Last updated on September 11th, 2023 at 02:03 pm
Shadow Warrior is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive in 1997. The game is similar to Duke Nukem 3D and uses the same Build engine. Players navigate the protagonist, Lo Wang, through three-dimensional environments while fighting various enemies. The game features a mix of ranged and melee combat, with a variety of weapons and abilities available to the player. The game is known for its humor, gore, and over-the-top action.
- DOSGames.com- “Shadow Warrior is still a great game, with many of the same gameplay elements that make Duke Nukem 3D such a classic game, although some of the humor may be a bit dated.”
- LGR on YouTube – “Shadow Warrior took all of the humor and ridiculous antics of Duke 3D and brought them to the East.”
- Eurogamer- “Shadow Warrior is a game of simple pleasures – bad jokes, gorgeous graphics, florid decapitations – and as long as you don’t expect too much from it, you are unlikely to be disappointed.”
- Hardcore Gaming 101 – “It is action gaming distilled, focused on exploring a dense area and dealing with the legions hidden in there, often in hateful ways in this… game that is both a parody and a celebration of the genre.”
- Gaming Nexus – “The re-imagined game is still a retro-style shooter and still stars the smarmily-named protagonist Lo Wang, but the story has been completely overhauled and the gameplay has been updated to modern standards.”
Shadow Warrior is well-regarded for its humor, action, and gameplay, although some aspects of the game may feel dated to modern players.
Lo Wang is a bodyguard for Zilla Enterprises, which has control over every major industry in Japan. However, this has led to corruption. Master Zilla, the president of the Zilla Enterprise, is planning to conquer Japan using creatures from the “dark side”. When he discovers this, Lo Wang quit his job as a bodyguard. Master Zilla realizes the threat that Lo Wang poses and sends his creatures to battle him.
Later on in the game, Lo finds that Zilla’s minions have killed his old mentor, Master Leep. Following his master’s dying words, Lo must avenge his death. The game ends with Lo Wang defeating Master Zilla, who commands a samurai-like war-mech. However, Zilla is able to escape Lo Wang, promising a future encounter.
A reboot, also titled Shadow Warrior, was developed by Flying Wild Hog and published by Devolver Digital. It was announced on May 10, 2013, and a teaser trailer was released on May 20, 2013.It launched on September 26, 2013. The game is exclusively single-player, and focuses on the story of Lo Wang when he started working for Zilla.
