Shadow Warrior would be the third jewel in a heavy crown for 3D Realms. After creating the incredible Duke Nukem 3D and working heavily on Blood they had already cemented themselves as a top tier design studio in the mid 90's FPS genre. Going toe to toe with id Software , perhaps not in technology or speed but with heir own more methodical flow and equally gross carnage yet slower and chunkier in feel. Duke Nukem 3D and Blood are easily two of my favorite games on this list and two of the best shooters I've ever played. It's actually pretty easy to put myself in the shoes of my 1997 blog persona. 3D Realms' content being a wonderful and overdue discovery I owe to this blog. A more mature 1997 me that was heavily invested in FPS games would have been incredibly excited for Shadow Warrior. Monolith and 3D Realm's collaborative Blood would have blown me away as I wrote about. Duke Nukem 3D still an all time favorite. Shadow Warrior doesn't quite deliver on the hype for me but it does stand as a testament to the 3D Realms formula in one of their most polished and satisfying games.
The looming shadow of Quake seems to get larger as the year goes on. With id's contemporaries quickly catching up in polygon rendering new games still not meeting that bar are not living up to a growing presentation standard. Blood easily stands toe and toe with Quake when it comes to quality game design. Build Engine is still plenty capable of delivering an excellent experience but with Turok and consoles pushing into 3D it almost feels like these titles fall behind. Make no mistake the engine delivers and 3D Realms' familiarity with it shows. Shadow Warrior is easily the best looking Build Engine game to date. I feel 3D Realms really pushed the engine to its limit while the artist knew some incredible tricks in creating environments. Despite not using polygons the game gives a great presentation of 3D space second only to polygon rendered games. A magic carpet ride over lava rivers and above rocks was one of the high lights. However the heights of Japanese mountains and the gloom of caves, eastern houses and even an industrial warehouse all look great. The games enemies look identifiable and blow into chunks though a bit less than Blood. The physics and interactivity of Build Engine is still highly enjoyable but there's nothing really new here that wasn't in Duke regarding interactivity or physics having the novelty fade.
In terms of game play the game follows Duke 3D very closely in pacing and engagement principals. Shadow Warrior however differs in the enemies and weapons used refining this formula to a polish I find wasn't in Duke while not ramping up the carnage to Blood levels. Shadow Warrior doesn't just rely on enemy type to weapon type matching but also in how you want to proceed through a room. This is all too often choke points like it was in Duke 3D. The grenade launcher and ability to blast around corners comes in particularly handy. These choke points can often encourage you to go back and find more health and ammo, well placed or rewarded through the other parts of the level. A brilliant design feature I loved from Duke though it is heavily relied on feels more organic in this title. While few enemy types really stood out to me other than serving various forms of damage some weapons really stand out. Chopping enemies with the sword is gory and fun.
Using the severed head of an enemy with your finger poking in the back of it to torch enemies or using a beating heart in your hand the game has some memorable and great weapons. While most weapons have an alt fire and the inventory system is stuffed with caltrops, gas grenades, flash bangs etc. I rarely found myself using these items. These systems almost feel needless. Over all the game play loop feels tighter or more refined than Duke along with the basic level layouts. Seeing your master's fortress self destruct with a nuke and his naked anime girls is a sight to behold along with various other cheeky 3D realms level design and events.The game even occasionally lets you use a vehicle to wreck shit. My favorite was the tank and after Golden Eye I'm really loving the innovation of armed moving vehicles your character switches to. It essentially changes the players body in space and speed while dealing damage that is rewarding in short burst. The game's east meets west carnage is unique and fun.
Shadow Warrior's Lo Wang is the Asian stereotype badass you play. He like Duke or Caleb set the tone for the games humor and attitude. Armed with dual Uzi's , a Katana or a rocket launcher the next Lo Wang takes on the western Asian stereotypes and action movies. Naked anime girls populate the world at times and try to shoot you if you stare at them too long in the bath house. Comments from Wang may not make me laugh like Duke as much but 3D Realms humor is there. The constant chatter from Lo Wang after enemies turn into bits or nukes go off is again straight from some 90's comedy skit. 3D Realms both in design and tone had set their identity as a studio and games apart with its own flavor of 90's edge. Build Engine's DNA has proved to be a bright a colorful tree.
Shadow Warrior does so much right but sadly most of it is dulled by the fact other games, particularly those 3D Realms themselves have been involved with have had all these same strong points. At this point I feel like I'm starting to write the same blog over and over despite playing a reasonably unique and fun game. Shadow Warrior is a blast, its a fun shooter and I'd loved playing in 1997 however it does largely feel like retread ground. Lo Wang largely does what Duke does but it just doesn't stick with me the same way. Blood had incredible gun play and a horror art direction that really made it stand out. Build Engine is showing its age after releases like Turok and Golden Eye being fresh in memory. At this point in 1997 the maturity of the FPS genre has inherit limitations set in. A well designed and well playing game like Shadow Warrior two years ago would have been a monumental standout. The growing pains of the genre are lessening and more and more good games are being made. Progressing onward through 1997 Shadow Warrior falls into the newly created good but not good enough category.
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