Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition Review for Steam

Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition is in general is a good game that takes some liberties following the action shooter genre. The game takes some ques from Doom, which is fine to play it safe, but in order for the game to stand out on its own, is to showcase the creativity of the development team. The development team, Flying Wild Hog, took this to heart and looked towards the game’s Asian history and went all out. The Asian inspiration is extended to the enemies as they are all yokai and the developers take some liberties in making the game look extra beautiful by extending this emphasis into the environment. This made the levels all feel unique in their own right as they all focus introducing new enemies and environments. Aside from the aesthetic, the game itself feels short over all so it needs some much-needed content drops for either re-playability or continuing the story. The game itself is to be seen as a diamond in the rough with it being held back by the action shooter genre, but the style really makes up for it in regards to artistic creativity and story.

The gameplay is quite heavily inspired to the action shooter genre first made popular by the Doom franchise. The gameplay itself oozes Doom with only a handful of changes to mix up the gameplay. This is highlighted in the tutorial where instead of a gun as your primary weapon you get a katana with it being dedicated to right mouse click for mouse and keyboard. Furthermore, by doing this the developers said melee is important for slicing and dicing trash mobs. Later on, this changes with upgrades for every single weapon where the katana can cover close range, mid-range, and long range with varied effects. Weapons can often make or break gameplay from either being too strong or too weak so developers need to strike a balance when making them. In regards to this the weapons hit that perfect balance with some catering to a wide variety of situations. An example of this is the hand cannon you get in the tutorial which is a personal favorite as it is reliable as a it covers all possible ranges and with the right upgrades can cause a trash mob to explode in one hit. By showcasing this weapon at the start shows that the developers know how to balance a weapon. However, while this having good weapon balance is great it was very much needed to make up for some aspects of the gameplay since it lacked some much needed emphasis such as secrets. While the game does not stray far from its Doom heritage as demonstrated in the previous installments it could improve the genre. One of the ways they could improve the genre is by focusing on bringing in some new elements taking inspiration from puzzles to make the combat require some critical thinking. If they managed do to such a thing it would need to stay true to what makes a Shadow Warrior game stand out.

Aside from the gameplay the graphics are top tier and pushed my RTX 2070 to the limit when running the game on maximum settings. Overall, the mobs called yokai are well detailed and are easily seen when fighting so prioritizing targets is important.

From personal experience, the larger enemies are annoying to go against and should be hard focused. One of the key targets that should be a main priority are the yokai that dig underground, as they are only able to be attacked for a set time frame. In regard to this, one tactic that needs to be utilized in order to maintain control of the fight is to instakill an enemy rewarding a special weapon on a time limit. These weapons are a lot stronger than any available weapon as they are meant for defeating, a lot, of enemies making quick work of most. By combining this skill can often change the flow of combat making the fight go your way. This flow of combat is then extended into the artistic vision the developers had in mind creating stunning views that can cause some immediate screen shotting and recording. While this is great for some players there is also a need to take into consideration for those who do not have the luxury of having high end graphic cards and equipment to run the game at high settings. Furthermore, this can be remedied by messing around with the settings customizing the experience to your own pc specs. This change can deter some players away, but that should not be the main reason why people should avoid this game.

The game itself is short there is no doubt about it as it can be beaten in a day, so this leaves the player wanting more. One of the ways the developers combat this desire is by implementing new game plus which has seen a large resurgence in games now adays such as Soul series by Fromsoft, Ghost of Tsushima, and critically acclaimed Elden Ring. While this does allow the player to keep on playing the game, it has its limits for how long it can grip the player. One way they could overcome this is by introducing DLC to the game where it can often introduce some new key plot points and story elements. Furthermore, this trend of dlc having extra story while detrimental to the wallet has no become a mainstay in the video game market as it can further finance the game studio and aid in finishing up a game. DLC is to be taken with a bit of salt as game studios are at times rushed when completing a full game so by having content that can be purchased later can be seen as an extended due date for games. However, by doing so the development team needs to do some thinking as they will then need to plan it out and figure out what ideas they need to expand upon from the main game.

Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition is, in general, a fun game made for people who like the action shooter genre. While the game itself plays its safe by staying with the genre, it can only last for so long till the need of new mechanics arise. This can be attributed to its Doom inspired lineage, which is a good base point for any game, but in order to standout it relied upon its artistic vison quite heavily. However, at the end of the day this game is highly recommended as it is truly something that has a lot of potential to grow to become a huge hit.