Shadow Warrior: Classic Redux is an updated version of the classic First Person Shooter, Shadow Warrior, published by 3D Realms in 13th of may, 1997.
This re-release also includes two expansion packs, Wanton Destruction and Twin Dragon.
Shadow Warrior along with Duke Nukem 3D and Blood stand tall as the holy trinity of the Build Engine games. The best 3 games to ever come out pushing theShadow Warrior: Classic Redux is an updated version of the classic First Person Shooter, Shadow Warrior, published by 3D Realms in 13th of may, 1997.
This re-release also includes two expansion packs, Wanton Destruction and Twin Dragon.
Shadow Warrior along with Duke Nukem 3D and Blood stand tall as the holy trinity of the Build Engine games. The best 3 games to ever come out pushing the engine's to its limits. For the time, its level were beautiful and still are in a certain way.
The plot is rather barebones, as it is usual for FPS games of the time, following the Zilla Enterprises ex-bodyguard, Lo Wang, in his quest against Master Zilla's plan to use demons to conquer Japan. Later Lo Wang learns that Zilla killed his old master, and now Wang wants Zilla's Head. Also Lo Wang is voiced and its a one-liner machine, its great.
Shadow Warrior Redux presents 20 Levels plus 2 secret ones, add in the expansion levels and you have a total of 47 different and unique levels. These range from Japan Streets to blazing volcanos. Awesome variety, with great design, the maps have a flow to them, it's rare to get stuck, which is a testament of good level design that often gets overlooked.
Lo Wang has an arsenal of fists, Katana, Shurikens, dual uzi's, auto shotgun, grenades, rail gun, rocket launcher, demon head and heart, and to top it all off, you can launch nukes. All weapons have a purpose and a place in game, nothing feels wasted, the only exception being maybe the fists that overlap with the katana as an melee weapon.
Shadow Warrior gameplay is rather intense, but incredibly rewarding, Lo Wang moves fast, and you will need to use that to your advantage, as any other Build Engine game it can give you a hard time if you are a tiny grasshopper still learning the ropes of the Boomer Shooter games. Enemy variety is good and challenging, when paired with each other they can create some really cool encounters. And a small tip from me, explosive weapons are king, you are not playing Shadow Warrior properly if you aren't blowing your self up a few times.
In terms of soundtrack, it is composed by the legendary Lee Jackson, who also worked on Duke 3D, so there's nothing more that I can say, its just great and it fits the Eastern vibe the game have. It range from some fun action tracks to some really atmospheric and rather gloomy tracks.
Controls are good and responsive, can be rebound at will, and the game runs flawlessly on on modern systems and hardware.
Oh and no, this is NOT one of those lazy DOSbox ports.
You can see the original dev Team had a clear vision and passion for the game, and I think they succeed in everything they set out to do. Overall Shadow Warrior is an absolute classic that along with Duke3D and Blood had a hand shaping an entire generation of shooters.
A must play for any classic FPS fan.
Score: 9.5/10 // Excellent [★★★★★★★★★✫]… Expand