a coherent exposition, nor an introductory video with a brief retelling of the previous parts. The good news is that Shadow Warrior 3's plot is a sham and a farce.

The protagonist, the irreplaceable star, mercenary Lo Wang lives in his shack after failing in a battle with the final boss. The boss is a dragon of gigantic proportions to match the Chinese setting. But it's not so much the destruction of the world that grieves Lo Wan, as the loss of his friend and his own charisma. It was the charisma that hurt the most.

As if nothing had happened, Lo Wan's eternal enemy, Orochi Zilla, visits his shack and offers to join forces to fight the dragon. Lo Wan lost his friend in the last part of the game, but not completely. The soul of the friend is trapped in a silent mask, with which Lo Wan occasionally talks. The orochi, on the other hand, insists that the mask must be used to unleash the secret magic and defeat the dragon. But in order to do that you need to find the sorceress Motoku. The sorceress lacks a sense of humor, so the first meeting with the humorous Lo Wan ends in yet another massacre. Learning about the power of the mask, Lo Wang decides not to save the world, but to resurrect a friend trapped in oil. That's the power of male friendship!

Blood, murders, and a naked katana blade

...As you can see, Shadow Warrior 3's plot serves only one purpose: to introduce as much nonsense and puns as possible, and to mold the characters into sources of humor. The entire Shadow Warrior 3 scenario fits on a piece of toilet paper, which would be nice to put to good use. However, you have to give the game its due: Shadow Warrior 3 doesn't even try to be serious and pathetic.

Shadow Warrior 3 plays about as well as it sounds: the seriousness has left the chat. Thus, at the beginning of the game Lo Wang recounts the events of the failed battle with the boss, jumps on his body and now and then "remembers" that in addition to his katana he also has a pistol and a shotgun stashed

The dragon, on the other hand, doesn't give a damn about Luo Wang, for a dragon the Chinese dumgai is no scarier than a mosquito. On the way to the monster's weak point, Lo Wang encounters the local devils, the Yokai. Shadow Warrior 3 draws heavily on the experience of DOOM Eternal, so everything you saw in DOOM will be in Shadow Warrior 3, but not vice versa - the spirit of the now-forgotten Bulletstorm is noticed. Author's original elements are not so much - Chinese electronics instead of Mick Gordon's music and the ability to use parts of monsters' bodies as weapons or first-aid kits.

You have to accumulate rage points to finish them off, but it's worth the hassle. During the protracted bloody scenes you can drink tea, do exercise, and some even have time to sleep, because the finishing lasts for ten seconds. Fortunately, they are voiced with gusto. Unfortunately, the game has only one animation for each monster. Local bestiary can not boast a variety, but can boast its own design. The appearance of any new foe is accompanied by a cut-scene, and the further into the woods...the fancier the Yokai are. If at first the opponents make at least some sense, then closer to the finale the screen flaunts the nightmares of a Chinese man who drank too much baijiu.

At first, the colorful circus is even amusing: the impact of weapons disposes to enjoy shooting, in cramped arenas quite opportunely placed spikes and traps - as in Bulletstorm. The ability to send the foes on a trip around the world: one foot here, the other there.

But once the game gets going, the platforming begins, and the game's gnarly pace begins to subside. It starts running along the walls, Lo Wan jumps over rocks like Mario and swings on a cat-hook as if on a swing. By the latter complaint most, because the hook-cat can only be used in areas, and give only weak enemies to attract... which without the help of a hook-cat dies at a time. 

When the arena battles should logically bore the player, the developers of the Flying Wild Hog introduce entire locations for flying and acrobatics. But the only thing is that you can run along the walls only in the allotted places, and die during the "crash-landing" jumps can only be on purpose. In addition, these episodes are severely overextended, devoid of variation and freedom of choice of actions.

And the most unfortunate thing is that all of the above is almost a description of half of the gameplay. Yes, it is even possible to enjoy Shadow Warrior 3, but it will be extremely fleeting and not permanent. It's as if Flying Wild Hog had a methodology for introducing mechanics into the game with clear investor requirements, but no desire to make their game better...

Is it worth it?

To buy - definitely not. Only at a 90% discount or when you get paid to play the game. Shadow Warrior 3 is not a hopeless game with some decent shooting and some picturesque scenery. But that's where the game's advantages end. Fortunately, the walkthrough only takes five hours with the option to replay the game with all guns open. Shadow Warrior 3, at least, does not drag on. Unfortunately, they reduced the timeline to the detriment of the integrity of the already crumpled plot.