Shadow Warrior 3 Review

Big Wang energy

In Shadow Warrior 3, you start with the ability to double jump and your right mouse button lets you cut your enemies in half with a sword, which should tell you almost everything you need to know about the game. Over the past nine years, the Shadow Warrior series has undergone a weird amount of transformation, despite there only being two previous games in the rebooted franchise. 2013’s Shadow Warrior was a modernised version of the Duke Nukem-esque ‘90’s classic, but Shadow Warrior 2 was a co-op quasi-looter shooter. And while both of those games were fun, they were missing that special something that makes a great game great, but thankfully the same can’t be said for 2022’s title. 

Like in the previous Shadow Warrior games, 2022’s title sees you donning the modern day samurai boots of Lo Wang, who like in games past, needs to save the world by killing stuff. This time around, the thing that needs killing is a dragon that can end a world that’s already not doing too hot after the events of Shadow Warrior 2. To do that, you’ll need to form relationships with some parent figures and gods, commit a genocide on the demons that inhabit the game’s world and make a lot of jokes that wouldn’t be out of place in a primary school (or a Deadpool movie).

While this may sound stupid, that’s because it is, which is what makes Shadow Warrior 3 so endearing. Unlike many of the titles on the market right now, the game has no pretence of being the next The Last of Us Part II. The story is simple, fun and full of enough dumb jokes to make it worth sitting through. At no point in the title’s five-odd hour runtime are there any unexpected plot twists or notable developments, but it’s still enjoyable to watch because of how familiar it all is. Like in the classic ‘80s action movies that clearly inspired the franchise, the simplicity of Shadow Warrior 3 is strangely comforting and a great way to turn your brain off. 

However, the same can’t be said for the title’s gameplay, which is what transforms it from a mediocre game into a great one. At its core, Shadow Warrior 3 is still the same ‘90s game that its predecessors were; it’s a kill-all-the-enemies shooter à la DOOM where you’ll spend a ton of time using over-the-top weapons to murder hordes of enemies that explode into piles of giblets in closed off arenas. And, to be clear, this feels fantastic and there are a handful of weapons (plus a sword and a magic spell) that all pack just the right amount of punch to bring a smile to anyone’s face. 

But while other games have great weapons, what sets Shadow Warrior 3 apart is its movement. From the get-go, you have the ability to double jump, dash and wall run. About an hour into the game, which is around the same time you’ll acquire the last of your weapons, you also get a grappling hook, and all of these things can be used in combat to float around the environment like some sort of quasi-god. This means you can easily complete each one of the game’s dozens of enemy arenas by never touching the ground, and it works so well that it may be hard for you to go back to games without a grappling hook when you’re done. 

You’ll also use these movement tools in a number of surprisingly great platforming sequences. First-person parkour is rarely done well, but in Shadow Warrior 3, these segments are a highlight of the experience. When you’re not killing hordes of demons with fun weapons, you need to navigate linear environments by using your aforementioned navigation abilities. The path forward is almost always abundantly clear, but because of how fast you can run and climb, these sections of the game provide a perfect break from combat while still managing to keep the adrenaline pumping.

It certainly helps that your reward for pulling off a perfect parkour manoeuvre is a great view. Despite playing the title on a now-dated gaming computer, I was able to consistently maintain a stable frame rate while enjoying some wonderfully detailed textures and scenery. I also only experienced a small handful of non-game breaking bugs, and the music was pretty enjoyable to listen to.

However, for as great as all this is, Shadow Warrior 3 does have one major flaw: a lack of content. The game only takes about five hours to complete if you aren’t going after side objectives, and at launch, there’s no new game plus mode or ability to replay one-off chapters. While you can spend some time finding weapon upgrade orbs or exploring the linear environments, there isn’t anything to do after you kill the final boss besides start another playthrough. This may not be a problem to some people, but given the game’s steep asking price, it is disappointing that there isn’t any reason to keep playing the game after completion.

However, despite the lack of content, Shadow Warrior 3 is still a great game. At its core, it’s not much different than the recent DOOM reboots, but a fantastic movement system coupled with some great weapons and a straightforward story make it a worthwhile purchase for anyone who’s sick of the “I’m 14 and this is deep” games and just wants to have fun for a few hours. Those looking for something with a bit more teeth will definitely be disappointed, but then again, Wang and teeth should never mix.