Shadow Warrior 3

Chimpzy

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I just watched a trailer, and that is definitely not SungWon Cho as Lo Wang.

He is apparently in the game, though. Just playing a character called Orochi Zilla.

Whups, guess I mixed that up. Did think he sounded pretty different, but then he is a voice actor, and some can make themselves sound unrecognizable.
 

BrawlMan

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Loving this game. I already find it better than Doom Eternal. Sure, the game is shorter, and there's not as many weapons (even compared to its prequels), but each weapon has these cool upgrades. What I love about Shadow Warrior 3 over Eternal is that platforming does not get in the way, is simplified, and flows with the action better. The traversing does remind me of DmC, but I didn't have a problem with this. There were people who did, but they're acting like it's the worst thing. It is not.

I love the use of environmental hazards and traps you can inflict upon goons. Executing different enemies yields different rewards and power ups. Executing common mooks gets you at 200+ health, while executing ice enemies allows you to throw ice grenades for example. The game is challenging, but does not go overboard, nor force you to play a specific way like in Doom Eternal. You have weapon upgrades and character upgrades. Weapons use grey orbs, and your character upgrade uses purple orbs.

I do wish that when FHW released this game, they gave it another month to have NG+ and chapter select at the start, instead of giving it an update later down the line. Also, had the game released at $35.99-$40, there would not have been as much controversy over the price. Though I got this on sale with all of the improvements. I know COVID was rough to developers these past couple of years, but that is why you should not rush these games out. I do recommend you get this game on sale right now or paying $40 when the sale ends on the 19th of this month. I've only done the first two chapters so far, and I will be playing more tonight.

P.S - This is an odd thing to say, but after playing this game, and completing Evil West and Hard Reset Redux, Flying Wild Hog will probably be my favorite FPS and TPS developers. Odd, because I don't like their past titles: Shadow Warrior 1 & 2.
 

BrawlMan

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I beat the game on Normal and got most of the achievements. Thankfully they're all possible and not super frustrating to obtain. The game does have an explosive finale. There are 11 stages in total, but most are plenty lengthy. Which explains the 6-7 hour mark. I'll list my pros and cons.

Pros:
  • High paced weapon switching action and mix of platforming that mostly works.
  • Levels are varied, great visuals and coloring, an each one is different.
  • Combat arenas are engaging, and I find much better here, than in Doom Eternal. I do love the arenas with the environmental hazards/traps, but you see less of them the further you go. Aside from explosive barrels.
  • Wang and the other 3 characters, Zilla, Motoko, and Hoji are hilarious as all hell! I didn't hate a single joke or lampshade hang.
  • Weapon upgrades are unique and varied. There are not as many permanent weapons, but you will take weapons/power ups off of an enemy after executing them.
Cons:
  • Platforming can be finnicky at times. It usually works, but I've had a couple moments where my grapple hook didn't register to the green ring and fall to my death. Sometimes Wang wouldn't stick to the wall even though was just on it. This didn't happen too often, but it does get annoying.
  • There are only two bosses in the entire game. The first boss in the 4th stage, and the final boss in the last stage. The latter is basically a final Contra boss, but in 3D. Not the issue, but both bosses have no checkpoints. Dying means starting them all over again. Why? There is no reason not to have checkpoints in-between phases. Once you get the patterns down, it becomes manageable, but it's no excuse for no checkpoints.
  • There are some stuttering issues when loading into cut-scenes. This seems to happen no matter which version you're playing. I don't know why the game does this, but it does not happen too often. Still odd though.
I do recommend you get this game while it is on sale at PSN store. Sale ends this Thursday.

@Worgen, did you play this by any chance on PC/Steam? How did you like it?
 

BrawlMan

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This game has a physical edition that's out on PS4, PS5, and Series X now! I saw the PS4 version at a GameStop, and they're available to order on Amazon.