Fans weren’t sure what to think when Flying Wild Hog announced sweeping changes to the fast-paced, over-the-top action the Shadow Warrior franchise is known. Sure, the 2014 reboot wasn’t for everyone; particularly those not fond of linear first-person shooters. But did Shadow Warrior really need procedurally-generated levels, a new gore system and objective-based stages instead of the corridor battles present throughout the first game?
If my hands-on time with the Shadow Warrior 2 build being shown at QuakeCon 2016 is any indication, the answer is a resounding “yes.”
The demonstration opens with a brief introduction of the current status quo. Lo Wang is back (obviously) and once again finds himself chasing after the elusive Master Zilla, head of Zilla Enterprise, would-be ruler of Japan and Wang’s former employer. Fortunately, even though Hoji is gone, Wang has some new allies to rely on in Shadow Warrior 2.
The demo includes Wang’s teacher, Master Smith who seems like exactly the sort of disposable mentor we’ll see killed off to give the protagonist a little extra motivation. In addition to Smith, Wang’s brain is once again playing host to a second consciousness. This time, it’s a mysterious young woman named Kamiko. The demo doesn’t explain how the two ended up in such a predicament; however, the situation clears the way for Flying Wild Hog to fall back on the same comedic inner dialogue that helped make the first Shadow Warrior so memorable. It also gives Wang the ability to use the supernatural powers at Kamiko’s disposal, including invisibility, self-healing and teleportation.
Wang’s move set has also been tweaked. Obviously, the mouse still handles primary and secondary fire, while moving and jumping are mapped to ASDW and Space (respectively), but running is now triggered by double-tapping forward. A new dash ability, that can be used to quickly escape danger, cross a gap or add a little extra oomph to a double-jump, has been mapped to the old run key. Combined with the spells, Wang’s new abilities can make him feel borderline untouchable on the battlefield. And even if you do take a little damage, you can always dash out of danger, heal yourself and get back into the fray. In fact, there’s no way I’d have survived my encounter with the boss-equivalent from the SW2 demo without Wang’s newfound ability to turn invisible, relocate quickly and mend his own wounds.
Kamiko’s spells aren’t the only new tools in Lo Wang’s arsenal. Several new firearms have been added to Shadow Warrior 2, along with some new melee weaponry, giving the protagonist more ways to kill demons than ever before. The presentation of combat data has changed too. Now, firing on (or stabbing) Wang’s enemies generates cascading damage numbers reminiscent of Borderlands or The Division . A mini-map in the corner of the screen helps you keep tabs on enemies in your vicinity, searchable chests/crates and even nearby cash.
The new maps are absolutely enormous. Large enough for me to wonder if less-skilled players will frequently get lost while searching for their next objective. Shadow Warrior 2 does include the quest markers you’d expect from an open-world title, so it’s pretty easy to get yourself back on course, but they aren’t always enough to ensure you won’t get turned out and forced to do a little backtracking.
Mechanical changes aside, there are plenty of other ways Flying Wild Hog manages to improve upon the Shadow Warrior formula. For starters, changing the gender of the spirit trapped in Lo Wang’s consciousness provides the studio both with an avenue to continue the juvenile jokes the protagonist is known for while simultaneously providing a strong female character to push back on Lo Wang’s grade school humor. It’s the kind of change that will (hopefully) allow for some character growth (hopefully) without drawing an avalanche of criticism from those ready to cry “censorship” at every turn.
Visually, Shadow Warrior 2 looks substantially better than its predecessor, which was no slouch in the graphics department. We’ll obviously have to wait until launch to see if the game can build similarly impressive levels on the go, or if procedurally-generation will leave us wading through one cookie-cutter stage after the next. But what I saw from Shadow Warrior 2, during my hands-on demo at QuakeCon, only increased my anticipation for the next game from Flying Wild Hog.
Shadow Warrior 2 is in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The game is expected to debut sometime later this year.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Shadow Warrior 2 news throughout 2016 and however long Flying Wild Hog supports Shadow Warrior 2 in the months following launch.
